Chinese villagers in land-grab 'riot' jailed

Human rights groups called for an investigation after 13 Chinese villagers were jailed for taking part in a riot last year, when police shot dead three people protesting over not receiving compensation for land which was seized for a wind-power plant. The villagers from Dongzhou in southern China were sentenced after a closed trial. Another eight protesters were injured, marking the first time Chinese authorities have fired on and killed protesters since the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing in 1989. "In the absence of public disclosure about the role of officials in the deaths of at least three protesters in Dongzhou in December 2005, the sentencing of villagers involved in the protests undermines confidence in the impartiality of the Chinese legal system," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said. The incident in Dongzhou was one of several acts of defiance across China since last year, with the root causes being land grabs, pollution, corruption and the feeling of being left behind by runaway economic growth. The state-run China Daily has reported that at least 2.5 million farmers nationwide are losing more than 400,000 acres of land a year to rapidly growing cities. In Dongzhou, the villagers were angry over the wind power plant, which would feature coal-powered turbines being built five miles from the village. The government proposed paying local farmers a total of $75,000 a year as compensation, which would have worked out at around $2.50 a year for each of the 30,000 villagers. The court ruling is in line with other legal decisions following unrest in rural China in recent months. Local officials have their knuckles rapped, a few protesters are made scapegoats with heavy sentences and the local government tries to forget the problem ever happened. One of the earliest of these rural riots was in Huaxi in eastern China in April last year, when 1,500 police fought 10,000 villagers trying to block deliveries to and from 13 chemical plants in the center of the village. The villagers won the battle but lost the war. Local officials were given light punishments or moved, while nine villagers, all protesting their innocence, were sent to jail. The Huaxi riot became famous among local activists in China and was one of the first of a wave, as rampant industrialization leads to clashes between authorities and those left behind by development–farmers and migrant workers who make up two-thirds of China's 1.3 billion people. Such incidents look set to rise. The number of disturbances rose 6.6 percent last year to 87,000 and top generals have pledged to boost the "combat effectiveness" of the paramilitary police to curb them. The chances of there ever being an impartial investigation into the events at Dongzhou are slim, as the government believes it has every right to stamp out any destabilizing forms of dissent in the interest of the greater public good. China's leaders have made resolving the wealth gap a prime concern but reporting on Dongzhou was firmly pro-government, though the fact that the events are being reported at all in state media is a sign of greater openness in China. Beneath the headline "Riot farmers sentenced" China Daily said the villagers had been convicted of illegally manufacturing explosives, disturbing public order and illegal assembly. The police shootings were described as "accidental" and the people killed were "not civilians, but criminals with a violent streak." Liu Jinsheng, Communist Party vice-secretary in charge of law and order, received a "stern warning" from the party, as did the police chief, Li Min, and the building director Chen Huinan. Huang Xirang, described as a riot ringleader, was jailed for seven years. Huang Xijun and four other villagers were jailed for three to six years and Zhang Qingyu for three years. Six villagers, including Wei Zunzhan and Huang Xiran, received three years' jail with four years suspended. Six were acquitted. Relatives of Lin Yidui, a 26-year-old killed in the standoff, said they were forced to sign a statement promising not to talk to "outsiders" about the conflict. The villagers say 20 people died in the riot and activists say all sides of the conflict need to be heard if the incident is ever to be considered properly closed.