U.S. Congressional Committee Examines China's Forced Labor Camps

On May 9, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China discussed the system of re-education-through-labor camps, or RTL camps, under the Chinese regime.

The system is better known as forced labor camps. It's been around since the 1950s and is used mainly to silence dissent. Professor Ira Belkin said the system itself has come under question for violating China's constitution.

These forced labor camps gained attention last year in the US, when this woman from Oregon discovered a letter believed to have been written by an inmate at the Masanjia Labor Camp. The letter was hidden inside a box of Halloween decorations.