Inside China Today

Displaced Hangzhou farmers detained for petitioning in Beijing

Six displaced farmers from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province have been detained in Beijing after trying to petition with a joint letter from a hundred locals back home. The farmers were illegally detained and physically assaulted by Zhejiang officials stationed in Beijing, and have told SOH that it is too difficult to protect their rights in China and they hope for international media to help them obtain justice.

A petitioner said the Hangzhou government demolished the rental properties of farmers in order to expand the East Railway Station. He says farmers who had previously lost their farmland are now being stripped of their only source of income. He explained that over 600 houses have been demolished under threats and inducements, and that anyone who retaliated would be beaten and be told the demolition would go ahead. He says the people’s rights are being ignored, and that they rely on collecting rent for a living. If all the properties are demolished, their lives would become very difficult.

Another petitioner told SOH that the demolition ordered by the city government was done by force and without any permit, furthermore anyone who did not co-operate would be beaten. He said after they were intercepted in Beijing, he was locked up like a prisoner for 4 days and he claimed the watchmen were very aggressive towards him.