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Grieving Kin In South China Fear Cover-Up
Beijing (AFP) Dec 13, 2005 Residents of a south Chinese village Tuesday accused authorities of covering up the death toll from a recent shooting incident, as a group of dissidents urged an end to the siege imposed on the community. With little official information given, angry and terrified residents of the village of Dongzhou in Guangdong province said they suspected the government had secretly burnt the corpses of some of those killed in the confrontation. "They can't hide the truth," said Lin Yijing, whose 26-year-old brother was visiting family and making preparations to get married when he was shot and killed after going out to find his mother and grandfather. "I simply ask the government to give a reasonable resolution. My brother only went out to see what was happening. We didn't think they would open fire." The shooting happened last Tuesday when up to 1,000 residents of Dongzhou, who were protesting the construction of a big coal-fired power plant, clashed with hundreds of People's Armed Police (PAP). Official media said three villagers were killed when the soldiers opened fire, but some villagers said as many as 30 people died in what would be the worst violence by Chinese security forces since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. A group of well-known Chinese dissidents issued an open letter condemning Guangdong authorities and calling for an end to the crisis in the village. "We express our protest and condemnation of the Guangdong authorities who are responsible for this bloody incident," said the open letter, dated December 10. "The central government should take effective measures to stop the violent suppression and lift the PAP's siege of the city." The letter, posted on the overseas dissident website Epoch Times, carried the signatures of Liu Xiaobo, a Beijing-based writer, and 13 others, many of them high-profile critics of the Chinese government. One Dongzhou woman told AFP by telephone word was spreading that soldiers took the bodies of people killed in the shooting to a nearby crematorium to burn them without letting the families see them. "I heard they had 21 bodies. They dressed the dead in military uniforms. But the crematorium staff were afraid to cremate the bodies when they saw the gunshot wounds on them," she said. Local crematoriums denied any bodies were brought there. Hospitals, including one in Shanwei city where many of the seriously injured were taken, have refused to comment. Day after day, relatives in the tightly guarded village are going out onto the streets and crying openly, hoping the government will tell them whether their loved ones are dead or alive and demanding justice. "There were several people out there again today, mostly elderly women, crying at the bridge in our village. They were crying very hard," said the woman reached by phone. Some of the women were family members of around 50 people whom villagers said were still missing. "Most of the missing are probably dead. That's why they are so sad, they can't see the bodies," the woman said. Security remained tight in the village Tuesday, with PAP officers continuing to check the identification cards of people entering and leaving the village, residents said. Authorities were also imposing a news blackout on the village. Located only about two hours by bus from the border with Hong Kong, residents can receive Hong Kong television channels, but local censors pull the plug whenever there is a news report about the incident, residents said. State press announced Sunday that the commanding officer of the paramilitary forces had been arrested for "mishandling" the situation. Residents said Monday that at least nine villagers had been arrested and local authorities had put up fugitive notices for many others. The Guangdong government office declined to comment Tuesday. The foreign ministry rejected comparisons between the shooting and the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators. "I disagree with comparisons between this issue and the 1989 incident," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. "On the 1989 incident, this disturbance, we already reached a conclusion, but for this incident (in Dongzhou), I'm not aware of the relevant situation."
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