Villagers say land protest will resume

Thousands of villagers will resume the protest over a government land grab in Guangdong province, residents said, as more details emerged of a violent clash with police.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Thousands of villagers will resume the protest over a government land grab in Guangdong province, residents said, as more details emerged of a violent clash with police.

"The villagers will continue to protest until this issue is resolved," said a villager surnamed Tan in Sanjiao township. "Farm land is important to farmers, they need their land."

Another villager, who requested anonymity, said: "A lot of people say this thing is not over ... they have been pushed against the wall with no other alternative."

The initial clashes in Sanjiao erupted Saturday night due to longstanding anger by local citizens over inadequate compensation the government had paid for farmland that was seized to sell to factories and other investors. Up to 60 people were injured and at least one person - a 13-year-old girl - died when police armed with anti-riot gear indiscriminately attacked protesters, villagers said. Some villagers said up to 20,000 had protested, while others said there were around 7,000.

The only official comment came from Xinhua News Agency, which issued a brief report saying there were only about 100 protesters and denying allegations of police abuse.

The street battle is the latest in a rising number of clashes between police and farmers over land seizures, an issue the central government has conceded is a growing concern. It followed a December protest in Guangdong's Dongzhou village, in which paramilitary forces opened fire on demonstrators. Official accounts admitted to three people being shot dead in Dongzhou, although residents maintained up to 30 were killed.

In Sanjiao, the police, including paramilitary troops, arrived in several vans and began beating people as soon as they got out of their vehicles, said a man who witnessed the violence from his rooftop. "They didn't care if you were elderly or young, big or small. They beat whoever they saw. They were like mad dogs," said the man, who would not give his name.

"They used electric batons. They chased people several hundred meters and beat them. People were running every which way. They even chased people up to the third floor of the Sanjiao Hotel and beat them.

"They didn't treat people like humans. They treated us like dogs."

The villagers, armed with only firecrackers, had used bricks to smash the windows of police vehicles, he said.

The reported death and the number of injured could not be confirmed as local officials refused to comment.

One villager said his friend saw the girl who died struck twice with an electric baton and lie motionless on the ground for an hour. Authorities later said she died of a heart attack, he said.

Her family could not be contacted. Another villager said plainclothes police were now monitoring the deceased girl's home.

In the Xinhua report, which appeared only on its English-language service, villagers' accounts of police using tear gas and electronic batons were denied. "No one died in the incident," Xinhua quoted a Zhongshan spokesman as saying.

Two policemen and three villagers were injured after demonstrators threw rocks and firecrackers at policemen and smashed the windshield and lamps of a police car, Xinhua said.

The Zhongshan Daily said Monday that 25 people were detained at the scene and all had been released except for four, who will be held for 15 days.

Police barricaded the village, checking identification and frisking people entering and leaving Monday. Several Hong Kong journalists were briefly detained. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE