The villagers from Dongzhou in southern China were sentenced after a closed trial. Another eight protesters were injured, marking the first time Chinese authorities have fired on and killed protesters since the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing in 1989, which took place 17 years ago next Sunday.
“In the absence of public disclosure about the role of officials in the deaths of at least three protesters in Dongzhou in December 2005, the sentencing of villagers involved in the protests undermines confidence in the impartiality of the Chinese legal system,” the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.The incident in Dongzhou was one of several acts of defiance across China since last year, with the root causes always land grabs, pollution, corruption and the feeling of being left behind by runaway economic growth.The state-run China Daily has reported that at least 2.5 million farmers nationwide are losing more than 400,000 acres of land a year to rapidly growing cities.In Dongzhou, the villagers were angry over the wind power plant, which would feature coal-powered turbines being built five miles from the village. Human rights groups called for an investigation after 13 Chinese villagers were jailed for taking part in a riot last year, when police shot dead three people protesting over not receiving compensation for land which was seized for a wind- power plant. During negotiations with the UK, France and Germany last year it did agree to temporarily suspend enrichment but accused the European countries of trying to stall its programme indefinitely.Analysts have said that Iran might enter into a similar arrangement with the US if there was a clear time limit on its enrichment freeze.. Iranian officials should be careful and give a telling response to America’s suggestion,” the paper’s editorial said.Iran has consistently said it will not give up enrichment, casting the issue as a basic question of national sovereignty. Western diplomats often accuse Iran of missing opportunities to improve relations by holding out in negotiations for unrealistic terms.For its part, Iran remains suspicious of US motives. An editorial in Kayhan, a semi-official daily newspaper, dismissed the US offer as an attempt to influence the foreign ministers’ meeting by making Iran appear vulnerable to pressure.

“America wants to sell this message politically to Russia and China … This is what was said in her previous speeches and interviews. It lacked a logical and new solution to solve Iran’s nuclear issue,” he added.His comments could be the opening gambit in a new round of horse-trading. They want a way to start diplomatic dialogue without being seen as giving in to Western pressure.”Mr Mottaki spoke after a late-night meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say over Iran’s nuclear programme “Rice’s statement was not something new. “We have seen before that responses change and a later response could seek to meet the Americans half way. “My impression is that this is not the final response,” said Shirzad Bozorgmehr, managing editor of the English-language daily Iran News. Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s Foreign Minister, said that Iran was “ready to hold talks over mutual concerns”, but added: “We will not give up our nation’s natural right [to enrichment], we will not hold talks over it.”Mr Mottaki’s comments could be an attempt to buy time before formulating a definitive response to the US offer, analysts in Tehran said.

But the American President warned that the dispute would head for the UN Security Council, which is empowered to order sanctions, if Iran rejected the international demands.”If they continue their obstinacy, if they continue to say to the world ‘We really don’t care what your opinion is’, then the world is going to act in concert,” Mr Bush said. Sanctions could entail visa bans and a freeze on assets of senior Iranian officials before economic measures are considered.President Bush said the US would wait for a “firm position” from Iran after the Iranian Foreign Minister ruled out suspending Iran’s uranium enrichment programme. Details of the package were yet to be released at the time of publication.
Russia and China had until now been adamant in their opposition to arguments from Britain, the US, France and Germany that Iran should be threatened with UN sanctions for failing to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can eventually lead to the production of a bomb.But Margaret Beckett, the British Foreign Secretary, who chaired the talks, hoped that Russia and China might soften their position in the light of Wednesday’s shift in policy made public by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State.The American official offered the first direct talks with Iran in 27 years as a way out of the impasse – on condition that Iran “fully and verifiably” suspends enrichment and reprocessing activities.It is understood the draft package agreed to in Vienna includes an offer of a light water nuclear reactor and a guaranteed foreign supply of atomic fuel so that Iran would not need to enrich uranium itself. The foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, overcame months of differences at talks in Vienna in order to reach agreement on the package of incentives and penalties aimed at securing a diplomatic solution to the stand-off with Iran.