BBC News, Beijing
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The BBC’s Martin Patience says some residents have reported being attacked by “thugs”
Forced evictions in China have risen significantly in recent years as local officials sell off land to property developers, Amnesty International says.
Many cases involve violence and harassment, in what the group called “a gross violation of human rights”.
Pressure on local officials to meet economic goals and vested interests were behind the coercion, it said.
These evictions are a rumbling cause of social discontent and have led to protests across the country.
All land in China is effectively controlled by the state, and laws allow local governments to claim land for urban development projects.
Many of the brick-constructed homes in the Beijing neighbourhood of Cai Shi Kou are being demolished. There are mounds of rubble strewn along the narrow alleyways.
While many residents have left, some people still live there and are refusing to move out. But they need to be careful.
One man told me that stick-wielding thugs had attacked residents in one part of the neighbourhood.
“They were cruel and brutal,” he said. “They hit us so hard with the sticks that they broke. My back was seriously injured.”
He said the thugs had been hired by the government-owned construction company to intimidate them into leaving their homes.
The man said the police had arrested some of thugs. But he was doubtful as to whether justice would be done. He said the construction boss was “powerful” and was putting pressure on the police about the case.
Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty’s senior director of research in Hong Kong, told the BBC that seizing and selling off land was how local authorities were paying back funds borrowed to finance stimulus packages during the economic downturn.
“The Chinese Communist Party promotes officials who deliver growth seemingly at any cost, and land development for roads, factories, residential complexes and so on is seen as the most direct path to visible results,” she said.
Amnesty said the system was open to abuse and evictees often received little notice, no consultation and only a fraction of the value of their home in compensation.
Such cases have led to violent clashes between residents and police or private security guards on several occasions, the report said.
