Inner Mongolia official disputes report of martial law in region .

An official in Inner Mongolia is disputing an Amnesty International report that parts of the area are under martial law.
"We did not enforce martial law. Everything is normal," said Chao Lumen, an official with the information department of Xilingol prefecture.

In the story released Friday, Amnesty International detailed protests in and about the metropolis of Xilinhot, the prefecture`s seat of government.

"Nothing happened here. There were no demonstrations or protests," Chao said Monday.
The Amnesty report said Chinese authorities declared martial law in some parts of the autonomous region in an apparent answer to years of protests.

The area has long been the picture of ethnic tension between Mongolians, who have lived in the country for centuries, and the Han people, who arrived in larger numbers after the creation of the People`s Republic of China in 1949. Han people are the majority ethnic group in China.

According to the human rights organization, 2,000 Mongolian students took to the streets Wednesday in Xilinhot, in a picture of solidarity with an ethnic Mongolian herder by the key of "Mergen," who was killed before this month when he was hit by a coal truck that was determined by ethnic Hans.

Amnesty reported that the drivers of the coal truck are both in hands of Chinese authorities.
In a clip posted to YouTube that purports to indicate that same demonstration, a great grouping of people, many of whom are young people wearing school uniforms, can be seen walking through the streets.

The students were marching toward the edifice that houses the regional government, shouting, "defend our country and support our rights, according to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. The group refers to the region as "southern" - not "inner" - Mongolia, and would wish to see the region achieve independence or mix with Mongolia.

CNN could not independently verify the legitimacy of the clip.
According to Amnesty, the protests, which started May 23, have been largely peaceful, but at least 18 people were reported injured in confrontations with police northeast of Xilinhot, in Right Ujimchin Banner, or Xi Wu Qi in Mandarin.

"The protests are a wake-up call for the authorities. As in other minority areas, authorities must start heeding the content rather than attacking the messengers," said Catherine Baber, Amnesty`s Asia pacific deputy director.

Protesters say their civilization is under threat as pastoral herders are pushed out from the grasslands and constrained to go to the cities, or to places where animal grazing is not possible, according to Enghebatu Togochog, Director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center.

He traces the need for recent demonstrations to the Chinese central government`s efforts, in late years, to expand coal mining and product in areas that have traditionally been used for grazing.

Source: cnn.com