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Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/628449
China stonewalls on quake probe
Parents questioning school construction standards 'harassed, intimidated,' human rights group says
May 04, 2009 04:30 AM
Bill Schiller
ASIA BUREAU
BEIJING ? It was tragic enough for parents to have lost their children in the massive 7.9 earthquake that rocked China last May.
But their pain was compounded when they dared to seek answers about the construction standards of schools in which their kids perished: their movements were monitored, their telephones tapped and, in many instances, they were detained ? sometimes for days.
A detailed report by human rights group Amnesty International says local authorities in Sichuan province have waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against grieving parents who are calling for an investigation into the thousands of schools that collapsed during the May 12 earthquake.
Many parents believe the schools were shoddily built.
"I and other parents sought help from the authorities," said one heart-broken father who lost his 16-year-old son. "They did not help ... but insulted us in return."
A number of parents were repeatedly detained, one for 21 days. The youngest detainee was just 8 years old, the report notes.
Out of safety concerns, Amnesty omitted all interviewees' names or other information that could be used to identify them.
"By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died, the government is creating more misery," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific program director. "The government must cease harassing earthquake survivors who are seeking answers and trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives."
Chinese authorities have confirmed 87,150 people died or are still missing from last year's quake.
But they have refused to reveal how many were students.
In a single school alone however ? Beichuan Middle School ? more than 1,000 students died at their desks when the quake struck. But some buildings nearby withstood the quake's force.
"I want to seek justice for the dead students," said another father, whose 15-year-old son died in the Beichuan school. "Some of their bodies are still buried under the rubble and we will never find them. That's why it is so heartbreaking for many parents."
Parents suspect local officials and contractors cut corners either to save money or pocket funds earmarked for properly built schools.
Last September, a senior official from a Beijing-appointed expert committee admitted at a press conference that some of the schools that collapsed had, in fact, been erected too quickly.
But since then local Sichuan officials have stonewalled, insisting the force of the quake alone was to blame. According to one report, senior provincial officials decided last month there will be no investigation into the construction quality of the collapsed schools.
That decision contradicts a promise made last May by Housing and Development Minister Jiang Weixin that an investigation would be conducted and those responsible for unsafe school buildings would be punished.
But the only punishment meted out so far has been to parents.
Those who've dared to speak up, organize protests or plan to travel to Beijing to address higher authorities, have been locked up without due process in China's so-called "black jails" ? places of detention that are not part of the official jail system.
"We didn't break any provision of the law," one father told Amnesty. "(Yet) they detained me without any legal basis for seven days."
Said another, "They locked me up in a small room and conducted forced political education. They told me repeatedly that the country was suffering from disasters, therefore we must not raise questions about ... construction. They threatened me to stop, if not, they would get me."
When police came for one parent and he was not home, they took away his brother instead. The brother was also made to bring an 8-year-old nephew.
"The 8-year-old did nothing but cry," the brother said. "Those who detained him tried to give him bread and milk hoping that he would stop crying after being fed."
Both were released the next morning.
But unlawful detention wasn't the only tactic used, the report noted.
Local and Beijing lawyers were warned not to represent parents in any planned legal action.
"Chinese courts are not independent," one lawyer explained. "Once they face pressure from the government they will back down ... courts will follow their instructions."
China stonewalls on quake probe
Parents questioning school construction standards 'harassed, intimidated,' human rights group says
May 04, 2009 04:30 AM
Bill Schiller
ASIA BUREAU
BEIJING ? It was tragic enough for parents to have lost their children in the massive 7.9 earthquake that rocked China last May.
But their pain was compounded when they dared to seek answers about the construction standards of schools in which their kids perished: their movements were monitored, their telephones tapped and, in many instances, they were detained ? sometimes for days.
A detailed report by human rights group Amnesty International says local authorities in Sichuan province have waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against grieving parents who are calling for an investigation into the thousands of schools that collapsed during the May 12 earthquake.
Many parents believe the schools were shoddily built.
"I and other parents sought help from the authorities," said one heart-broken father who lost his 16-year-old son. "They did not help ... but insulted us in return."
A number of parents were repeatedly detained, one for 21 days. The youngest detainee was just 8 years old, the report notes.
Out of safety concerns, Amnesty omitted all interviewees' names or other information that could be used to identify them.
"By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died, the government is creating more misery," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific program director. "The government must cease harassing earthquake survivors who are seeking answers and trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives."
Chinese authorities have confirmed 87,150 people died or are still missing from last year's quake.
But they have refused to reveal how many were students.
In a single school alone however ? Beichuan Middle School ? more than 1,000 students died at their desks when the quake struck. But some buildings nearby withstood the quake's force.
"I want to seek justice for the dead students," said another father, whose 15-year-old son died in the Beichuan school. "Some of their bodies are still buried under the rubble and we will never find them. That's why it is so heartbreaking for many parents."
Parents suspect local officials and contractors cut corners either to save money or pocket funds earmarked for properly built schools.
Last September, a senior official from a Beijing-appointed expert committee admitted at a press conference that some of the schools that collapsed had, in fact, been erected too quickly.
But since then local Sichuan officials have stonewalled, insisting the force of the quake alone was to blame. According to one report, senior provincial officials decided last month there will be no investigation into the construction quality of the collapsed schools.
That decision contradicts a promise made last May by Housing and Development Minister Jiang Weixin that an investigation would be conducted and those responsible for unsafe school buildings would be punished.
But the only punishment meted out so far has been to parents.
Those who've dared to speak up, organize protests or plan to travel to Beijing to address higher authorities, have been locked up without due process in China's so-called "black jails" ? places of detention that are not part of the official jail system.
"We didn't break any provision of the law," one father told Amnesty. "(Yet) they detained me without any legal basis for seven days."
Said another, "They locked me up in a small room and conducted forced political education. They told me repeatedly that the country was suffering from disasters, therefore we must not raise questions about ... construction. They threatened me to stop, if not, they would get me."
When police came for one parent and he was not home, they took away his brother instead. The brother was also made to bring an 8-year-old nephew.
"The 8-year-old did nothing but cry," the brother said. "Those who detained him tried to give him bread and milk hoping that he would stop crying after being fed."
Both were released the next morning.
But unlawful detention wasn't the only tactic used, the report noted.
Local and Beijing lawyers were warned not to represent parents in any planned legal action.
"Chinese courts are not independent," one lawyer explained. "Once they face pressure from the government they will back down ... courts will follow their instructions."