28.05.2008 - Source: Amnesty International

Authorities continued to use the “war on terror” to justify harsh repression of ethnic Uighurs ("Annual Report 2008") [ID 23547]

"The authorities continued to use the US-led “war on terror” to justify harsh repression of ethnic Uighurs, living primarily in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), resulting in serious human rights violations. Non-violent expressions of Uighur cultural identity were criminalized. Uighur individuals were the only known group in China to be sentenced to death and executed for political crimes, such as “separatist activities”.
China increasingly successfully used the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to pressurize neighbouring countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, to co-operate in forced returns of Uighurs to China.
There was an increase in the number of Uighurs detained abroad who were forcibly sent to China, where they faced the death penalty and possible execution, including Uighurs with foreign nationality.
Ismail Semed, who was forcibly returned to China from Pakistan in 2003, was executed on charges of “attempting to split the Motherland” and possession of firearms and explosives.
Ablikim Abdiriyim, son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, was tried in secret and sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of “instigating and engaging in secessionist activities”. According to official sources, these activities consisted largely of asking Yahoo’s “Uighur-language webmaster” to post articles on its website. However, both Yahoo! and Alibaba, the Chinese internet company that operates Yahoo! China’s services, have stated they do not provide a Uighur-language web service. Ablikim Abdiriyim was reported to have been tortured and otherwise ill-treated in prison, and was said to have had difficulty recognizing family members during a visit in December. The authorities continued to deny him access to medical treatment.
The authorities pursued a policy of large-scale Han Chinese migration to XUAR to address alleged labour shortages, while large numbers of young Uighur women and girls – reportedly more than 200,000 – were sent to work in factories in eastern China, often coerced by local authorities and under harsh conditions with low pay."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Trials involving capital offenses sometimes took place under circumstances involving severe lack of due process and with no meaningful appeal ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 22757]

"Trials involving capital offenses sometimes took place under circumstances involving severe lack of due process and with no meaningful appeal. Some executions took place on the day of conviction or failed appeal. Executions of Uighurs whom authorities accused of separatism, but which some observers claimed were politically motivated, were reported. On February 8, authorities executed Ismail Semed, an ethnic Uighur from the XUAR, following 2005 convictions for "attempting to split the motherland" and other counts related to possession of firearms and explosives."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Uighur writers and editors reportedly were jailed in 2005 for publishing stories that authorities maintained advocated separatism ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23080]

"During the year authorities in Urumqi, XUAR, destroyed over 25,000 "illegal" religious books. In 2006 XUAR authorities reported confiscating publications about Islam with "unhealthy content." Uighur writers and editors, including the editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal, Korash Huseyin, reportedly were jailed in 2005 for publishing stories that authorities maintained advocated separatism. Authorities continued to ban books containing content they deemed controversial. In January the GAPP reportedly banned eight books. Most of the banned titles dealt with China's recent history, including Zhang Yihe's Past Stories of Peking Opera Actors."

Document(s): Open document

10.10.2007 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Government has increased repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) since 2001 ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 21404]

"The Chinese government has increased repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) since 2001, building off campaigns started in the 1990s to squelch political viewpoints and expressions of ethnic identity deemed threatening to state power.21 The government targets in particular the region's ethnic Uighur population, within which it alleges the presence of separatist activity. Since the mid- 1990s, the government has carried out ``strike hard'' anti- crime campaigns that have addressed targets including the government-designated ``three forces'' of terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism.22 In 2007, XUAR Communist Party Secretary Wang Lequan called on the XUAR government to make stability the ``overriding'' concern in the region and to continue to ``strike hard'' against the ``three forces.'' 23 The statement followed a January 5 raid at a location in the XUAR that Chinese officials described as a terrorist training base.24 Authorities provided limited information to back up the claim, drawing doubt from outside observers.25 Broader Chinese government reporting on terrorist threats remains questionable in light of government actions that conflate the peaceful exercise of rights with terrorist or separatist activity.26 In July 2007, a publication under the national Ministry of Public Security called for ``greatly'' strengthening intelligence gathering in the region to address perceived sources of instability, including ``antagonistic forces within and outside the border.'' 27 In August, Wang Lequan called for ongoing measures to fight separatism. He urged vigilance against ``western hostile forces'' led by the United States that he said have used the guise of human rights and ethnic and religious issues in plots aimed at overthrowing Communist Party leadership."

Document(s): Open document

10.10.2007 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Authorities in the XUAR continue to imprison Uighurs engaged in peaceful expressions of dissent and other non- violent activities ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 21405]

"Authorities in the XUAR continue to imprison Uighurs engaged in peaceful expressions of dissent and other non- violent activities. Such political prisoners include Tohti Tunyaz, who received an 11-year prison sentence in 1999 after conducting historical research on the XUAR; Abduhelil Zunun, who received a 20-year sentence in 2001 after translating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Uighur language; Abdulghani Memetemin, who received a 9-year prison sentence in 2003 after sending information on human rights abuses to a foreign NGO; Nurmemet Yasin, who received a 10-year prison sentence in 2005 after writing a short story authorities deemed a criticism of government policy in the XUAR; and Korash Huseyin, who received a 3-year prison sentence in 2005 after publishing Yasin's work of literature."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

Government authorities in Xinjiang continued to severely repress the Uighur community and to deny their human rights, including freedom of religion and access to education ("Annual Report 2007") [ID 20017]

"Government authorities in Xinjiang continued to severely repress the Uighur community and to deny their human rights, including freedom of religion and access to education. An increased number of Uighurs were extradited to China from Central Asia, reflecting growing pressure by China on governments in the region. Seventeen Uighurs remained in detention in Guantánamo Bay.

• The family of exiled former prisoner of conscience Rebiya Kadeer continued to be targeted by the Chinese authorities. On 26 November her son Ablikim Abdiriyim, detained in Xinjiang awaiting trial on charges of "subversion" and tax evasion, was seen being carried out of Tianshan District Detention

Centre, apparently in need of medical attention. On 27 November her sons Alim and Kahar Abdiriyim were fined heavily and Alim sentenced to seven years' imprisonment on charges of tax evasion.

• Husein Celil, a Canadian citizen who fled China in the 1990s as a refugee, was arrested in Uzbekistan and extradited to China in June. He was reportedly accused of "terrorism" and denied access to family or consular representatives."

Document(s): Open document
Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Destruction of Uighur art and literature ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19088]

"In past years officials reportedly destroyed Uighur books on the grounds that Uighur groups used art and literature to distort historical fact and advocate ethnic separatism. Uighur writers and editors, including the editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal Korash Huseyin, were jailed in 2005 for publishing stories that authorities maintained advocated separatism (see section 5). Authorities continued to ban books containing content they deemed controversial. Among the most notable was Serve the People, a sexually explicit novel that officials said debased Chairman Mao's image and Notes on Party History, which exposed historical incidents that were reportedly embellished or fabricated by the CCP."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Uighurs sentenced to long prison terms and many executed on charges of separatism ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19166]

"A campaign in Xinjiang targeting the "three evils" of religious extremism, splittism, and terrorism continued. Authorities in Xinjiang regularly grouped together individuals or organizations involved in the three evils, making it difficult to determine whether particular raids, detentions, or judicial punishments were targeted at those peacefully seeking to express their political and religious views or those who engaged in violence (see section 2.c.). The government's war on terror continued to be used as a pretext for cracking down harshly on Uighurs expressing peaceful political dissent and on independent Muslim religious leaders. In December 2003 the government published an "East Turkestan Terrorist List," which labeled organizations such as the World Uighur Youth Congress and the East Turkestan Information Center as terrorist entities. These groups openly advocated East Turkestan independence, but only one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was designated by the UN as a terrorist organization.

Uighurs were sentenced to long prison terms and many were executed on charges of separatism. During a previous "strike hard" campaign, which officially concluded in 2003, authorities stated they prosecuted more than 3,000 cases in Xinjiang and held mass sentencing rallies attended by more than 300,000 persons. By its own account, from January to August 2004 the government broke up 22 groups engaged in what it claimed were separatist and terrorist activities and meted out 50 death sentences to those charged with separatist acts. In February 2005 Uighur writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin was sentenced to 10 years in prison after publishing a short story which authorities claimed advocated separatism. In April 2005 writer Abdulla Jamal was detained in Xinjiang, reportedly for writings that promoted Uighur independence. In August 2005 10 individuals reportedly were arrested for possession of pamphlets and audiotapes that called for an independent state. Later in the year, editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal Korash Huseyin was sentenced to three years in prison. In October 2005 Ismail Semed, an ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang, was reportedly convicted and sentenced to death on charges of "attempting to split the motherland" and other counts related to possession of firearms and explosives. In 2003 Uighur Shaheer Ali was executed after being convicted of terrorism.

In June authorities charged Alim, Ablikim, and Qahar Abdurehim, three of Uighur activist and businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer's sons, with state security and economic crimes. Authorities reportedly beat and tortured Alim and Ablikim, and Alim reportedly confessed to the charges. On July 10, officials indicted Alim and Qahar and placed other family members under house arrest and surveillance.

In 2004 Uighur Dilkex Tilivaldi was detained after meeting a foreign journalist. The government refused to clarify his whereabouts (see section 1.e.).

Possession of publications or audiovisual materials discussing independence or other sensitive subjects was not permitted. According to reports, possession of such materials resulted in lengthy prison sentences.

Officials in the region defended the campaign against separatism as necessary to maintain public order and continued to use the threat of violence as justification for extreme security measures directed at the local population and visiting foreigners.

Han control of the region's political and economic institutions also contributed to heightened tension. Although government policies brought economic improvements to Xinjiang, Han residents received a disproportionate share of the benefits."

Document(s): Open document

02.2007 - Source: Minority Rights Group International

Differences in the economic opportunities available to individuals based on ethnicity have contributed to rising tensions ("Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions") [ID 21156]

"The development gap between China’s coastal cities and its ethnic autonomous regions, and the differences in the economic opportunities available to individuals based on ethnicity have contributed to rising tensions. Job fairs posting signs that say, ‘Uyghurs need not apply’, fuel the perceptions of an exclusive economic system. This belief is common among those interviewed for this report. Further, many minorities believe that they are at a disadvantage because they are excluded from the social networks and personal connections of the Han Chinese. The sense of discrimination does not only exist among those with low education or skills, but extends to those who have progressed in the education system and are Mandarin-proficient. Uyghurs interviewed for this report indicate that many Uyghurs in the XUAR are unable to obtain jobs because of the bias of government- and privately- owned businesses, ‘who basically say, “we don’t want you, Uyghurs”…they just say, Chinese…so basically, even a Uyghur college graduate cannot find a job’."

Document(s): Open document

01.2007 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Xinjiang and the "War on Terror" ("World Report 2007") [ID 18573]

"In 2006, China intensified its efforts to use the “war on terrorism” to justify its policies to eradicate the “three evil forces”—terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism—allegedly prevalent among Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim population in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Under current policies local imams are required to vet the text of weekly Friday sermons with religious bureaus. “Strike Hard” campaigns subject Uighurs who express “separatist” tendencies to quick, secret, and summary trials, sometimes accompanied by mass sentencing rallies. Imposition of the death penalty is common.

In 2006, China continued to pressure neighboring countries to arrest and deport politically active Uighurs. In June 2006, Uzbekistan extradited to China Huseyin Celil, a Uighur and a Canadian citizen. At this writing, Celil was being held in Xinjiang with no access to Canadian consular services. In May 2006, Kazakhstan acceded to China’s demand that it extradite two Uighurs. In October, China sentenced Ismail Semed to death for “separatism” following his deportation from Pakistan. China also pressed hard, though unsuccessfully, to get Albania to repatriate five Uighurs who, until 2006, had been held by the US at Guantanamo Bay.

Chinese officials have labeled Rebiya Kadeer—a Nobel Prize nominee—a terrorist, and in retaliation for her championing of Uighur rights following her exile to the US in March 2005, have beaten and arrested members of her family in Xinjiang. In October 2006 two of her sons, Kahar Abdureyim, 42, and Alim Abdureyim, 31, were put on trial on tax charges."

Document(s): Open document

12.2006 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Government increases controls over muslim pilgrimages ("China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update (December 2006)") [ID 19573]

"Chinese Muslim pilgrims may now only receive hajj visas at the Saudi Embassy in Beijing and only if they are part of a Chinese government-sponsored trip, according to an announcement from the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) reported on October 4 in Ta Kung Pao and October 12 on the SARA Web site. The new measures were established in an agreement signed in May between the state-controlled Islamic Association of China (IAC) and the Saudi Ministry of Pilgrimage. SARA publicized the agreement after a group of Muslims from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) attempted to obtain Saudi visas via a third country in August and September. As part of the agreement, the IAC will organize a second overseas pilgrimage each year in addition to the main annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Despite existing legal regulations on pilgrimages and a general policy urging Chinese Muslims to travel only on officially sponsored trips, as late as January 2006 the government had indicated some limited tolerance for pilgrimages made outside official channels. The May 2006 agreement and announcement the same month that the IAC would establish an office to manage pilgrimages to Mecca indicate new efforts to strengthen government control over pilgrimages.

Some of the sources cited in an October 24 South China Morning Post article (subscription required) suggest that the change in policy is intended in particular to increase government control over Muslims from the XUAR. According to the article, XUAR pilgrims regularly have received visas to Saudi Arabia from Saudi consular officials in a third country. A spokesperson from the U.S.-based Uyghur American Association cited in the article suggested that the new policy may aim to limit the number of Uighur pilgrims or better supervise those who participate in the pilgrimage. A scholar from the Xinjiang Academy of Social Science noted that the Chinese government is concerned that independent pilgrims could make contact with terrorists, separatists, and religious extremists - groups the Chinese government labels as the "three evil forces." The government has tightly controlled religious practice in the XUAR as part of its campaign against the "three evil forces.""

Document(s): Open document

20.09.2006 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Government severely represses Islamic practice in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17387]

see report for further details - Chapter V(d)

"• The government severely represses Islamic practice in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), especially among the Uighur ethnic group. Local regulations in the XUAR impose restrictions on religion that are not found in other parts of China. The government’s religious repression in the XUAR is part of a broader policy aimed at diluting expressions of Uighur identity and tightening government control in the region. The government continues to imprison Uighurs who engage in peaceful expressions of dissent and other non-violent activities. Writer Nurmemet Yasin and historian Tohti Tunyaz remain in prison for writing a short story and conducting research on the XUAR."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Xinjiang: Restrictions on muslim religious activity continues ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 18328]

"There were large Muslim populations in many areas, but government sensitivity to these communities varied widely. Generally speaking, the country's Hui Muslims, who were ethnically Han Chinese and lived in Han communities throughout the country had greater religious freedom than Turkic Muslims such as the Uighurs, who were concentrated in the western part of the country. In areas where ethnic unrest has occurred, especially among the Uighurs in Xinjiang, regulations restricting Muslims' religious activity, teaching, and places of worship continued to be implemented forcefully. In Xinjiang officials continued to restrict the building of mosques and the training of clergy and prohibited the teaching of Islam to children. In addition to the restrictions on practicing religion placed on party members and government officials throughout the country, Muslim teachers, professors, and university students in Xinjiang are not allowed to attend mosque services or practice religion openly. Female university students and professors are discouraged from wearing headscarves or skirts. Some ethnic Tajiks in Xinjiang cannot attend mosque until over age 30. However, in other areas, particularly in areas populated by the Hui ethnic group, there was substantial mosque construction and renovation and also apparent freedom to worship. Xinjiang authorities continued to use counter terrorism as a pretext for religious repression of Uighur Muslims, according to human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Because the Xinjiang Government regularly fails to distinguish carefully among those involved in peaceful activities in support of independence, "illegal" religious activities, and violent terrorism, it is often difficult to determine whether particular raids, detentions, arrests, or judicial punishments targeted those seeking to worship, those peacefully seeking political goals, or those engaged in violence. As a result, Xinjiang authorities often charge religious believers with committing the "three evils" of terrorism, separatism, and Muslim extremism. While targeted at Muslims, this tight control of religion in Xinjiang affected followers of other religions as well. Xinjiang provincial-level Communist Party and government officials repeatedly called for stronger management of religious affairs and for the separation of religion from administrative matters.

Xinjiang officials told foreign observers that children under eighteen are not permitted to attend religious services in mosques in Xinjiang. However, children were observed attending prayer services at mosques in Beijing and other parts of the country. Fundamentalist Muslim leaders received particularly harsh treatment. In 2000 the authorities began conducting monthly political study sessions for religious personnel; the program reportedly continued during the period covered by this report. In August 2005 the Government reportedly banned the Sala movement of Islam and detained more than 150 followers in Xinjiang. Moreover, security authorities were authorized to "strike hard" against groups believed to have plans to disrupt celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Government's rule in Xinjiang in October 2005. This included restrictions on a movement of Islam called Salafism due to concerns followers supported extremism. No disruptions were reported, but scores were reportedly harassed and detained in the run-up to the anniversary. Because of government control of information coming from Xinjiang, many reported restrictions were difficult to confirm.
"

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Children prevented from receiving religious education ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 18331]

"Senior government officials claim that the country has no restrictions against minors practicing religious beliefs. However, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Education noted after her 2003 visit that students lack basic internationally recognized rights to religious education. Moreover, some local officials, especially in Xinjiang, prevented children from attending worship services, and some places of worship have signs prohibiting persons younger than eighteen from entering. Nongovernmental organizations reported that Christian and Muslim children in Xinjiang were prevented from receiving religious education. In one case, local officials denied a Christian group permission to operate a Sunday school in Urumqi, Xinjiang. To support their rejection of the Sunday school, the officials claimed it would be unfair to local Muslims to allow Christians but not Muslims to educate their youth. In some Muslim areas, minors attend religious schools in addition to state-run schools. In some areas, large numbers of young persons attend religious services at both registered and unregistered places of worship."

Document(s): Open document

23.08.2006 - Source: Forum 18

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Report on the impact of great tension between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese migrants, and state attempts to control and repress religious activity on religious freedom in the region ("Xinjiang: Notices show religious activity restrictions") [ID 17896]

Document(s): Open document

15.08.2006 - Source: Forum 18

Xinjiang: Situation of religious minorities (isolation of Christians; no Orthodox priest permitted to work; Islam is the most strictly controlled religion) ("China's isolated Xinjiang religious minorities") [ID 17897]

Document(s): Open document

11.08.2006 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Uyghur Huseyincan Celil on trial on terrorism charges; allegedly involved in attack on officials in Xinjiang in 2000 ("Canadian Uyghur Activist Goes On Trial") [ID 17898]

Document(s): Open document

11.08.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Husein Dzhelil reportedly does not face imminent execution for having apparently taken part in East Turkestan terrorist activities; he is held in incommunicado detention and at risk of torture and ill-treatment ("Further Information on Urgent Action 99/06 (EUR 62/008/2006, 24 April 2006) and follow-ups (EUR 62/014/2006, 19 June 2006; ASA17/037/3006, 4 July 2006; ASA 17/042/2006, 8 August 2006) [ASA 17/044/2006]") [ID 17899]

Document(s): Open document

08.08.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR): Canadian citizen of Chinese origin, recognised as refugee in 2001, due to be executed for alleged ‘separatist’ or ‘terrorist’ activities after being detained and extradited to China by Uzbek authorities, who reportedly kept his Canadian passport ("Further Information on Urgent Action 99/06 [ASA 17/042/2006]") [ID 17900]

Document(s): Open document

04.07.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Husein Dzhelil is being held in incommunicado detention in China after being forcibly returned from Uzbekistan; he is at risk of serious human rights violations, including torture or other ill-treatment; Dzhelil was detained on 27 March in Uzbekistan while visiting his wife's family ("Further Information on UA 99/06 (EUR 62/008/2006, 24 April 2006) and follow-up [ASA 17/037/2006]") [ID 17006]

Document(s): Open document

02.06.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

3 adult children of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer reportedly detained without charge by police in Urumqi; they were forcibly escorted to a camp site where 2 of them were severely beaten by police officers; 6 other family members reportedly detained by police at the same time ("Urgent Action 156/06 [ASA 17/032/2006]") [ID 17007]

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17364]

"The authorities continued to use the global “war on terror” to justify harsh repression in the XUAR, resulting in serious human rights violations against the ethnic Uighur community.

While China’s latest “strike-hard” campaign against crime had subsided in most parts of the country, it was officially renewed in the XUAR in May to eradicate “terrorism, separatism and religious extremism”. Repression resulted in the closure of unofficial mosques and arrests of imams.

Uighur nationalists, including peaceful activists, continued to be detained or imprisoned. Those charged with serious “separatist” or “terrorist” offences were at risk of lengthy imprisonment or execution. Those attempting to pass information abroad about the extent of the crackdown faced arbitrary detention and imprisonment.

The authorities continued to accuse Uighur activists of terrorism without providing credible evidence for such charges.

Rebiya Kadeer, a prisoner of conscience released in March, became a key target in an apparent attempt to counter her influence as a Uighur activist abroad.

Writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in a closed trial in February after he published a short story entitled “Wild Pigeon” about a trapped bird that commits suicide in captivity – apparently seen by the authorities as an allegory for Uighurs living in China."

Document(s): Open document

29.04.2006 - Source: EurasiaNet

Uyghur politicial dissident, Huseyin Celil, still in detention in Tashkent; he was arrested in March at the request of Chinese authorities; human rights groups fear that he might face torture and even death if extradited to China ("Uyghurs hit by autocratic states' cooperation with Beijing") [ID 17005]

Document(s): Open document

10.04.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Ismail Semed, ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), at risk of imminent execution after being sentenced to death in October 2005 on political charges for "attempting to split the motherland" and other charges related to possession of firearms and explosives ("Urgent Action 81/06 [ASA 17/027/2006]") [#48832],  [ID 17008]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

01.2006 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Xinjiang and the "War on Terror" ("World Report 2006") [#42330],  [ID 17336]

"Chinese authorities appear determined to eradicate an independent cultural identity, and the religious beliefs closely intertwined with that identity, for Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim population in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The campaign, which extends to personal behavior and appearance, includes vetting of literature, destruction of mosques, and discharge of Uighur cadres unwilling to forcibly implement religious directives. Authorities also have fostered extensive Chinese migration into the region leading to economic disparities favoring the newcomers.  
 
Under current policies, children under eighteen may not receive religious instruction and college students fear reprisals, including expulsion, for overt religious expression. “Strike Hard” campaigns subject Uighurs who express “separatist” tendencies to quick, secret, and summary trials, sometimes accompanied by mass sentencing rallies. Imposition of the death penalty is common.  
 
After September 11, 2001, China used the “war on terrorism” to justify its policies, making no distinction between the handful of separatists who condone violence and those who desire genuine autonomy or a separate state. In fact, the authorities treat cultural expressions of identity as equivalent to violent agitation. In February 2005, Uighur writer Nurmemet Yasin was sentenced to a ten-year prison term for publishing “The Wild Pigeon,” an alleged separatist tract. Korash Huseyin, editor of the journal that published the story, is serving a three-year term."

Document(s): Open document

06.09.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

According to police officials more than 160 people were killed in attacks by Muslim Uyghur separatists over past decade ("China Says Uyghur Separatists Killed More Than 160") [#36277],  [ID 4302]

Document(s): Open document

01.08.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Group advocating independence for Uighur minority appealed to US to tell Beijing not to use war on terrorism as excuse for political repression ("Uighurs Ask U.S. For Support In Beijing Talks") [#34726],  [ID 4303]

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Report April 2005 - Uighur(s) (Uygur, Uyghur) ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31975],  [ID 4304]

"Uighur(s) (Uygur, Uyghur)

6.81 As noted by Europa Regional Surveys of the World: The Far East and Australasia (2005) there are approximately 8.4 million Uighur(s) in China. As noted by Europa publications Regional Studies: Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia (2005) there are 210,400 Uighur(s) in neighbouring Kazakhstan and 46,944 in Kyrgyzstan. [1b] (p 232, 263)

6.82 According to the Encyclopaedia of the Peoples of the World (1993):

“The ethnonym “Uighur” had been traced back to the eighth century, although it fell into disuse in the fifteenth century. The closely cognate Turkic groups dwelling in Xinjiang called themselves by the name of their locality…“Uighur” was revived in Tashkent [Uzbekistan] in 1921. It steadily became accepted as the general denomination of all of the above-mentioned cognate groups in China too, as evidenced by the name given to their region.” [20e] (p 628)

6.83 As noted by the same source, “The Uighur are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school.” [20e] (p 627)

6.84 According to the World Directory of Minorities (1997), “Uighur are a fair-complexioned Turkic people, living mainly in Sinkiang [Xinjiang] Province, with some living in Tsinghai [Qinghai] and parts of Hunan Province…They speak and write the Uighur language and follow Islam.” [20g] (p 607) [18f is a map of Xinjiang]

6.85 As reported by the Washington Post on 15 September 2000, “Since the early 1950s, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary organization that operates farms and factories, has moved 2.4 million people, 90 percent Han, into Xinjiang and opened up millions of acres of desert for farming. In 1948, 75 percent of Xinjiang’s population was Uighur and 15 percent was Han. Today, 40 percent of Xinjiang’s 16 million people are Han.” [10aa] (See also Annex C/Chronology of Events – Xinjiang)

Treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang (Sinkiang)

6.86 According to a report by HRW dated October 2001, “Much like Tibetans, the Uighurs in Xinjiang, have struggled for cultural survival in the face of a government-supported influx by Chinese migrants, as well as harsh repression of political dissent and any expression, however lawful or peaceful, of their distinct identity. Some have also resorted to violence in a struggle for independence.” [7b] (p 1)

6.87 According to a report from late 2001 by the American journalist Ron Gluckman, who has spent over a decade in reporting from China:

“While there is little evidence so far that repression has actually worsened in Xinjiang, Beijing’s tough posturing can only add to the resentment felt by an already disgruntled Uighur populace. The stepping up of Beijing’s propaganda efforts [post-9/11] reflects its deep-seated sense of insecurity in Xinjiang, and no wonder. The province today exists in an apartheid-like state, with its Uighur and Han Chinese residents leading separate – and, grumble locals, unequal – lives. Few of the province’s estimated 8 million Uighurs speak the national language of Mandarin. They are educated in their own tongue in Uighur schools. They are treated in Uighur hospitals that they claim are sub-par. They live in crowded neighborhoods of medieval mud-brick houses, which contrast with the modern white-tile blocks catering to Chinese immigrants. The newcomers dine almost exclusively in Chinese restaurants; Uighurs patronize their own eateries, which are devoid of Chinese clientele. The two people rarely work together, intermarry even less. That’s how it has been ever since the Chinese liberated – locals say conquered – Xinjiang (meaning “new frontier” in Mandarin) soon after World War II, ending the short-lived independent Uighur state of East Turkestan.” [20r]

6.88 As reported by The Times on 21 August 2003:

“History shows the Uighurs to be pacific, and lax in their religious observance. No doubt there are today some religious fundamentalists inside Xinjiang. No doubt inflammatory literature, not to mention weapons, is being smuggled in. Certainly there are militants (especially among the young urban unemployed) both inside and outside who would like to overthrow Chinese rule. But Islam should be seen as the vehicle, not the cause, of Uighur grievances, and separatism as a mark of their despair at the lack of citizens’ rights or a share of their own future.” [16ea]

6.89 The same source continued:

“Party Bureaucrats have been told – and may even believe – that Xinjiang has been part of China since 60BC. In fact China’s control has been sporadic and usually shortlived. What we are seeing now is better described as the latest, and most thorough, of the centre’s attempts to consolidate a conquest and Sinicise the wild west. China will never give up Xinjiang voluntarily because of its mineral wealth.” [16ea]

6.90 As reported in Volume 4, Issue 8 (April 15, 2004) of China Brief – available via the Jamestown Foundation’s website – the main points of friction between the Uighurs and Chinese are:

• High levels of Han migration and unequal distribution of wealth.

• Restrictions on birth control, which many Uighurs regard as incompatible with Islam.

• Ban of wearing the hijab (Muslim headscarf) in schools.

• Restrictions on visiting mosques for government employees. [8ha]

Uighur Terrorist Groups

6.91 As reported by the BBC on 15 December 2003, “China has issued its first “terrorist” wanted list, blaming four Muslim separatist groups and 11 individuals for a string of bombings and assassinations [carried out in the 1990s] and calling for international assistance to track them down.” The groups identified were the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the Eastern Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC). [9ao]

6.92 This report noted, “Chinese authorities have blamed ETIM for many of the 200 or more attacks reported in Xinjiang since 1990 and have banned the group for more than a decade. Beijing accuses ETIM of having links to the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, but has produced no supporting evidence.” [9ao]

6.93 According to Justin Rudelson and William Jankowiak writing in Xinjiang China’s Muslim Borderland; a collection of academic articles on Xinjiang published in 2004, the Chinese government named eight Uighur terrorist forces it says were operating within Xinjiang in August 2002. The groups it named were:

Islamic
1. The Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)
2. The Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party
3. The Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party of Allah
4. The Islamic Reform Party “Shock Brigade”
5. The Islamic Holy Warriors

Secular
6. The Eastern Turkestan International Movement
7. The Eastern Turkestan Liberation Organization
8. The Uyghur Liberation Organisation [19e] (p 317-318)

6.94 As reported by the same source,

“On August 26, 2002, the US State Department, China and the United Nations announced that one of the eight Uyghur militant groups, the ETIM, would be placed on the list of international terrorist oraganizations. Slowly more information about this militant group organization came out. The ETIM Uyghur resistance began after the 1990 Baren uprising. Seeing the government’s readiness to use force against apparently peaceful students, Uyghur activists from the south of Xinjiang fled to a base at a religious school (madrassah) in Pakistan and there they founded the ETIM. ETIM fighters dedicated themselves to fighting a “holy war” in Central Asia and to fighting against Chinese invaders. The ETIM’s leadership is purported to have had close links to Osama bin Laden and to have sent agents and weapons into Xinjiang beginning in 1998. At least two of the Al-Quaeda fighters captured in Afghanistan and sent to Guantanamo [Bay], Cuba were Uyghurs from the ETIM.” [19e] (p 317-318)

6.95 As reported by the Asia news site Muzi news on 13 September 2004, “China has sentenced more than 50 people to death this year in the western region of Xinjiang in what the government depicts as a protracted battle against foreign-backed separatists.” According to this report the government claimed to have cracked 22 groups in the first eight months of 2004. The report also quoted an official as saying that none of those sentenced to death has been executed yet. [15ah]

6.96 As reported by the official China Daily newspaper on 22 January 2005, “Thirteen people died and 18 [were] injured in two separate explosions in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as Muslims celebrated the Eid-al-Adha religious festival.” [14q] As reported by the official People’s Daily newspaper on 24 January 2004, police arrested a disgruntled ex-miner in connection with the blast. [14r]"

Document(s): Open document

16.11.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

14 ethnic Uyghurs extradited to China and Kyrgyzstan in the past 6 years for involvement in separatist organization called Eastern Turkestan Liberation Party ("Kazakhstan Reveals Uyghur Extraditions") [#27084],  [ID 4305]

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR): more than 50 people are reported to have been sentenced to death for "separatist" and "terrorist" activities during the first eight months of the year 2004; they might be executed at any time ("China - UA 264/04") [#25673],  [ID 4306]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

13.09.2004 - Source: Standard

Xinjiang: Since the beginning of 2004, already 50 Uighurs sentenced to death on terrorism charges ("50 Uiguren als Terroristen zum Tod verurteilt") [#25529],  [ID 4307]

Document(s): Open document

09.09.2004 - Source: Forum 18

Xinjiang: Russian Orthodox questioned by security services; no Russian Orthodox priests in China, and foreign priests not allowed to hold services ("Xinjiang: Security service investigation followed Orthodox priest's deportation") [#25453],  [ID 4308]

Document(s): Open document

10.08.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

An AIDS/HIV activist attacked and beaten by two young men/ the attack is believed to be an attempt to intimidate him on account of his activism ("China - Further Information on UA 221/04") [#24619],  [ID 4309]

Document(s): Open document

03.08.2004 - Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Writer and translator from the northwestern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region who had actively advocated for the Uighur ethnic group in Xinjiang, detained since 2002 on charges of "sending secret state information out of the country" ("China: Journalist imprisoned") [#24475],  [ID 4310]

Document(s): Open document

12.07.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: alleged Uighur "separatist" reportedly executed ("Amnesty International condemns execution of Uighur "separatist"") [#23947],  [ID 4311]

Document(s): Open document

07.07.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Growing numbers of Uighurs that fled repression are being forcibly returned to China where they face torture and execution ("Fleeing Uighurs forced back to "anti-terror" torture and execution") [#23837],  [ID 4312]

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2004 - Source: Jamestown Foundation

Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR): Article on increased repression and violence and Uighur separatism ("The growing problem of uighur separatism / China Brief, Volume 4 Issue 8 (Apr 15, 2004)") [#21646],  [ID 4313]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

11.02.2004 - Source: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Detailed Report on the Problems of the Uighurs in Xinjiang-Province (Central Asia - Caucasus Analyst, 11.February 2004) ("The Xinjiang Problem") [#19622],  [ID 4314]

Document(s): Open document

09.02.2004 - Source: BBC News

BBC: Seven acrobats from China's largely Muslim region of Xinjiang are reported to have claimed asylum while on tour in Canada. ("China acrobats 'defect' in Canada") [#19229],  [ID 4315]

"China acrobats 'defect' in Canada
Seven acrobats from China's largely Muslim region of Xinjiang are reported to have claimed asylum while on tour in Canada.
The semi-official China News Service (CNS) quoted a Communist Party chief as saying some acrobats "stayed behind".
Canadian news reports say the seven acrobats - five men and two women - hoped to stay in Canada and filed refugee claims in Toronto last week.
The acrobatic troupe was in Canada as part of Chinese New Year festivities.
It was not clear if Canada would give the group refugee status.
The CNS quoted Wang Lequan, Xinjiang's Communist Party chief, as saying the group "did not know the truth and were deceived by overseas separatists".
"They are welcome to return to the motherland and return to their warm families," he said.
The CNS said the head of the delegation would remain in Canada to work with the Chinese embassy there and Canadian authorities to find the acrobats.
Mr Wang did not say how many had defected but another official in Xinjiang later told the Reuters news agency that seven of the acrobatic group had stayed behind.
Xinjiang's native Muslim population, known as Uighurs, are Turkic speaking, and are ethnically and linguistically distinct from China's Han majority.
Uighur separatists are campaigning for their own independent state, and there has been a sporadic campaign of bombings and riots by Uighur separatists in the region in recent years."

Document(s): Open document

14.01.2004 - Source: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute

Article on relations between Han Chinese and Uighurs ("Chinese Reaction To The Uyghur People") [#19398],  [ID 4316]

"The more Chinese migrants who flood into Xinjiang every day, the greater the problems will be. Attempts by the government to dilute the Uyghurs, Xinjiang’s native people, only stoke the fires of belligerence and discontent.

But there are two sides to this problem and a realistic assessment of what is happening in Xinjiang needs to account for both. [...] Few Uyghurs would waste their breath in praise for the Chinese or do so within earshot of another Uyghur. This would be tantamount to betrayal.

In fact for a Uyghur, the Chinese are an obsession. Very few actions are done, very few problems are understood and very few decisions are made by Uyghurs without a negative reference to their hated cohabitees.

The Chinese on the other hand expect the Uyghurs to fall in with their ways. The difference between the Chinese in Xinjiang and traditional ruling colonialists is that most Chinese are preoccupied themselves with the business of their own survival and many barely subsist. Thousands are drafted into dubious building “contracts” and discarded after six months without pay when government tax concessions for construction companies expire, and still thousands of others barely survive doing filthy menial tasks around the city. [...]

Uyghur reluctance to fraternize with their ‘unclean’ foe discourages individual friendships and socializing. Uyghurs tend to be viewed from a distance as a novelty, a minority group that is good at singing and dancing, and famous for its ethnic food. Government propaganda concerning the ‘East Turkestan Terrorists’ has installed a wariness and fear of the Uyghur people and most Chinese tend to give them a wide berth.

Most Chinese in the capital have no understanding of the Uyghur culture, have never attempted even the rudiments of the language and a vast proportion would be oblivious as to the nature of, or even existence of the gulf between the races.

Their benign indifference combined with paternal condescension keeps many Chinese from regarding Uyghurs as equals. The consequent Uyghur inferiority complex and intransigence creates a climate of mistrust and intolerance. Few Chinese companies will employ Uyghurs as a result, in fact most state categorically that Uyghurs should not apply, thus breeding hostility. [...]

Chinese and Uyghur live parallel lives in Xinjiang. Even those whose mastery of the language bridges the physical gulf find that Uyghurs are reluctant to confide in them the true nature of their feelings and the hatred that simmers beneath the surface.

Very soon, the Uyghurs will be a minority in Xinjiang and attempts to dilute them will have succeeded. Assimilation, however, will be slower in coming. Propaganda posters and slogans merely highlight the problems; they do nothing to solve them. There is a bottom line that no amount of campaigns will ever address, or indeed dare to address. The Chinese are taking over Xinjiang and will continue to do so with a vengeance. The Uyghurs wish they did not and want them to leave. In the end, Chinese indifference may hurt the Uyghur people, but the Uyghur reaction to it hurts no one but themselves."

Document(s): Open document

19.12.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: International community must oppose attempt to brand peaceful political activists as "terrorists" ("China: International community must oppose attempt to brand peaceful political activists as "terrorists"") [#18296],  [ID 4317]

"China's publication earlier this week of a wanted list of ethnic Uighur "terrorists" abroad and its call for their arrest and extradition appears to be a renewed attempt to curb the political activities of Uighur activists outside China and garner international support for its ongoing crackdown in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Amnesty International said today.
The official document published by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security on Monday listed four Uighur groups as "terrorist organizations". They include the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkistan Information Center (ETIC). Both are political groups based in Germany which publicize reports of ongoing abuses against Uighurs in China and advocate self-determination or independence for the region.
[...]
While Amnesty International does not dispute that some Uighur groups or individuals may have been responsible for criminal acts, including acts of violence, the organization calls on other states to treat China's requests for extradition with extreme caution and ensure that the basis for such requests are given the most thorough scrutiny."

Document(s): Open document

15.12.2003 - Source: BBC News

China has issued a "terrorist" wanted list, blaming four Muslim separatist groups and eleven individuals for a series of bombings and assassinations ("China issues 'terrorist' list") [#18221],  [ID 4318]

Document(s): Open document

24.10.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Uighur Shaheer Ali executed for "terrorist activities" ("China - Further Information on UA 119/02") [#17066],  [ID 4321]

"Amnesty International is deeply concerned that Shaheer Ali, a member of the Uighur ethnic groupfrom the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China, has reportedly been executed after being forcibly returned to China from Nepal last year. There are concerns for the safety of Kheyum Whashim Ali, Abdu Allah Sattar andother Uighurs who have also been forcibly returned to China after seeking asylum in Nepal and elsewhere.
[...]
The court claimed this group was linked tothe Gulja (Yining) incident of 5 February 1997 which was described as an incident of "beating, smashing and looting". Independent eyewitness reports indicate that the Gulja (Yining) incident was in fact a peaceful demonstration by local people calling for equal treatment for Uighurs which degenerated into violence after security forces fired into the crowd in an attempt to forcibly disperse the protesters. Hundreds were arrested in the aftermath and many were subjected to torture and ill-treatment.
[...]
Shaheer Ali was among several Uighurs, including Kheyum Whashim Ali and Abdu Allah Sattar, who had been recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after they fled to Nepal in 2000. Shaheer Ali and Abdu Allah Sattar were detained by Nepalese immigration authoritiesin December 2001 and forcibly returned to China in January 2002. Kheyum Whashim Ali was forcibly returned in mid-2002 after being detained by immigration and police authorities in Nepal.
[...]
China is also putting pressure on neighbouring countries, such as Nepal, Pakistan and Central Asian countries, to repatriate Uighurs, including asylum seekers and refugees. Amnesty International believes that any Uighurs suspected of being involved in pro-independence groups or activities and perceived by the authorities to be "terrorists, separatists or religious extremists" would be at risk of serious human rights violations, including torture, detention without charge and execution, if forcibly returned to China."

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10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Assessment - October 2003 - Uighurs & "Terrorism" ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 4323]

"5.39. The Chinese response to the events of 11 September 2001 was swift. The paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP), numbering 1.2 million officers stationed throughout PRC were immediately put on high alert. Generally there have been successive waves of increased security, with a heightened state of alert in October 2001 (also, see below, Muslims). China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (See Ethnic minorities, Uighur)

5.40. The PRC has a list of terrorist organisations that includes a number of groups not recognised by the United Nations, including Uighur nationalist groups. However, on 12 September 2002, the UN did recognise that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was a terrorist organisation, responsible for killing 160 people in the past decade in Xinjiang province.

5.41. In addition to the new alert for PAP officers , a new Ministry of Public Security (MPS = Gong An Bu) bureau was announced in January 2002 to tackle terrorism. The unit is to be set up later in 2002, comprising of many elite police units, including a Sichuan PAP women's military unit trained in anti-terrorism tactics. The unit will specifically monitor border crossings, visa applications and airline security, in order to prevent terrorist attacks and incursions.

5.42. Amnesty International (AI) has strongly criticised the anti-terror campaign, particularly in relation to arrests and execution of Uighur "ethnic separatists". The United States Government has also voiced some criticism over Chinese interpretations' of "terrorist", and diplomatic difficulties have arisen over the their refusal to hand Uighur separatists found in Afghanistan over to the Chinese."

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

History of the Uighurs (Uygurs) ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 4324]

"6.232. The Uighurs are a Turkic people, numbering approximately 8 million and predominantly resident in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China (XUAR) [13d.][11i] With around 210,000 in neighbouring Kazakhstan and 45,000 in Kyrgyzstan. [13d.][1b]

6.233. The term “Uighur” is a bit of misnomer, with many different groups lumped together under the Uighur ethnic tag. [18m] As an ethnic group, the Uighurs are made up of a number of Turkic tribes, with "Uighur" being a comparatively recent term. [16h][16n][16x]

6.234. Supporters of Uighur self-determination (based abroad) trace the origins of the Uighurs back to the time of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C - 220 A.D). Pointing to the “emergence” of various Uighur Kingdoms which existed, intermittently from 774 to 1759 to support their calls for independence from China. [19i.]

6.235. In 1949 the Republic of Eastern Turkmenistan was occupied by Chinese troops after a little over 1 years “independence”. In 1955, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China (XUAR) was created [19f.] leading to the migration of Han Chinese, who now represent 37 per of the population (1997 figures). Uighurs make up 47 per cent of the population, with Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Krrgyzs, Tajiks and Mongols making up the remaining 16 per cent. [11i]"

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Han Migration ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 4325]

"6.236. Han in-migration has been promoted since 1949. The main structure assisting migration was the Bingtuan, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The organisation was paramilitary in as much as it was initially based on forced conscripts from Han areas of PRC, as a pioneer corps. The institutional status of the Bingtuan was complex, described as a "Party-government-army" unit (dang zheng jun zuzhi). A further status was conferred on the Bingtuan in 1998, with the economic status of a corporation (jituan gongsi). The Bingtuan has an armed police corps (wujing) and a militia (minging). The Bingtuan manage hundreds of state farms engaged in large-scale production. In the early 1990s, the Bingtuan numbered 2.1 million members, with 2.4 million by 1997. The Bingtuan's autonomy has caused resentment with the provincial authorities. It is also heavily subsidised and is unprofitable. [11i]

6.237. Since 1990, the government has encouraged further Han influx under a set of policies colloquially known as "mixing sand" (chan shazi). The operations of the Bingtuan and other Han influxes have stirred up widespread resistance and resentment among the Uighur. The allocation of water resources is a particular area of conflict. There is also conflict between recent and established Han settlers (lao Xinjiang ren - "old Xinjiang people"). Education is also held be discriminatory: ethnic schools have seen funding fall, while schools offering a "regular education" (zhenggui jiaoyu) in Mandarin are increasing. Economic discrimination is also a feature of the region, since most good jobs require fluency in putonghua (Mandarin). [11I][6m]

6.238. On source, quoting from The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp. estimated that a further 500,000 Han migrants were needed to work in its “numerous” farms and industries. (Report dated 5 August 2003). [22cf.]"

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10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Nationalism in Xinjiang ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 4326]

"6.239. Nationalism in Xinjiang (XUAR) is a source of tension between the ethnic population and government. There have been a series of anti-Chinese demonstrations and riots in recent years. In 1998 the bombing and killing of policemen by separatists lead to a crackdown that involved the deaths of some protesters and massive arrests. [1][2d][3a][6m]

6.240 Since the collapse of the Soviet Union (1990s) Xinjiang (XUAR) has become of greater importance to Beijing, both economically and politically. Economically it remains one of China's poorest provinces; though the Uighurs of Xinjiang (XUAR) are considerably better off in material terms than their counterparts in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. [13d.] The central government has invested heavily in the area. Pursuing large-scale land reclamation for cotton growing (which as attracted criticism based on environmental grounds) and oil exploitation. [11i]

6.241. Politically, Xinjiang (XUAR) provides a buffer from the potentially destabilising influence of what was Soviet Central Asia. The government sees closer cooperation with these successor states, particularly over fighting terrorism as crucial to maintaining regional stability. [12h]

6.242. The PRC government is a founder member of an informal group of Central Asian countries. Since June 2001, this forum has been called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, previously having been called the Shanghai Five (from inception in 1996 to June 2001). Uzbekistan joined in June 2001, other members being China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. A key focus for the group is the suppression of militant Islamic groups within the member countries. [12h]

6.243. As well as a growth in the Han population, Muslim groups have emerged from the Uighur misnaming, and have grown both in numbers and as a proportion of the population of Xinjiang. Such groups are more akin to the Chinese Muslim population, the Hui. [18m]

6.244. There has been a history of Uighur resistance since the Uighur government of 1945 to 1949 was pushed out by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA): there is a "East Turkmenistan" movement in exile, operating from Turkey. [12g] However, one academic commentator has pointed out "a profoundly practical people, Uighur and regional leaders actually invited the People's Liberation Army (PLA) into the region after the defeat of the Nationalists in 1949". [18m]

6.245. Uighur resistance has been seen to show three main features since the early 1990s. Firstly, there has been protest and violent demonstrations, initially downplayed in official reports as sporadic, spontaneous protest by unorganised groups of Uighur farmers (tufa shijian - "sudden incidents"). Secondly, numerous violent incidents over the 1990s: in 1998, Party sources indicated over 70 serious incidents, causing over 380 fatalities, occasionally incidents such as the Urumqi bombings (1997) receive international attention. Finally, the existence and agitation of Uighur nationalist groups outside PRC: China's diplomatic neutralising of their influence means that the groups are small and isolated, but possibly still influential. [11I][9aw][12g]

6.246. The Uighur are Sunni Muslims "practising Islamic traditions similar to their co-religionists in the region" and "Islam (has become) an important, but not exclusive, cultural marker of Uighur identity." Though portrayed by many in the region as united, Uighur continue to be divided along Sufi non-Sufi Muslim factions, territorial regions, linguistic differences, class (commoner-elite) divisions and political loyalties. [18m]

6.247. The case of Rebiya Kadeer, a wealthy Uighur businesswoman arrested on 11 August 1991 and sentenced (on 9 March 2000) to 8 years in prison for passing information to separatists outside the country. Has been taken up by a number of NGOs, most notably Amnesty International (AI), who continue to campaign for her release whilst questioning the motives behind her arrest and subsequent trial. [2g][6m][9aw][12g][20ad.][6am.]

6.248. NGOs, whilst recognising the right of the government of the PRC to protect it's citizens from terrorist activity, have expressed concerns that the Chinese government is using 11 September (2001) as a pretext for targeting “ethnic separatists” in Xinjiang (XUAR). [6ak.][6aj.]

6.249. Religiously orientated groups in Xinjiang (XUAR) are very local (mainly in Kashgar and Hetian areas) and intermittent in their presence. Main groups include the Party of Allah and the Islamic Uighur Party, but no details are known about these groups. [12h] One report made reference to a sect, presumed to be Islamic, called Tebrik (in Chinese original, tai bi le ke) as an illegal organisation. Nothing else is known, currently, about this group either. [4so]"

Document(s): Open document

09.2003 - Source: Forum 18

F18: Xinjiang religious freedom survey ("Xinjiang religious freedom survey, September 2003") [#16411],  [ID 4319]

"In its survey analysis of the religious freedom situation in the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region of north-western China (previously known as Eastern Turkestan), Forum 18 News Service reports on the pervasive state control over the religious life of native Muslims, who make up about half the local population. Mosques are strictly controlled by the authorities and all the imam-hatybs are state-appointed. Posters on mosques declare that children under 18 cannot attend, while an unofficial order bans employees of state-run companies from attending under threat of dismissal. Only approved religious literature can be sold. Despite Xinjiang's impressive recent economic growth, Forum 18 found that tension between local Muslims and the Chinese government has not been relieved.
[...]"

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27.06.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Forcible return to China ("Nepal/ China - UA 191/03") [#13940],  [ID 4327]

"[...]
Last year, three ethnic Uighur asylum seekers from China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are believed to have been forcibly returned to China from Nepal, even after they had been granted refugee status by UNHCR. The fate of two of them, Shaheer Ali and Abdu Allah Sattar, remains unclear but unofficial sources suggest that the other man, Kheyum Whashim Ali, is currently detained near Urumqi, the capital of the XUAR. His legal status and state of health are unknown. Amnesty International remains seriously concerned for his safety.
[...]"

Document(s): Open document
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02.06.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Forcible return to China ("Nepal: Forcible return of Tibetans to China unacceptable") [#13385],  [ID 4328]

"[...]
Last year, three ethnic Uighur asylum seekers from China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region are believed to have been forcibly returned to China from Nepal even after they had been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
[...]"

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

USDOS: As part of the nationwide strike hard campaign, local courts in Xinjiang meted out death sentences or long prison terms to those persons accused of separatist activity ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11835],  [ID 4331]

"The police continued to target minority activists. As part of the nationwide strike hard campaign, many seeking to express legitimate political grievances or views were labeled splittists or separatists. For example, Xinjiang official Abulahat Abkurixit told the newspaper Xinjiang Legal in April 2001 that authorities would use the campaign to strike at Muslim separatists and illegal religious activities. After a January incident in which a jobless worker read a poem at the end of a concert in the Xinjiang People's Hall in Urumqi that allegedly obliquely advocated a separate Uighur state, Abkurixit further announced that artists, writers, performers, historians, and others who advocated separatism through art would be strike hard targets. As part of the campaign, local courts in Xinjiang meted out death sentences or long prison terms to those persons accused of separatist activity. In November 2001, Abdehelil Zunun, who had translated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into Uighur, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In early 2000, a court sentenced Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer to 8 years in prison for passing "state intelligence" information to foreigners. The state intelligence she was accused of attempting to pass consisted of newspaper articles published in the official press and a list of individuals whose cases had been handled by judicial organs. [...]

In 2001 there were numerous reports that Uighurs were being executed or sentenced to long prison terms for separatist activities. In April 2001, immediately after the start of the strike hard campaign, 25 political activists in Kashgar prefecture were arrested for allegedly conspiring to set up an "Eastern Turkestan Republic." Charges ranged from "endangering state security" to "illegally setting up an organization," although human rights groups stated that no specific act committed by the group was mentioned. In April 2001, three Uighurs were sentenced for being members of the "1999 August 9 disturbances," which refers to a demonstration held in front of the local Communist party building to protest the arrest of an imam. Also in 2001, police arrested 186 persons in Aksu prefecture for offenses such as "endangering state security" and seized illegal religious publications, while in the capital, Urumqi, eight persons accused of having endangered social stability were sentenced to prison terms of between 4 and 13 years. According to official accounts, by May 2001 the authorities were prosecuting more than 3,000 cases, and massive public sentencing rallies attended by more than 300,000 persons had been held throughout the region."

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text with hyperlinks

27.01.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

AI: Executions of political prisoners ("People's Republic of China: Amnesty International condemns execution of Tibetan, following unfair trial") [#10498],  [ID 4334]

"[...]
Until now, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), home to the mainly Muslim Uighur minority, was the only place where Amnesty International has recorded executions of political prisoners in recent years.
[...]"

Document(s): Open document

18.12.2002 - Source: BBC News

US Human Rights Diplomat visits China