Family members of the six detained Mongolian herders, namely Mr. Tulguur, Mr. Tugusbayar, Mr. Jargalt, Mr. Nasandalai, Mr. Munkhbayar and Mr. Ulaanbar, from Bayannuur Gachaa (a gachaa consists of several villages) of Shinsume Sum (sum is equivalent to a township) in eastern Southern (Inner) Mongolia’s Ongniud Banner (“weng niu te qi” in Chinese), were given a notice by the Chinese authorities informing them of the scheduled trial of the six detainees at the Ongniud Banner People’s Court on November 13, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Beijing Time.

The six herders were taken away by police after a clash with Chinese workers from a state-run forestry company named Shuang He Forestry that illegally occupied their grazing land. Following more than three weeks of detention and interrogation, they were formally arrested on June 24, 2013, for alleged involvement in “sabotaging production and management.” On September 13, 2013, the Ongniud Banner Public Security Bureau transferred the case to the Ongniud Banner People’s Procuratorate to prosecute the six herders.

According to Ms. Sarangowaa, wife of the detained herders’ leader Mr. Tulguur, as a “kill the chicken to frighten the monkey” message to all Southern Mongolian herders, the Chinese authorities are determined to hand down harsh sentences, possibly up to seven years in jail to the six detainees.

“All six herders are preparing to plead not guilty at the trial. We really would like any foreign journalist from Beijing or elsewhere to come observe and cover this unjust trial,” Ms. Sarangowaa told the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) over the phone.

“We tried to contact local news media for a possible coverage of the trial. But all of them told us that they have been given an order from the higher authorities not to cover any case of herders’ protests and grazing land appropriation,” Sarangowaa added. More information on the case is available on our website at: http://www.smhric.org/news_501.htm and http://www.smhric.org/news_498.htm. The contact information of the family members and lawyers of the detainees can be provided by SMHRIC upon request.

In another similar case, three Mongolian herders, namely Mr. Tsengelt, Mr. Erdendalai and Mr. Erhembayar from Halgait Village, Ar-hundelen Township of eastern Southern Mongolia’s Zaruud Banner, were taken away by police 10 days ago as the Chinese Communist Party Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee approached.

Mr. Galsang, uncle of Tsengelt, told SMHRIC over the phone that the three herders are currently being held at the Zaruud Banner Detention Center.

“The Public Security Bureau refused to give us a legal explanation of the arrest and detention. They said they already sent us the detention warrant via mail,” Galsang said when asked what was the justification of the arrest and detention, “but we haven’t received any such warrant.”

According to SMHRIC’s previous communications with Mr. Tsengelt, the local government has illegally appropriated a large piece of the herders’ grazing land and sold it to Chinese mining companies including Lu Huo Coal Mining and Yi Cheng Coal Mining without the free, prior and informed consent of the herders.

Under the leadership of Tsengelt, the herders organized themselves and staged multiple protests to urge the authorities to return their land. As a result, the herders have been subjected to frequent police raids and detentions. In 2012 more than 30 herders were arrested and detained.

In July 2013, Tsengelt told SMHRIC that the Public Security Personnel placed him and several other herders under house arrest and guarded them around the clock in their residences. To prevent the herders from marching elsewhere to stage protests, the Banner Public Security Bureau confiscated the identification cards of all herders.

In August 2013, the local government issued a document entitled the “Zaruud Banner People’s Government Notice on the Implementation of the Resettlement of Ar-hundelen Area Ecological Migrants” (see below the original document). According to the document, nine villages of the Mongolian herders were subjected to displacement from land.

“More than 1200 herders from about 400 herders’ households have been ordered to give up the grazing land to move to the suburban Lu Bei, capital of Zaruud Banner,” Galsang told SMHRIC about the forced resettlement project that triggered further resistance from the herders.

“No one was willing to give up their homes and land. But our houses are demolished, and the entire community has disintegrated,” Galsang, who managed to find a temporary shelter in the town of Lu Bei, expressed his anger over the phone.

“The government promised us apartments and jobs, but none have materialized,” Galsang added.

 

Appeal from family members of detainees of Ongniud Banner to news media