AUTHORITIES in Beichuan, the county in Sichuan province closest to the epicentre of the earthquake on May 12th, 2008, have clashed with groups of petitioners trying to go to Beijing to draw attention to infringements of their rights, a rights website has reported.
About 50 people who suffered during the earthquake were trying to board a train at Mianyang when security personnel boarded and had an “intense confrontation” with the Beijing-bound petitioners, the Sichuan-based Tianwang rights website reported.
The villagers are keen to petition the authorities in Beijing about how promises to resettle victims of the earthquake, in which 80,000 people died or are missing, have not been met.
Also, parents of thousands of schoolchildren killed in the earthquake have been harassed and detained by police when they tried to sue the government over allegations of shoddy construction in local schools.
Lawyers all over China have been warned not to take on their cases.
The home of one local activist, Li Yiqian, was surrounded by police, while other activists have been taken into custody.
Tianwang has also reported over the past few days that police have detained a number of local rights defenders on trumped-up charges, and that one mother was detained for making microblog postings about her situation.
