Four people who allegedly violated the lockdown against Covid-19 were forced to parade through the streets of a southern Chinese city carrying posters with their names and their photographs, in a scene reminiscent of the punishments of public humiliation meted out during the Cultural Revolution, in the middle of the last century.
China banned public humiliation of suspected criminals in 2010 after decades of campaigns by human rights activists, but some local governments have resumed practices in fighting Covid.
Photos and a video released by the state-run Guangxi News show four suspects in masks and protective suits parading in front of a crowd on Tuesday (28) in the city of Jingxi, on the border with Vietnam.
Each suspect was escorted by two police officers, wearing shields, masks and protective suits, and the group was surrounded by several riot police, some of them armed.
The four men were accused of transporting migrants from Vietnam to China at a time when virtually all Chinese borders are closed due to the pandemic, the newspaper reported.
The parade through the streets is part of a series of disciplinary measures announced in August by the Jingxi government to punish those who do not respect restrictive measures to prevent the spread of covid.
Guangxi News said the parade presents “a real warning” and “discourages border crime.”
But the punishment sparked controversy, with criticism on social media and even part of the official press.
The Beijing News, linked to the Communist Party, was one of those who condemned the punishment. According to the publication, although Jingxi is under great pressure to prevent the importation of coronavirus cases, “the measure seriously violates the spirit of the rule of law and cannot be allowed to happen again.”
Other suspected smuggling and trafficking in persons have suffered public humiliation in recent months, according to information on the Jingxi government website.
Videos of a similar parade in November showed a crowd watching two prisoners as police read their crimes through a microphone, and in August dozens of armed police carried a suspect through the streets to a playground.
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