China Sentences Four To Death For Xinjiang Violence

September 15, 2011
Four people have been sentenced to death in China in connection to a wave of violence in a restive western region over the summer.
 
Violence in two cities of Xinjiang left 32 people dead.
 
Beijing blamed Uighur separatists for the unrest in Kashgar and Hotan.
 
Courts in two cities found the four guilty of crimes that include terrorism, arson, and murder.
 
The Germany-based exile group the World Uighur Congress said the four had been tortured while in detention and were given only very limited access to lawyers.
 
Many Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to Xinjiang, resent Chinese rule and controls on their religion, culture, and language.
 
compiled from agency reports