Commentary
A recent report by human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders reveals that the Chinese police have adopted North Korea’s “three generations of punishment,” in which three generations of a political offender’s family can be imprisoned or executed despite not having committed a crime themselves. Similar to the concept of “guilt by association,” Chinese police use this form of punishment to target individuals deemed a threat to the regime.
It’s not unheard of that the Chinese police use threats against a targeted individual’s loved ones, including children, spouses, or even parents. For example, they use this method to get rights defenders and activists to do what they demand, especially when torture is not enough….