Lawyers for China's freed slaves to push for rights

BEIJING, June 20 (Reuters) Chinese lawyers are mobilising to press the rights of victims of a slave trade that has stirred widespread outrage, while today an official newspaper lauded the Communist Party's handling of the scandal.

Hundreds of poor farmers, teenagers and even children were abducted or lured into kilns, mines and foundries in Shanxi and Henan provinces, where many suffered beatings and abuse.

The televised rescue of scarred, burnt and emaciated victims in the past few weeks provoked widespread anger at the failure of government officials to halt the trade in forced labour. Officials have offered released workers some compensation.

But in this country where ideas of ''rule of law'' are unfamiliar to many citizens accustomed to decades of unyielding Communist Party rule, lawyers have been preparing to fight for the victims, saying redress given so far is not enough.

''The government has given some compensation, but it's hardly enough for the work, physical suffering and mental trauma,'' said Zhang Lisheng, a lawyer in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province which adjoins the similar-sounding Shanxi.

Zhang told Reuters he and dozens of other lawyers there had organised with a local newspaper to press the claims of local victims - more than 30 so far. He said suing kiln owners would be difficult, especially given the hard task of collecting evidence.

''Even if we don't sue in court, we want to make the point that this is a country of rule of law and everyone should respect the law,'' he said, adding that similar efforts were under way in Henan, where many trapped workers came from.

EMBOLDENED Zhang said many freed workers had received payment of a few thousand yuan - hundreds of dollars - which he said went no way to fully compensating them for their work and suffering.

The legal moves come as an emboldened Chinese press continues to lash officials for allowing, even colluding in the forced labour.

''In this black kiln incident, it seems that the responsibility of some public servants lay not just in inaction. They themselves may have been participants in the criminal industrial chain,'' said a commentary in the China Economic Times.

But the Guangming Daily, a strait-laced voice of Party orthodoxy, praised the leadership for its handling of the scandal.

''Fortunately, under the personal attention and concern of central leading comrades ... a large number of illegally confined kiln workers have been freed,'' said the paper. ''The masses of people salute with joy.'' Zhang Yong, a lawyer in the eastern province of Jiangsu who has offered to help freed workers from his home city, said victims' families had spoken of psychological damage from the experience. One released man was having difficulty living at home after months of abuse at a kiln, he said.

Often poor farmers had little idea that China had labour laws promising to protect them, said Luo Yi, a Xian lawyer also helping victims there.

''We need to teach employers and officials about the law, but even more we need to raise the awareness of victims and workers.'' ''When they come from the countryside and have very little education, the idea of turning to the law is very unfamiliar,'' Luo said.

REUTERS AK RN1441