Police Beat Former Labor Camp Inmates

Chinese police beat three former inmates at the notorious Masanjia Reeducation-Through-Labor Camp who gathered at the Shenyang public security building to petition authorities for compensation for the suffering they endured. Police started beating the women after one of them used her phone to take a picture of her registration documents.

Hundreds Escape from Black Jail in Beijing

About 600-700 petitioners escaped from a black jail in Beijing during the Chinese New Year holiday. One petitioner interviewed by Radio Free Asia said that prisoners had been denied water, quilts, and adequate food. She also claimed that interceptors, local officials tasked with escorting petitioners back to their home towns, had beaten many prisoners, leaving one inmate with a hole in her head.

Thousands Protest Land Seizures in Fujian

Several thousand people gathered in the coastal town of Quanzhou, Fujian province to protest the confiscation of their farmland. One protester claimed that farmers had not received a penny in compensation for their land. Another villager claimed that farmers had only received 900 Yuan ($150) in compensation for their plots.

Mass Protest in Wuhan Results in Beatings and Extrajudicial Detention

Approximately 600 people gathered outside of the National People’s Congress building in Wuhan, Hebei province to protest the practice of local authorities forcibly evicting residents from their land to make way for commercial development projects. The forcible expropriation of land has long served as a primary cause of unrest and mass protests in China. A recent study found that nearly half of all rural residents have had land forcibly taken from them.

Petitioners Stage Mass Suicide in Protest of Forced Evictions

Thirteen petitioners who traveled to Beijing to gain compensation for being forcibly evicted from their land staged a mass suicide attempt after Beijing authorities dismissed their complaints. The petitioners decided to simultaneously drink pesticide on a public street on Human Rights Day to protest their treatment at the hands of local and central government authorities. As of Thursday, five of the petitioners were incommunicado, but eight of them were confirmed to be no longer in critical condition.