By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – On Thursday, Amnesty International released a report entitled Standing Their Ground which stated that large stimulus expenditures after the global financial crisis are responsible for a spike in evictions over the past three years in China.

According to Aljazeera, hasty construction surges primarily caused the increase in people being forcibly removed from their homes.  This was especially evident in years 2008 and 2010, during which China hosted the Olympics in Beijing and World Expo in Shanghai.

Though citizens are able to purchase and sell land rights which last for 70 years, the Chinese government legally owns all land.  As a result of recent property disputes, violence and instability reign.

Amnesty International’s 85-page report, assembled between February 2010 and January 2012, asserts that violence against residents has resulted in imprisonment, self-immolations, and death.

“The problem of forced evictions represents the single most significant source of popular discontent in China and a serious threat to social and political stability,” read the report.

According to Amnesty, nine of forty forced evictions resulted in the deaths of people resisting eviction.  A 70-year-old woman was allegedly buried alive by an excavator as she attempted to prevent workers from demolishing her home.  In another incident, authorities purportedly took a baby from its mother and refused to return it until she signed an eviction order.

“Potentially, millions of people in the country are at risk of these illegal forced evictions and indeed protests about forced evictions are the single biggest issue of populist discontent in the country,” said Amnesty’s senior director of research, Nicola Duckworth.  “So it’s a huge issue; it’s been going on for many, many years. We feel it’s rising in scale now and it’s really time to put an end to it,” continued Ms. Duckworth.

In response, the government stated that Amnesty’s report lacks credibility.

Last year, the government implemented regulations forbidding the use of violence in urban evictions.  It further granted urban owners confronting eviction new protections such as the right to air complaints in public hearings, file appeals, and collect suitable compensation.

Nevertheless, these recent regulations neither apply to people in rural areas or renters.

For more information, please see:

Los Angles Times – Forced eviction on the rise in China, Amnesty International says – 12 October 2012

Aljazeera – Report says forced evictions rise in China – 11 October 2012

The Guardian – Chinese forced eviction on the rise, says Amnesty – 11 October 2012