The Chinese Saga of Olympic Shame Continues -- Olympics: homes forcibly
destroyed, prison for those who request compensation / Asianews.it
02/08/2008 13:30
CHINA
Olympics: homes forcibly destroyed, prison for those who request
compensation
About 1.5 million people have been driven out of their homes for the
sake of preparation for the Olympics, and many have not received another
house or any compensation. A few ordinary stories of those who are in
prison for having requested reimbursement, or who have been beaten to
death for protesting.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - It is estimated that at least 1.5 million
people have been driven out of their homes, in order to demolish the
houses and create grandiose, futuristic structures for the Olympics in
Beijing and in the other cities that will host the games, like Shanghai,
Qingda, Shenyang, and Qinhuangdao. Hundreds of thousands have not
received a replacement home or other damages, and have been reduced to
poverty. The non-governmental organisation Citizens' Rights and
Livelihood Watch (CRLW) denounces the actions in Beijing and in the
district of Chaoyang, in the villages of Wali and Datun, where the local
government has forcibly destroyed homes without just compensation, and
the citizens have fought for their rights with denunciations' and
petitions addressed to the authorities.
CRLW recalls that about 200 residents have sent a joint petition to the
government and have organised a month-long sit-in protest. The reaction
from the local authorities has been violent. Ma Jingxue, from Wali, who
presented a petition for just compensation, has twice been sent to a
labour re-education camp for a total of three years, for "rogue
behaviour".
Lu Qingcheng, of Datun, addressed a petition to the government asking
for compensation for property losses and damages suffered during the
compulsory demolition of his home. He was imprisoned for eight days,
and 20 residents who presented the petition together with him for "only"
two days.
One month before he was arrested in December for "subversion against the
state", human rights activist Hu Jia denounced the arrest of the
brothers Ye Guozhu and Ye Guoqiang for having protested against the
forced demolition of their houses. Ye Guozhu was tied to his bed and
struck repeatedly, and is now awaiting the Olympic Games in the Chaobei
prison in Tianjin.
In order to protect the image of clean and orderly cities, the
government has stepped up the arrest and forcible removal of beggars and
homeless, many of whom have been sent to labour camps. Many people have
been arrested simply because they have presented petitions to the
central government. The ambulatory vendors have been driven away, or
have suffered the confiscation of their goods.
Hu recalls a few of the many cases: Lin Hongying, a farmer and vegetable
vendor who was beaten to death by the municipal police in Jiangsu on
July 20th, 2005. Wu Shouqing, a bicycle repairmen, was beaten to death
by the police in Wuxi on November 19th, 2005. Duan Huimin, who had
presented a petition, was killed by the police in Shanghai in January
of 2007. Chen Xiaoming, a human rights activist who had presented
petitions, was imprisoned in Shanghai and died on July 1st, 2007, of an
untreated illness. And 200 authors of petitions were a arrested in
Beijing on August 5th, 2007, precisely one year before the Olympics.
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11469&geo=17&size=A#
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