China Human Rights Briefing 16 February 2010

Headlines

• Guangxi Villagers Injured by Hired Criminals for Challenging Construction Project
• Detained Petitioner Suffers Allergic Reaction in Black Jail
• Netizens Create Postcards to Send to Imprisoned Activists for Chinese New Year 

ForcedEviction and Demolition

GuangxiVillagers Injured by Hired Criminals for Challenging ConstructionProject

Onthe afternoon of January 30, a group of villagers in Ertang Township,Guilin City,Guangxi Province were attacked by hiredthugsafter confronting workers beginning a construction project on villageland. Accordingto reports CHRD received from a villager at the scene, workers hired bySunshine 100, a national real estate developer, were confronted byvillagerswho believed that a construction project on village land was beingundertakenwithout proper procedures. The workers responded by summoning a groupof 30hired criminals armed with knives, who arrived and attacked the unarmedvillagers.  More than 10 villagers werehospitalized with serious injuries, and at the time of writing anunknownnumber are believed to still be hospitalized. Two local police chiefsandtownship cadres were reportedly present at the scene, but did nothingto stopthe violence. The villagers, who plan to petition and report on theviolence togovernment officials, have reported receiving threatening phone callssince theincident. Although CHRD has been unable to verify the report withanothereyewitness, another villager reached by CHRD confirmed that s/he hasheard ofthe incident. (CHRD)[i]

DetainedPetitioner Suffers Allergic Reaction in Black Jail

OnFebruary 15, Shanghai petitionerLi Caidi (李彩娣)was seized in Beijingand forcibly returned to Shanghai.  Once there, Li was transferred to a blackjail, where Li suffered an allergic reaction to an unknown substanceand wasrushed to HuashanHospital foremergencytreatment on February 16. Li's current condition is not known.  Li, 46, has been petitioning since a 2004forced eviction. According to Wei Qin (魏勤),whowas detained along with Li in Shanghai,the black jail currently houses a total of 7 detainees, all of whom arepetitioningbecause of forced evictions. (CHRD)[ii]

Citizens’Actions

NetizensCreate Postcards to Send to Imprisoned Activists for Chinese New Year

Similarto a CHRD-sponsored action reported yesterday, onFebruary 16 a group of netizens launched a postcard drive, calling oncitizensto send postcards adorned with yellow ribbons to imprisoned humanrightsdefenders during the New Year holiday. For printable images of the cards, including addresses, pleaseclick here.(CHRD)[iii]

Editors:David Smalls and Lin Sang

***CHRD’s Human Rights Yearbook 2009 will be released on February 17, 2010.  For a free copy, please contact us with yourmailing address at crdnetwork@gmail.com.***

News updates from CHRD

ThrownOut: Human Rights Abuses in China’s Breakneck Real Estate Development

[i]"Guilin Real Estate Business Leads to Attack on Villagers byCriminals" (桂林房地产商指使黑势力血洗村民), February 16,2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201002/20100216191139_19963.html

[ii]"Shanghai Petitioner Li Caidi Detained in Black Jail, BecomesCriticallyIll" (上海访民李彩娣被囚黑监狱病危),February 17,2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201002/20100217001950_19967.html

[iii]"Netizens Launch 'Yellow Ribbon New Year's Postcard Courier Action'"(网友发起“黄丝带贺年卡明信片信使在行动”),February 16, 2010,http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class71/201002/20100216085726_19955.html