Dozens of victims of the devastating 2008 earthquake in Sichuan have been detained for questioning after they tried to probe allegations of official corruption, a Sichuan-based rights group said on Tuesday.
Huang Qi, who runs the Tianwang64 rights website, said a group of petitioners from Beichuan county, one of the worst hit by the 8.9 degree quake, were detained at the Leigu township police station on Sunday, where they were questioned by police and township government officials.
Elsewhere in the county, the head of the Yongchang township police station was visiting the family home of petitioner and quake victim Li Yigan, Huang's website reported.
The moves come after officials from neighboring Wenchuan county detained around 20 people on Aug. 21 out of a group of 52 who traveled to Beijing to complain.
The Wenchuan petitioners had failed to get their complaint heard, however, and arrived back in Sichuan last week, the website said.
"As well as the summonses issued on Sept. 4, there were two or three people questioned yesterday, but this morning, the scope suddenly widened," Huang said on Tuesday.
"There were probably around six more people called for questioning today, according to the information I have now," he said.
Huang said more reports could have been made and not got through.
"People in Chengdu aren't able to send texts to my mobile phone," he said. "I probably only get around 10 percent of texts sent to me."
Phone call
Beichuan petitioner Li Tanghui said she had received a phone call from local police on Monday saying they wanted to talk to him.
"I'm away from home today," Li said. "I'm certain he wanted to know why we were planning to go to Beijing."
Dozens of Beichuan villagers whose homes collapsed during the 2008 quake, in which at least 70,000 people died, say they have yet to be allocated new homes under government reconstruction plans, and are calling for a probe into allegations of official corruption.
A second petitioner, Wei Yuancui, said the government had demolished their home but refused to offer the family a new one under quake reconstruction plans.
Wei said officials had also visited his family to ask about the plan to petition the central government in Beijing.
"I told them, my whole family hasn't been allocated a house yet," Wei said. "I asked them the reason that we haven't been given somewhere to live."
Wei said when he had visited township officials about his housing needs, they had denied demolishing his home. "They wouldn't sort this out for me," he said.
Septic tank
Meanwhile, other petitioners reported harassment from local officials after making a fuss about their housing allocation.
Li said officials had built a septic tank near her home in order to put pressure on the family to move.
"The tank is full of feces and urine," Li said.
Similar visits were made by local officials to the home of petitioner Luo Xiaoli, Luo said on Tuesday.
"There were four of them: the [government] office director and some from the police station," Luo said. "They wanted me to sign something, but I wouldn't sign."
China’s army of petitioners say they are repeatedly stonewalled, detained in “black jails,” beaten, and harassed by the authorities if they try to take a complaint against local government actions to a higher level of government.
Activists are becoming increasingly vocal about China’s black jails, which they say function as detention centers holding protesters without due process or right to appeal.
The number of ordinary Chinese traveling to Beijing to pursue grievances against the government swelled ahead of the Party's 90th anniversary, as petitioners hoped their cases would get a more sympathetic hearing.
Among those petitioning about the Sichuan earthquake are bereaved parents who want a probe into allegations of official corruptions and shoddy construction materials in local schools, which collapsed in the earthquake, killing at least 5,000 children.
Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.