Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010corruption raised by villagers. Despite these pronouncements, however, CHRD receiveda number of reports accusing local governments of manipulating election procedures andbribing and intimidating villagers with impunity, effectively depriving eligible voters oftheir right to vote in village elections. For example:• On May 26, the authorities in Penglu Village, Qianjiang City, Hubei Province,reportedly failed to follow proper procedures during village elections. Instead ofvoting at a designated location at a designated time, voters were asked to vote attheir homes, and some were given bribes and others were intimidated into votingfor a certain candidate. More than ten villagers were unable to vote because theauthorities “ran out of ballots.” This election was a redo of a previous electionheld on November 20, 2008, the result of which was nullified due to seriousviolations of election procedures. 89• On May 29, in an election in Xiaochen Village, Ruzhou City, Henan Province, alocal tyrant named Chen Shouxu ( ) was chosen as the village head. Chen’sbrother, a high-ranking police officer in Ruzhou City, reportedly threatenedvillagers that they would face “serious consequences” if they did not vote forChen. Following Chen Shouxu’s election, he sought out Yang Qi ( a 46-year-old villager whom Chen believed had not voted for him. When Yang said hewould report his vote-rigging to higher authorities, Chen Shouxu called hisbrother, who tied Yang up and beat him repeatedly with three other policemenfrom the Ruzhou City PSB. Yang suffered multiple internal injuries and afterhaving to pay for medical treatment, he incurred a large debt and is now destitute.Yang and his family have complained to the Ruzhou City PSB, but reportedly noaction has been taken against the alleged torturers. 90杨 续 守 陈奇 ),CHRD also received reports of villagers and activists threatened for monitoring elections.For example, on March 11, a group of villagers from Yuekou Town, Tianmen City,Hubei Province submitted a letter to various local government agencies alleging that thecurrent local People’s Congress representative was not elected according to legalprocedures. On March 14, a group of policemen from Yuekou Town National SecurityUnit threatened the villagers regarding the letter. Having still not received a response,villagers went to several different government offices in Tianmen City on April 27. Theywere sent back and forth between officials in different departments, who warned themthat they would be punished for publishing their complaints on websites based overseas. 91For those individuals who may have been elected as village heads according to properprocedures, it is unclear to what extent they enjoy any independent power over villageaffairs. The seizure and forcible demolition of buildings belonging to Baihutou Village inGuangxi Province was a striking example of how, despite the promise of “democraticmanagement by villagers,” villagers’ wishes were overridden by those of unelectedofficials higher up in the hierarchy. Baihutou Village is a part of Yintan Town, which isin turn a part of Beihai City, Guangxi Province. In April 2009, the village committee sealwas seized from the elected village chief, Xu Kun ( by officials from Yintan Town.Without Xu’s or the villagers’ knowledge, the seal was then used to authorize a contractthat permitted the forcible demolition of several buildings belonging to the village and许23坤 ),