 Sentencing for re @-@ education through labor is generally carried out by the police rather than by the judicial system , so individuals are rarely charged or tried before being detained . Public security bureaus ( police offices ) are able to carry out administrative detentions for " minor " infringements that are not considered criminal acts ; at least one analyst has suggested that local public security bureaus often abuse their authority and detain individuals for things such as personal vendettas . Individuals may also be sentenced to re @-@ education through labor by courts , but the proportion of individuals who receive trials rather than going directly into administrative detention is determined in part by how much capacity that province has for re @-@ education detainees — provinces with large re @-@ education through labor apparatus generally allow fewer detainees to have trials . Where detainees have been allowed a trial , their lawyers have faced " intimidation and abuse , " according to some reports , and the individuals under trial have sometimes been convicted on the basis of confessions that were coerced through " torture and severe psychological pressure . " In at least one instance , convicted individuals were sent to re @-@ education through labor even after being found not guilty in a trial . 
