Support parents and survivors of the Sichuan earthquake

"Except the school building, other buildings in Beichuan county did not collapse during the earthquake. What kind of earthquake was this?" asks a father of a 15-year-old student who died at Beichuan Middle School.

One year ago, on 12 May 2008, at 2:28pm, a devastating earthquake measuring an 8.0 magnitude hit Wenchuan county, in China's southwestern Sichuan province. Casualties and damage from the earthquake were reported across several provinces, including Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan.

The latest official figures, as of 25 September 2008, put the number of deaths at 69,227 with 17,923 still missing and 374,643 injured. Many of the dead and injured were school children.

On 6 May 2009, two days after the publication of Amnesty International report Justice Denied: Harassment of Sichuan earthquake survivors and activists, the Chinese authorities for the first time released official statistics for the number of students who died in the earthquake, putting the toll at 5,335. The Sichuan authorities again denied any responsibility for the death of students, claiming that it was the massive earthquake that caused the collapse of many school buildings.

Many parents and survivors of the earthquake have claimed that school buildings suffered disproportionately high damage, compared with other official buildings and residences.

Families believe that local-level corruption led to poor standards of construction of the schools. They believe the deaths of their children could have been prevented.

As a result, the number of students who died in their classrooms during the earthquake is a sensitive topic for the Chinese officials.

Hundreds of parents who tried to protest and ask the government to investigate the collapse of the school buildings have been harassed by police. Many have been arbitrarily detained and put in "black jails" or forced into "study classes".

"Yinghua township government said that it the collapse of school buildings was caused by the earthquake," one grieving parent told Amnesty International.

"I countered by saying that the schools were substandard and requested an examination by the construction department. An investigation was conducted … However, the government has never replied to our petitions and the investigation report has never been made available to us."

Another parent, who was detained in a "black jail", said: "They (local police) detained me once for two days. They locked me up in a small room and conducted forced political education… They threatened me to stop pursuing justice, if not, they would get me."

"I dare not work at my shop now and only stay at home because I was the only one working there. They could come and detain me at any time. I’m scared," said another.

On the one-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, Amnesty International has called on the Chinese authorities to take immediate action to ensure the justice system works for parents and survivors by allowing them unhindered access to independent and impartial tribunals and lawyers and activists who have offered assistance.

"By unlawfully locking up parents of children who died, the government is creating more misery for people who have said in some cases they lost everything in the Sichuan Earthquake," said Roseann Rife Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Deputy Program Director.

"The government of China must cease harassing earthquake survivors who are seeking answers and trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives."