... Sodmongol, an activist from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China, may be facing prosecution, after being detained while on his way to a United Nations meeting on Indigenous Peoples in New York. His family have not seen him since April, and he is at risk of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance. Sodmongol, who works to promote the rights of ethnic Mongolians living in China, has not had any contact with relatives and lawyers since 18 April, when he was detained by police at Beijing airport. He had been trying to board a plane to New York, where he was due to attend the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The authorities have not confirmed that they are holding him, or where he is, and his family has been denied the right to visit him. However, sources in China suggest that he is in custody in the city of Chao Yang, in Liaoning Province, which borders the Mongolia autonomous region. According to the same sources in China, the People’s Procuratorate in Chao Yang  ...

           ... Soaring temperatures, brutal winds and deeper droughts are becoming the new norm in Inner Mongolia, the Chinese Autonomous Region distinguished by a sea of grass that climate change is steadily turning into an ocean of dust. Two years ago Circle of Blue published “Reign of Sand,” the most thorough online multi-media account of the causes and consequences of the perilous “Yellow Dragon,” the choking spring dust storms that start in Inner Mongolia and sweep across China, affecting breathing and manufacturing as far away as Japan and both Koreas. This week, Circle of Blue updated its special report and found that conditions are no better in some places, and that the deterioration is accelerating in most of Inner Mongolia, an arid and nearly treeless plain of about half the size of the United States. In March, China’s capital city, Beijing, was coated by a layer of orange dust from a sandstorm that originated from the deserts of Inner Mongolia. In June, several provinces in northeast China issued an orange alert ...

           ... Opponents of the government's plans say herders who have grazed the grasslands for centuries are key to solving the problem, and should not be blamed for spreading deserts. Studies by Nobel prize winning economist Elinor Ostrom showed that when China imposed agricultural collectives on grassland areas that were formerly home to nomadic peoples who moved herds with the seasons, they became degraded. Privatisation in the decades since China decided to follow a path of "reform and opening up" caused further damage. China says it is improving environmental stewardship constantly and massive changes in society and living standards mean many Mongolian nomads need to settle down. Over a quarter of China's land area was covered by desert in 2007, and a nationwide survey published the next year found that serious erosion is scouring over a third of the country, putting its crops and water supply at risk. "We will put in place conservation compensation mechanisms, ...

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           ... He told me that this spring two officials from the Political-Legal Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region visited and talked to him. On another occasion, officials from the Political-Legal Department of Chifeng City talked to him, asking him about his plans following release. These officials were very polite and offered him freedom to choose either leaving or staying in the country. They stated that if he chooses to stay, they can help him and his son find jobs. Hada did not accept their meaningless “offer”. He said “This is meaningless that they tell me this after they put me through this extreme unjust hardship for this long”. This is actually a trick they use to find out what Hada thinks now. Hada stated that he will pursue a lawsuit against the unjust trial of his case after his release since this is indeed an ethnic issue but has been deliberately distorted to “separatism” and “espionage”. As a result he was sentenced to a 15 year jail term. This is unjust and we do not accept this ruling ...