The Global Human Rights Torch Relay will be lit in Athens on Aug 9, 2007. There are already over 10,000 signatures collected around the world to boycott Olympics in Beijing.
More signatures collected from residents in Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, remain unknown to the public because of the CCP's local blockade. These residents yearn to see the torch in China.
We Want Human Rights, Not Olympics
Beijing has intensified its surveillance over residents in Jixi, especially those who had been interviewed by overseas media, to suppress their cry "We want human rights, not Olympics!"
A representative from the unemployed miners of the Jixi Mining Group told the reporter, "We heard that the Human Rights Torch Relay starts August 9. Will it stop by China? We definitely will embrace it. I don't have the financial resources, otherwise I would join the event!" Another unemployed miner said, "We want democracy and human rights. Civilians barely have food to survive because of the corrupt local government and police. If we encounter illness or natural disasters, we can't even afford to pay off those officials. We want human rights now!"
A human rights activist from Tuanshanzi Village, Jixi City said, "We want to boycott the Beijing 2008 [Olympics] by collecting signatures." They have collected many signatures but couldn't deliver them to the outside world because of the CCP's blockade and suppression.
Police Interrogations
The authority recently arrested Yang Chunlin, a democratic activist from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, and cut off the communication of many who support " We want human rights, not Olympics " to the outside world. Police interrogate supporters and in the mean time deny there is a blacklist of the supporters. Police also monitor cell phone communications of human rights representatives.
On July 2, 2007, two local police interrogated human rights representitives from Tuanshanzi Village, Jixi City, regarding their interview with overseas media. The police wanted the list of supporters of "We want human rights, not Olympics." A representative told the reporter the police came and asked for the names of the supporters saying those are the people who attempted to recall the head of the village.
As the date of the Torch Relay is approaching, the CCP's surveillance intensifies. The reporter tried to contact villagers in Fujin City who lost their lands. They either refused to pick up the phone or told the reporter, "Our phones are all monitored." The reporter called the Public Safety Bureaus of Fujin City and Jiamusi City, no one answered.
Background on Farmers Who Lost Their Land
Twelve years ago, a man named Zhang Zhende, claiming to be a businessman from South Korea, went to Fujin City as an investor and colluded with local government in order to embezzle large amounts of insurance from the state. Zhang and the local government illegally acquired 95 thousand acres of land from over 40 thousand farmers in 63 villages to "help develop the area."
As the farmers strongly protested, the Fujin City Public Safety Bureau worked with the underground criminals–they burned down villagers' houses and schools, and shot and injured many villagers. The farmers were forced to relinquish their land in the end. Afterward, the government, in the name of constructing water infrastructure, compulsorily acquired 200 thousand acres of land from the farmers without giving any compensation.
To try to get their lands back, the villagers went to the central government to appeal one after another over the past 12 years. The central government brutally suppressed the farmers and had them pay a price for fighting for their rights.
