 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Teacher sent to labour camp for China quake photos
Beijing (AFP) July 30, 2008 A teacher in southwest China has been sent to a labour camp for publicising photos of school buildings that collapsed in the devastating May 12 earthquake, a rights group said Wednesday. Liu Shaokun was jailed without trial after posting photos on the Internet showing schools flattened in the magnitude-8.0 quake in Sichuan province, the New York-based Human Rights in China said. Liu's wife was informed by police last week that the school teacher had been sentenced to one year "reeducation through labour" for "disturbing public order," it said. Since he was detained on June 25 on suspicion of "inciting subversion," Liu's family has been denied access to him and were not formally notified of his detention as required by the law, it said. Officials at the police station in the city of Guanghan, where Liu was first held, refused to comment on the case when contacted by AFP. "Instead of investigating and pursuing accountability for shoddy and dangerous school buildings, the authorities are resorting to (labour camps) to silence and lock up concerned citizens like teacher Liu Shaokun," said Sharon Hom, head of the rights group. "These actions further undermine human rights and the 'peaceful Olympics' called for by the authorities, and reflect an irresponsible callousness towards the Sichuan earthquake victims and parents of the thousands of children killed by collapsed school buildings." The May 12 disaster left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing, including 9,000 school children, according to official reports. Some parents of children killed in collapsed schools allege that local officials colluded with builders to allow them to get away with cheap and shoddy work. Rights organisations have accused the Chinese government of arresting large numbers of opponents in the last few months to prevent them disturbing the Olympic Games. Beijing has denied the charges. On July 19, veteran Chinese rights campaigner Huang Qi, who was organising parents of children killed in the earthquake, was formally arrested for "illegal possession of state secrets," his wife said on Saturday. Huang was detained in the Sichuan capital Chengdu on June 10 and has not been seen since. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
China insurers expect 1.5 bln dlrs in snow, quake claims: officials
Beijing (AFP) July 29, 2008China's insurers expect to pay out more than 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion dollars) in claims due to the earthquake in the southwest and blizzards at the start of the year, officials said Tuesday. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook