Death in Custody
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) condemns the death in custody of yet another Uyghur religious scholar, which was reported by relatives early this week. 88-year old Abdulnehed Mehsum died while being held in a political indoctrination camp in Hotan prefecture in November 2017, though the death was not reported until May 27, 2018. His death…
The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) has received confirmation from the relatives of Muhammad Salih Hajim of his death in custody. The prominent Quarnic scholar and Uyghur religious leader was 82 years old. On January 24, 2018, UHRP expressed concern about reports of his detention in Urumchi. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown, but he…
Sentence: Sentenced in April 2010 to life imprisonment for crimes allegedly committed during the July 2009 incidents; died in detention in November 2011 following allegations of abuse and torture. The Uyghur teenager named Noor-Ul-Islam Sherbaz (born on 16 January 1992) was detained on 27 July 2009 in Aksu because of his alleged participation in demonstrations in…
Uyghur Muslims: Victims of the World's Largest Ethnic Cleansing.
Published by CJ Werleman Independent, a crowdfunded investigative journalism project 10th January 2018
China is carrying out a systematic campaign to ethnically cleanse up to 15 million Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang (East Turkistan), or rather what was East Turkistan until China began occupying and colonizing the region in 1949.
Moreover, China is sparing no effort to eradicate any memory or proof of Uyghur Muslim life. It is truly the stuff of dystopian nightmares, or a reenactment of the worst genocides carried out in the previous century. The handful of personal accounts that trickle out from behind China’s total control of the Internet and the media invoke memories of the Communist state’s darkest days — the period of the “Cultural revolution,” when religious people and sites were wiped from the country’s landscape.
For much of the 1970s and 80s, however, an increasingly open China softened its stance towards its religious and ethnic minorities, but this relative “openness” provided the space for minorities to express their economic, political, and religious grievances. When Uyghur Muslims renewed calls for a return to their independence, a status they enjoyed briefly as a sovereign state in the 1940, then known as the East Turkistan Republic, and as former neighboring Soviet states realized independence, China, fearing a growing separatist movement on its western frontier, began its crackdown on Xinjiang (East Turkistan) in the late 1990s.
China’s crackdown turned increasingly vicious when the United States declared its “War on Terrorism” in 2001, with China seizing the opportunity to erroneously portray Uyghur Muslims as one-part of the global Islamic insurgency, going so far to tie Uyghur nationalist dreams with the goals of the terror group al-Qaeda. In doing so, China gambled that it could pretty much do whatever it pleased to Uyghur Muslims, so long as it could dupe Western states into believing it, too, was at war with “radical Islam.” It’s the exact same kind of manipulative ploy successfully deployed by Israel, insofar as the manner the Jewish state mischievously conflates the Palestinian liberation struggle with “Islamic terrorism,” so it’s not like China needed to reinvent the proverbial wheel.
What began as a crackdown, however, has morphed into arguably the world’s largest state sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing.
China has banned any form of expression of Islam in East Turkistan, forcing Uyghur Muslims to publicly denounce their faith and swear allegiance to the Communist state. Recently I posted on Twitter a video of Chinese authorities informing a group of Uyghur Muslims that it is now illegal for them to greet one another with the Islamic greeting, “Assalamu Alaykum.”
Islamic texts are also banned, including the Quran, as are beards that appear “abnormal,” i.e. too Muslim-y. Last year, China published a document titled, “Naming Rules for Ethnic Minorities,” which prohibits names associated with Islam, including Medina, Islam, Imam, Medina, Hajj, and others.
“In setting limits on the naming of Uyghurs, the Chinese government is in fact engaging in political persecution under another guise,” Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exile World Uyghur Congress group, told Radio Free Asia. “They are afraid that people with such names will become alienated from Chinese policies in the region.”
These are just a sample of a new tranche of restrictive and discriminatory measures that have come into force for those living in the region. Uyghur Muslims are now required by the government to have tracking devices installed on their cars and mobile phones.
But baby names, beards, and tracking devices are the least of problems faced by Uyghur Muslims in the face of brutal Chinese oppression, however. Torture, imprisonment, state sanctioned murder and forced disappearances have become the new reality in the Xinjiang (East Turkistan) area.
According to reports from human rights watchers, China has ordered its officials in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) to send almost half of its population to “re-education camps,” otherwise known as forced labor and indoctrination camps, the kind long associated with North Korea.
“We target people who are religious…for example, those who grow beards despite being young,” one Chinese government officer admitted in a report.
When I spoke to Abdugheni Thabit, a Uyghur Muslim journalist who now resides in The Netherlands, he told me that up to 1 million of his people are now in what he calls “prison camps.” Steven Zhang, a Hui Muslim who now lives in Houston, Texas, and who is suing the Chinese government for the murder of his Uyghur Muslim wife, described Thabit’s figure as “very conservative,” claiming, “Within the last 5 years at least 5 million Uyghurs were detained or secretly disappeared.”
Forced disappearances have become a notable and alarming trend in the past year or two. According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Chinese security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 26 journalists, writers, bloggers, and human rights activists alone.
“Victims are often violently abducted, denied their right to due legal process and contact with loved ones or lawyers, and are at high risk of torture while in custody,” observes The Uyghur American Association.
All of which is happening out of the gaze of the international community, thanks largely to China’s control of the Internet and social media. Thabit told me he hadn’t heard from his Uyghur Muslim family in East Turkistan since 2009 as China controls all form of communication coming out of the area. All he knows is they were still alive in 2014, the year his sister, who lives in Washington DC, visited. Again, parallels to North Korea come to mind.
The situation in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) has “further deteriorated,” according to a statementissued by the US Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) earlier this month.
“Civilians are detained without cause, ‘political education’ camps proliferate, and a vast surveillance apparatus invades every aspect of daily life. These rights violations are deeply troubling and risk serving as a catalyst for radicalization,” said CECC chairman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Adding to the woes of Uygur Muslims is the absence of a friend anywhere in the international system. Traditional allies Turkey and Pakistan have been brought into China’s sphere of economic influence, and wealthy Gulf Arab states are too preoccupied with Iran, Qatar, or both.
If history is a guide, and should the existential woes of the Uyghur Muslims continue to fall on the disinterested ears of the international community, then one can be sure that where Chinese “re-education” and “assimilation” programs fail, mass extermination will likely follow.
Political Prisoner's
UYGHUR WOMAN HANDED 10-YEAR PRISON TERM OVER HEADSCARF CLAIM By Shohret Hoshur – A Chinese court in the country’s northwestern Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan) region has jailed a young Uyghur woman for 10 years over claims by a friend that she had promoted the wearing of headscarves, a form of Islamic dress increasingly restricted by Chinese authorities, sources…
XINJIANG AUTHORITIES SENTENCE UYGHUR SCHOLAR TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON By Shohret Hoshur – Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan) region have sentenced a prominent Uyghur theological scholar sponsored by the country’s state-sanctioned Islamic Association to 10 years in prison following his return from Egypt, according to local sources. A faculty member at Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan) Islamic…
Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti celebrates his birthday on 25 October, shortly after he was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for human rights. But who is he and why is he in prison in China? Ilham Tohti is a respected economist who has highlighted abuses against China’s Uighur minority. A renowned Uighur intellectual in China, Ilham…
Sentence: Imprisoned since 25 May 2016 for 20 years Abdusemet Qarihaji (Chinese: Abudusaimaiti Kere’aji), born in 1926 in Yurchi Township of Kelpin County, is a respected Uyghur religious cleric and teacher from Kelpin County who was arrested on May 10th 2016 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Aksu Prefectural People’s Intermediate Court on May…
Medium: Internet Charge:Anti-State Imprisoned: January or February, 2014 Nijat is one of seven students connected to the imprisoned Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who were charged with being involved with Uighurbiz during a secret trial held in November 2014, according to Tohti’s lawyer Li Fangping. Tohti, a writer and blogger, was taken from his home by police on January…
Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: October 1, 2009 Security officials arrested Niyaz, a website manager who is sometimes referred to as Hailaite Niyazi, in his home in the regional capital, Urumqi, according to international news reports. He was convicted of endangering state security and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to reports, Niyaz was…
Nijat Azat, Shabnam Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: July or August 2009 Authorities imprisoned Azat and another journalist, Nureli Obul, in an apparent crackdown on managers of Uighur-language websites. Azat was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Obul to three years on charges of endangering state security, according to international news reports. The Uyghur American…
Medium: Internet Charge: Anti-State Imprisoned: July 14, 2009 Imin was one of several administrators of Uighur-language Web forums who were arrested after the July 2009 riots in Urumqi, in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan) Uighur Autonomous Region. In August 2010, Imin was sentenced to life in prison on charges of separatism, leaking state secrets, and organizing an…
Medium:Internet Charge:Anti-State Imprisoned:July 2009 Abdulla, editor of the state-run China National Radio Uighur service, was detained in July 2009 and accused of instigating ethnic rioting in the Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan) Uighur Autonomous Region through postings on the Uighur-language website Salkin, which he managed in his spare time, according to international news reports. A court in the…
Medium:Internet Charge:Anti-State Imprisoned:July 2009 Kahar, a reporter and blogger, disappeared during ethnic rioting in Urumqi in July 2009. His family announced in February 2014 that he had been convicted of separatism and was being held in Shikho prison outside Shikho city in the far north of Xinjiang (East Turkistan) (East Turkistan), according to the Uighur service of…
Sentenced in 2008 to life imprisonment; charges unknown. According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), authorities in East Turkestan detained Adil Qarim, an imam at a mosque in Kucha county, Aqsu district, during a “security sweep” of Kucha in the aftermath of a reported series of bomb attacks in the county on 10 August…
Medium:Internet, Radio Charge:Anti-State Imprisoned:February 28, 2008 On two occasions in November 2007, Ekberjan used his cell phone to record sounds of riots in his home town of Turpan. The audio files, which included the noise of rioters, sirens, and a voice-over of Ekberjan describing what was happening, were sent to friends in the Netherlands, and…
Sentenced in November 2001 to 20 years and 5 years deprivation of political rights for “splittism”. On 16 February 2000, authorities in Aqsu district, East Turkestan, detained Abduhelil Zunun, who is reported to have translated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Uyghur language, for splittism and for illegally producing or trafficking weapons, ammunition,…
Uyghurs in East Turkestan are routinely imprisoned for political reasons.
Gulmire Imin and Ilham Tohti were jailed for exercising their freedom of speech. Professor Tohti was particularly outspoken on a number of economic, social and cultural issues facing the Uyghurs through his Uighurbiz website. The detention of HIV/AIDS activist, Akbar Imin is a further example of the limited space the Uyghurs have to raise social problems with the state.
The case of Uyghur author, Nurmuhammet Yasin shows the tight constraints placed on artistic freedom. The jailing of Abdukiram Abduweli and Alimjan Yimit are demonstrative of the curbs place on religious rights in East Turkestan. The Chinese authorities suppress a second key marker of Uyghur identity, language, to the extent that when linguist, Abduweli Ayup asserted his linguistic rights by establishing a Uyghur kindergarten, he was jailed for 18 months.
The case of Ablikim Abdureyim is illustrative of the Chinese government’s punishment of family members of outspoken Uyghurs. Ablikim was sentenced to nine years in prison after his mother, Uyghur democracy leader, Rebiya Kadeer was elected president of the Uyghur American Association and the World Uyghur Congress. His treatment in prison displays the endemic nature of torture facing Uyghur prisoners.
Massacre's against Uyghurs of East Turkistan
Remembering the Ghulja Massacre
Today, the Ghulja massacre is being marked worldwide. The Rafto Foundation pays its respect to the hundreds of Uyghurs who were killed or imprisoned after participating in a peaceful demonstration in Ghulja in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Autonomous Region, the People´s Republic of China in 1997.
Thursday, 05 February 2009, by This article has been written by the Rafto Foundation and has been edited by HRHF / Ralph Pluimert
The Rafto Foundation reiterates its demand for the immediate release of those demonstrators still serving long prison sentences, as well as for an open investigation into the events and an end to the impunity for those responsible for the Ghulja massacre.
Equal treatment
On 5 February 1997, thousands of Uyghur men, women and children went out on the streets of Ghulja and called for equal treatment, religious and cultural freedom, as well as freedom of speech. They also demanded an end to the racial discrimination they experienced daily, leading to the cultural and economic marginalization of the Uyghur community.
Met with force
The peaceful demonstration was met with brute force by units of the People’s Armed Police and riot police. According to eye witnesses, the security forces opened fire into the crowd. The death toll varies, but witnesses report that as many as 30 Uyghurs were killed on the spot, and more than hundred were wounded.
Voice for Uyghurs
– On 5 February 1997 we are commemorating the victims of the Ghulja massacre. This is a very dark chapter in Uyghur history. However, we are also using this sad memorial day to act as a voice for all Uyghurs who have been arrested in recent years. According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), an official Chinese newspaper recently reported that nearly 1300 people were arrested in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) on state security crimes in 2008, marking a steep increase compared to previous years, says Arne Liljedahl Lynngård, Chairman of the Rafto Prize Committee.
Chinese embassy – demonstration
The Norwegian Uyghur Committee will arrange a demonstration on Thursday 5th of February at 2 pm-3 pm outside the Chinese embassy in Oslo, Norway. They will ask the Chinese government to change their oppressive politics in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and respect the basic rights of the indigenous people. The release of prisoners from the peaceful demonstration in 1997 and a full investigation of the incidents remains of critical importance.200 Uyghurs executed
In the ensuing panic in Ghulja, 12 years ago, the police rounded up and detained hundreds of demonstrators, who were loaded into trucks and taken to detention centres around the city. The following weeks featured an unprecedented persecution, during which an unknown number of Uyghurs were imprisoned or simply disappeared. According to an Amnesty report issued in April 1999, more than 200 Uyghurs were executed for their participation in the peaceful demonstration. Uyghurs are still in prison because they took part in the Ghulja demonstration. No-one has been held accountable for the brutal crackdown on the non-violent protest, and the persecution of Uyghurs continues unabated, rebranded as part of the international “war on terror”.
– The Rafto Foundation calls upon the Chinese government to release Uyghurs who have been detained and imprisoned for engaging in peaceful activities, and to increase the level of transparency in its reporting of arrests and detentions, says Arne Liljedahl Lynngård.
This article has been written by the Rafto Foundation and has been edited by HRHF / Ralph Pluimert
East Turkestan: Anniversary of Yarkand Massacre Marked by Uyghur Community amid Chinese Silence
Amid suppression by the official media of the Chinese Government, the World Uyghur Congress commemorated the second anniversary of the Yarkand Massacre, whereby hundreds of the community died on 28 July 2014. While recognised by the WUC, Chinese authorities have left critical information about the numbers arrested, killed and disappeared during the massacre unanswered and left families of those affected in the dark.
Below is an article published by the World Uyghur Congress
In the year preceding the events in Yarkand, Uyghurs had been killed consistently in a number of violent incidents with security forces. What occurred on 28 July 2014 and in the days following, however, would mark the deadliest episode since the unrest in Urumqi in July 2009. The major precipitant of the initial protests, according to Uyghur sources, was a protest that took place in Bashkent Township that led to the extrajudicial killing of a Uyghur family of five during house to house searches in the area. This resulted in the flight of many Uyghurs to nearby Elishku Township where they would then participate in the demonstrations there.
Uyghur sources from inside the region stated that upwards of 3000 Uyghurs may have been killed during and in the aftermath of the initial protests, with thousands arrested and an unknown number disappeared. It was alleged that nearly all of those who participated in the protests were gunned down by police and security personnel and many others were then killed during house to house searches that followed.
These reports also suggest that aside from the first day where upwards of 100 Uyghurs were killed, hundreds, and possibly thousands more, were systematically killed by police. Details about these events continue to be shrouded in secrecy, though credible evidence suggests that Chinese police and security forces acted brutally and without restraint, as they had done and continue to do a year later.
According to Chinese media sources, only 96 civilians were killed and hundreds more injured when police and security forces clashed with the protesters, including 59 Uyghurs – all later labelled terrorists – and another 37 civilians. Initial reporting by state media, however, suggested that just dozens of civilians had been killed in the clash, but later updated its count. Although the attack took place on Monday, July 28, state media took a full day to release any official reports about the incident.
Most worrying about the events and their aftermath have been the near complete suppression of any and all forms of dissent in East Turkestan. An additional knock-on effect has been the even tighter restrictions placed on media coverage. Uyghurs continue to be detained merely for speaking to overseas media about conditions on the ground or about missing loved ones.
It is in this context that Uyghurs have continued to live for many years, fearful of the presence of unrestrained force by the police, backed up by a central government that has little or no tolerance for dissent. We therefore implore the international community, including civil society and states, to come together to demand that China act within international law and provide critical information regarding the case.
URUMQI RIOTS THREE YEARS ON – CRACKDOWN ON UIGHURS GROWS BOLDER
Three years on from riots and mass arrests in China’s Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Autonomous Region, Chinese authorities continue to silence those speaking out on abuses during and in the wake of the unrest, Amnesty International said.
New testimony reveals that dozens, if not hundreds, of the Uighur ethnic minority, many of whom were arrested in the wake of the riots, are still disappeared, and that the government continues to intimidate people – including families seeking information on their disappeared relatives – who reveal human rights abuses during and after the protests.
Of 20 Uighurs forcibly returned to China from Cambodia in December 2009 in connection with July 5, five are reported to have been sentenced to life, and eight to prison terms ranging from 16-20 years.
“Three years on, the government is still silencing people who speak out about July 2009,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “The general trend toward repression that we see all over China is particularly pronounced in the XUAR (East Turkistan) .
“Chinese authorities must reveal the whereabouts of those individuals subject to enforced disappearance, and end the persecution of their family members seeking answers.”
On 5 July 2009 a protest in the regional capital Urumqi against perceived Chinese government inaction over the death of a Uighur factory worker in southern China, turned to ethnic rioting following police violence against demonstrators.
While the demonstration started peacefully, rioting erupted following police use of violence against protesters. According to official figures, 197 died in the ensuing violence, most of them Han Chinese.
Eye witness accounts gathered by Amnesty International following the unrest cast doubt over the official version of events and point to unnecessary or excessive use of force by police against Uighur protesters, including beatings, use of tear gas and shooting directly into crowds.
Mass arrests followed the disturbances, with house to house searches resulting in the arbitrary detention of hundreds if not thousands of people, and numerous reports of enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of Uighurs in detention.
Families seeking information about missing relatives have been intimidated, detained and threatened by the authorities in an effort to stop them petitioning and searching for loved ones.
Over the last month, dozens of Uighur families have come out publicly with stories of family members disappeared since July 2009, the youngest aged only 16 at the time of his detention. They include families from Urumqi, Kashgar, and Hotan Prefecture in the Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Authonomous Region (XUAR (East Turkistan) ).
Only 19 of these families have allowed their names to be made public. All fear retaliation by the authorities.
“These brave families are just a small portion of those with disappeared relatives,” said Baber.
Patigul Eli, the mother of one of the disappeared, Imammemet Eli, said she had met at least 30 other families in front of police and government buildings in Urumqi also trying to get information from the authorities about disappeared relatives.
Wang Mingshan, the chief of the Urumqi Public Security Department, is reported to have said he had received 300 requests from families for help in locating relatives.
According to one family member, there are more than two hundred families in one county in Hotan prefecture alone with disappeared relatives. Many are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution by the authorities.
Ethnic Uighur asylum seekers forcibly returned to China are at risk of serious human rights violations.
“Ethnic Uighurs forcibly returned to China may face enforced disappearance or torture,” said Baber.
“Chinese authorities routinely blame unrest in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) on overseas groups of Uighurs – returning them to China where they may face serious abuse is in clear violation of international human rights law.”
Notes to Editors
To arrange interview or for more information please contact press officer Katya Nasim: katya.nasim@amnesty.org + 44 207 413 5871 / +44 7904398103
- Ghulja Massacre
-
Remembering the Ghulja Massacre
Today, the Ghulja massacre is being marked worldwide. The Rafto Foundation pays its respect to the hundreds of Uyghurs who were killed or imprisoned after participating in a peaceful demonstration in Ghulja in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Autonomous Region, the People´s Republic of China in 1997.
Thursday, 05 February 2009, by This article has been written by the Rafto Foundation and has been edited by HRHF / Ralph Pluimert
The Rafto Foundation reiterates its demand for the immediate release of those demonstrators still serving long prison sentences, as well as for an open investigation into the events and an end to the impunity for those responsible for the Ghulja massacre.
Equal treatment
On 5 February 1997, thousands of Uyghur men, women and children went out on the streets of Ghulja and called for equal treatment, religious and cultural freedom, as well as freedom of speech. They also demanded an end to the racial discrimination they experienced daily, leading to the cultural and economic marginalization of the Uyghur community.Met with force
The peaceful demonstration was met with brute force by units of the People’s Armed Police and riot police. According to eye witnesses, the security forces opened fire into the crowd. The death toll varies, but witnesses report that as many as 30 Uyghurs were killed on the spot, and more than hundred were wounded.Voice for Uyghurs
– On 5 February 1997 we are commemorating the victims of the Ghulja massacre. This is a very dark chapter in Uyghur history. However, we are also using this sad memorial day to act as a voice for all Uyghurs who have been arrested in recent years. According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), an official Chinese newspaper recently reported that nearly 1300 people were arrested in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) on state security crimes in 2008, marking a steep increase compared to previous years, says Arne Liljedahl Lynngård, Chairman of the Rafto Prize Committee.Chinese embassy – demonstration
The Norwegian Uyghur Committee will arrange a demonstration on Thursday 5th of February at 2 pm-3 pm outside the Chinese embassy in Oslo, Norway. They will ask the Chinese government to change their oppressive politics in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and respect the basic rights of the indigenous people. The release of prisoners from the peaceful demonstration in 1997 and a full investigation of the incidents remains of critical importance.200 Uyghurs executed
In the ensuing panic in Ghulja, 12 years ago, the police rounded up and detained hundreds of demonstrators, who were loaded into trucks and taken to detention centres around the city. The following weeks featured an unprecedented persecution, during which an unknown number of Uyghurs were imprisoned or simply disappeared. According to an Amnesty report issued in April 1999, more than 200 Uyghurs were executed for their participation in the peaceful demonstration. Uyghurs are still in prison because they took part in the Ghulja demonstration. No-one has been held accountable for the brutal crackdown on the non-violent protest, and the persecution of Uyghurs continues unabated, rebranded as part of the international “war on terror”.– The Rafto Foundation calls upon the Chinese government to release Uyghurs who have been detained and imprisoned for engaging in peaceful activities, and to increase the level of transparency in its reporting of arrests and detentions, says Arne Liljedahl Lynngård.
This article has been written by the Rafto Foundation and has been edited by HRHF / Ralph Pluimert
- Yarkand Massacre
-
East Turkestan: Anniversary of Yarkand Massacre Marked by Uyghur Community amid Chinese Silence
Amid suppression by the official media of the Chinese Government, the World Uyghur Congress commemorated the second anniversary of the Yarkand Massacre, whereby hundreds of the community died on 28 July 2014. While recognised by the WUC, Chinese authorities have left critical information about the numbers arrested, killed and disappeared during the massacre unanswered and left families of those affected in the dark.
Below is an article published by the World Uyghur Congress
In the year preceding the events in Yarkand, Uyghurs had been killed consistently in a number of violent incidents with security forces. What occurred on 28 July 2014 and in the days following, however, would mark the deadliest episode since the unrest in Urumqi in July 2009. The major precipitant of the initial protests, according to Uyghur sources, was a protest that took place in Bashkent Township that led to the extrajudicial killing of a Uyghur family of five during house to house searches in the area. This resulted in the flight of many Uyghurs to nearby Elishku Township where they would then participate in the demonstrations there.
Uyghur sources from inside the region stated that upwards of 3000 Uyghurs may have been killed during and in the aftermath of the initial protests, with thousands arrested and an unknown number disappeared. It was alleged that nearly all of those who participated in the protests were gunned down by police and security personnel and many others were then killed during house to house searches that followed.
These reports also suggest that aside from the first day where upwards of 100 Uyghurs were killed, hundreds, and possibly thousands more, were systematically killed by police. Details about these events continue to be shrouded in secrecy, though credible evidence suggests that Chinese police and security forces acted brutally and without restraint, as they had done and continue to do a year later.
According to Chinese media sources, only 96 civilians were killed and hundreds more injured when police and security forces clashed with the protesters, including 59 Uyghurs – all later labelled terrorists – and another 37 civilians. Initial reporting by state media, however, suggested that just dozens of civilians had been killed in the clash, but later updated its count. Although the attack took place on Monday, July 28, state media took a full day to release any official reports about the incident.
Most worrying about the events and their aftermath have been the near complete suppression of any and all forms of dissent in East Turkestan. An additional knock-on effect has been the even tighter restrictions placed on media coverage. Uyghurs continue to be detained merely for speaking to overseas media about conditions on the ground or about missing loved ones.
It is in this context that Uyghurs have continued to live for many years, fearful of the presence of unrestrained force by the police, backed up by a central government that has little or no tolerance for dissent. We therefore implore the international community, including civil society and states, to come together to demand that China act within international law and provide critical information regarding the case.
- Urumqi Protest
-
URUMQI RIOTS THREE YEARS ON – CRACKDOWN ON UIGHURS GROWS BOLDER
Three years on from riots and mass arrests in China’s Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Autonomous Region, Chinese authorities continue to silence those speaking out on abuses during and in the wake of the unrest, Amnesty International said.
New testimony reveals that dozens, if not hundreds, of the Uighur ethnic minority, many of whom were arrested in the wake of the riots, are still disappeared, and that the government continues to intimidate people – including families seeking information on their disappeared relatives – who reveal human rights abuses during and after the protests.
Of 20 Uighurs forcibly returned to China from Cambodia in December 2009 in connection with July 5, five are reported to have been sentenced to life, and eight to prison terms ranging from 16-20 years.
“Three years on, the government is still silencing people who speak out about July 2009,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “The general trend toward repression that we see all over China is particularly pronounced in the XUAR (East Turkistan) .
“Chinese authorities must reveal the whereabouts of those individuals subject to enforced disappearance, and end the persecution of their family members seeking answers.”
On 5 July 2009 a protest in the regional capital Urumqi against perceived Chinese government inaction over the death of a Uighur factory worker in southern China, turned to ethnic rioting following police violence against demonstrators.
While the demonstration started peacefully, rioting erupted following police use of violence against protesters. According to official figures, 197 died in the ensuing violence, most of them Han Chinese.
Eye witness accounts gathered by Amnesty International following the unrest cast doubt over the official version of events and point to unnecessary or excessive use of force by police against Uighur protesters, including beatings, use of tear gas and shooting directly into crowds.
Mass arrests followed the disturbances, with house to house searches resulting in the arbitrary detention of hundreds if not thousands of people, and numerous reports of enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of Uighurs in detention.
Families seeking information about missing relatives have been intimidated, detained and threatened by the authorities in an effort to stop them petitioning and searching for loved ones.
Over the last month, dozens of Uighur families have come out publicly with stories of family members disappeared since July 2009, the youngest aged only 16 at the time of his detention. They include families from Urumqi, Kashgar, and Hotan Prefecture in the Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Authonomous Region (XUAR (East Turkistan) ).
Only 19 of these families have allowed their names to be made public. All fear retaliation by the authorities.
“These brave families are just a small portion of those with disappeared relatives,” said Baber.
Patigul Eli, the mother of one of the disappeared, Imammemet Eli, said she had met at least 30 other families in front of police and government buildings in Urumqi also trying to get information from the authorities about disappeared relatives.
Wang Mingshan, the chief of the Urumqi Public Security Department, is reported to have said he had received 300 requests from families for help in locating relatives.
According to one family member, there are more than two hundred families in one county in Hotan prefecture alone with disappeared relatives. Many are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution by the authorities.
Ethnic Uighur asylum seekers forcibly returned to China are at risk of serious human rights violations.
“Ethnic Uighurs forcibly returned to China may face enforced disappearance or torture,” said Baber.
“Chinese authorities routinely blame unrest in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) on overseas groups of Uighurs – returning them to China where they may face serious abuse is in clear violation of international human rights law.”
Notes to Editors
To arrange interview or for more information please contact press officer Katya Nasim: katya.nasim@amnesty.org + 44 207 413 5871 / +44 7904398103