![]() |
||
Fear reigns in land-grab village amid clampdown Tensions have remained high in a Guangdong village where police at the weekend quashed a protest over a government land grab, with residents speaking of relentless police intimidation. Verna Yu Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Tensions have remained high in a Guangdong village where police at the weekend quashed a protest over a government land grab, with residents speaking of relentless police intimidation. The Zhongshan city government, which administers the area where the protests erupted, said it had despatched more than 100 officials to respond to villagers' demands and that peace had been restored. "After patient efforts to deal with the dissatisfaction, villagers stopped blocking traffic on the highway and the handling of the entire matter is proceeding in an orderly manner," the government said. Residents of Panlong village in Sanjiao township, where the violence occurred, said there has been no further protests but maintained that was because of police intimidation, not conciliatory government measures. One villager said he had been detained for 11 hours Saturday night following the initial protests, and was warned by police he would be jailed for three years if he demonstrated again. "I'm very scared. I dare not go outside because if they see me I might get caught again ... they told me I would be given three years in prison," the resident, surnamed Yang, said. Another villager, surnamed Tan, said authorities were barring anyone from leaving the village after 5pm in an attempt to prevent further protests. He also said police had set up barricades around the highway where protesters had congregated Saturday night. Another villager said barricades remained at the entrance of the village, with police checking identifications and frisking people entering and leaving. The clashes erupted amid frustration and anger over compensation for farmland seized for sale to factory owners and other investors. Some villagers said up to 60 people were injured and that at least one person - a 13-year-old girl - died when the police, armed with anti-riot gear, attacked protesters on the highway, irrespective of their age or size. "They were like mad dogs," a man said.Some locals said up to 20,000 had protested while others said there were about 7,000. The street battle is the latest in a rising number of clashes over land seizures. It followed a protest last month in Guangdong's Dongzhou village, in which paramilitary forces opened fire. Three protesters were killed, according to official accounts, while villagers said many more than that died. In another incident last year, six villagers were killed in June when a local government in the northern province of Hebei sent hundreds of thugs into a village to beat locals who refused to make way for a power plant. The government has acknowledged the rise in social unrest, releasing figures showing there were 74,000 riots and other "incidents involving the masses" in 2004, compared with just 10,000 such incidents in 1994. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
|
||
|