China prostitutes "paraded in shame"

HONG KONG, Dec 6 (Reuters) China has ordered an investigation into a police-organised shame parade of 100 prostitutes and their clients in the southern city of Shenzhen, Hong Kong newspapers reported today.

The inquiry was prompted by a complaint from the All-China Women's Federation that said police had violated citizens' rights and tarnished the image of women, the Ming Pao newspaper said.

Photos taken last week and published in Hong Kong newspapers and on a Web site of the official Xinhua news agency showed rows of handcuffed women and men wearing surgical masks and yellow jerseys walking down a street.

Criminal parades, open air trials and even public executions have been common in China under Communist rule since 1949.

Newspapers still occasionally print pictures of drug addicts, thieves or other law breakers being shamed in public squares or on street corners.

Police in Shenzhen, which in 30 years has grown from a fishing village bordering Hong Kong to a sprawling city famous for its raunchy nightlife, arrested 100 prostitutes and their clients in a raid.

After the arrests, their names, ages and places of origin were then read out in public. At least 10 were Hong Kong residents, the South China Morning Post reported.

The public humiliation parade attracted thousands of spectators, although later drew criticism online, it said.

REUTERS SRS BST0807