Eric's Beijing Diary

Visited the old SACO site today. Within a short distance of each other, are both the Baigongguan and Zhazidong prisons. Looking through these secret prisons run by the KMT, with "help" from the United States military (the extent of which is a subject of some debate), I was struck by how some issues in history keep coming back to haunt us. Of course, even the nicest prison is not going to seem like a nice place. Lovers of freedom recoil at the sight of any prison, no matter how humane. But these dingy holes were particularly depressing. I met up with some young people who spoke English, and as we were walking through the women's prison, one of them noticed how high the bunk beds were. "How do they get up there?" she wondered. No ladders. I suggested to her that maybe they helped each other, but I had to admit that it did look forbidding for prisoners who may not not be in the best health, and surely weaker than normal. When we entered the men's section, she noticed that the bunk beds there were not quite as high. "Oh, it's unfair!" To say the least. But of course, there is something about the whole situation that seems so very, very unfair. As long as there are wars and rumors of wars, there will always be places like this. But that does not excuse us from the responsibility to be diligent in making sure that prisoners are treated humanely.

Both prisons had a torture chamber, with chairs where prisoners were forcibly restrained and tortured.