China to evict 1.5M for Olympics

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer
December 5,2007

GENEVA - China continues to evict 13,000 people each month in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, despite worldwide attention and increased scrutiny, a housing rights group said Wednesday.

The Center on Housing Rights and Evictions said a recent trip to the Chinese capital confirmed an estimate it made earlier this year that 1.5 million people would be displaced by the time the 2008 Games are held.

Beijing says the group is grossly inflating the number of people being relocated as a result of the Olympic preparations, and that residents are content with the compensation they have received.

"Despite courageous protests inside China, and condemnation by many international human rights organizations, the Beijing municipality and Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games have persisted with these evictions and displacements," said Jean du Plessis, the Geneva-based COHRE's deputy director.

The group — which claimed in June that 1.25 million had already been displaced — said it returned to Beijing in August and found that forced evictions were continuing unabated.

In September, the Beijing municipality demolished several buildings in a run-down neighborhood called the "petitioners' village" in Fengtai District, which provided housing for thousands from all over China who came to complain to the central government about land seizures, forced evictions and corruption, COHRE said.

"Evictions in Beijing often involve the complete demolition of poor peoples' houses," the group said. "The inhabitants are then forced to relocate far from their communities and workplaces, with higher transportation costs driving them further into poverty.

"In Beijing, and in China more generally, the process of demolition and eviction is characterized by arbitrariness and lack of due process. In many cases, tenants are given little or no notice of their eviction and do not receive the promised compensation."

The group said it was pleased the International Olympic Committee is taking housing rights more seriously, including guaranteed commitments that local people would not be displaced in its deal with Russia for the 2014 Winter Games, which will be hosted by the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In August, the director of Beijing's construction committee said only about 40,000 people were being relocated yearly, and about 2,000 were moved to build new venues for the games. Sui Zhenjiang also said residents were adequately compensated, adding that 16,000-17,000 "affordable" houses had been built in the city of 15 million.

"The 1.5 million figure is definitely wrong," Sui said of COHRE's estimation.

COHRE also criticized Myanmar and Slovakia on Thursday for "pervasive housing rights violations" in 2007.

It said Myanmar, also known as Burma, was responsible for the "mass displacement of more than 1 million civilians from their lands and homes."

Slovakia was cited because "municipalities deliberately neglect to improve — or indeed actively strive to worsen — the housing conditions of Roma," also known as Gypsies, said Claude Cahn, COHRE's advocacy chief.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - China: Reform

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: ASA 17/051/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 197
18 October 2007

Embargo Date: 18 October 2007 01:00 GMT


China: Reform of abusive detention law vital to Beijing Olympics human rights commitments
Amnesty International today published an open letter to the Standing Committee of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, calling for an end to 'Re-education Through Labour' (RTL), a form of detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review for up to four years.

According to official Chinese media, the Standing Committee is due to discuss a new law, the 'Illegal Behaviour Correction Law', to replace RTL this month. The reform of RTL, and the discussion on the new law, has been stalled for more than two years.

Meanwhile, in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing police have used China's hosting of the Games as a pretext to extend abusive detention practices such as RTL and 'Enforced Drug Rehabilitation', in the name of 'cleaning up' the city.

"Efforts to 'clean up' the city ahead of the Games through extending detention without trial raise serious questions about the commitment Chinese officials have made to improve their human rights record at the awarding of the Games to China," said Catherine Baber, Head of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Amnesty International.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be held in RTL facilities, many in harsh conditions. RTL is used against people considered by the Chinese police to have committed offences not serious enough to be punished under the Criminal Law. These include petty criminals, critics of the government and followers of banned beliefs.

The proposed reform of RTL has been on China's legislative agenda for more than two years. Amnesty International has long raised concerns about the use of RTL, and urges the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in the lead-up to the Olympics to ensure that any legislation adopted to replace RTL complies fully with international human rights standards, including the right to fair trial.

"A positive Olympic legacy would mean fair trials according to international standards and an end to arbitrary police detention," said Catherine Baber. "We are less than one year from the start of the Beijing Games, and if the Chinese authorities are serious about the commitment they have made to improve their human rights record, they now have a unique opportunity to move one step closer to this, by ending these abusive detention practices."

Note to editors:

The National People's Congress (NPC) is distinct from the Chinese Communist Party which is holding its 17th Congress this week. The NPC is China's legislature and highest state body. It comprises around 3,000 delegates and meets every year for two weeks in March. The Standing Committee of the NPC exercises power between these sessions and meets every two months.

To download a copy of the open letter to the National People's Congress, please visit: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA170202007

To download a copy of the media kit listing Amnesty International's concerns in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, please visit:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA170432007


Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

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