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| Violent forced evictions are on the rise in China. Image©Benjamin gz imagine china |
Beijing: International rights group Amnesty International
says violent forced evictions in China are on the rise as local authorities
seek to offset huge debts by seizing and then selling off land in suspect deals
with property developers.
The right group also urged government
action over the issue.
In a new 85-page report, Standing Their
Ground, Amnesty International highlights how forced evictions - a longstanding
cause of discontent within China - have increased significantly in the past two
years in order to clear the way for developments.
Local governments have borrowed huge sums
from state banks to finance stimulus projects and now rely on land sales to
cover the payments.
This has resulted in deaths, beatings,
harassment and imprisonment of residents who have been forced from their homes
across the country in both rural and urban areas.
Some were in such despair they set
themselves on fire in drastic protests of last resort.
Proper consultation or notice as required
under international law as well as adequate alternative housing are seldom
given and any compensation falls far short of the true market value.
Residents come under concerted campaigns
including the cutting off of essential services like water and heating. Civil
servants who oppose land deals often face reprisals.
Forced evictions remain one of the greatest
issues of popular discontent within China. Premier Wen Jiabao has acknowledged
the gravity of the situation and there has been some progress towards
protecting people against forced evictions in line with international law and
standards.
For the first time, new regulations adopted
in 2011 state that compensation for homeowners must not be lower than market
value and outlawed the use of violence.
However, these laws and regulations still
fall far short of the required standards and apply only to city dwellers.
Rural communities remain vulnerable to
forced evictions, particularly those close to urban areas. With urbanization
happening so quickly around them, and compensation based on the agricultural
value rather than the true market value, farmers are often priced out of the
communities they have lived in their whole lives.
Another major weakness in the latest
regulations is that they only provide protections for homeowners, overlooking
the rights of tenants.
Forced evictions - the removal against
their will of individuals, families or communities from the homes or the land
they occupy without access to legal or other protections - are banned under
international law.
Amnesty International is calling on the
authorities to immediately halt all forced evictions and ensure adequate
safeguards are put in place in line with international law, including:
Implement effective measures to ensure the
entire population a degree of security of tenure that would protect them from
forced evictions and other threats and harassment.
-Ensure that nobody is rendered homeless as
a result of a forced eviction and all persons who can not provide for
themselves are given adequate alternative housing.
-Ensure that all victims of forced evictions
have access to independent and impartial adjudication of their complaints and
to an effective remedy.
-Punish and prosecute those who use violence
during the eviction process.