China: Authorities grow bolder in Uighur crackdown
Two years on from riots and mass arrests in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Amnesty International has warned that the Chinese authorities continue to silence those speaking out on abuses during and after the unrest.
Hundreds of people were detained and prosecuted following the riots, with several dozen sentenced to death or executed and hundreds detained, with many of these sentenced to long prison terms.
Managers of well known Uighur websites and journalists have been jailed for involvement in posting messages announcing the protests, or for talking to foreign media.
Uighur asylum seeker Ershidin Israil was recently forcibly returned from Kazakhstan to China amid reported pressure from the Chinese authorities. He had been recently interviewed by Radio Free Asia about the alleged torture and death in custody of a young Uighur man in the aftermath of the protests.
“The government is not only still muzzling people who speak out about July 2009, it is using its influence outside its borders to shut them up,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific.
“The general trend towards repression that we see all over China is particularly pronounced in Xinjiang, where the Uighur population has become a minority in its own homeland.”
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.
The unrest was followed by numerous reports of enforced disappearances, and torture in detention. The government is still arresting those who reveal human rights abuses that took place during and after the protests.
Dozens of people have reportedly been detained and ill-treated in connection with the revelation of the alleged death in custody reported to Radio Free Asia.
“Attacking every Uighur who speaks freely is no way to resolve the underlying grievances that led to the 2009 protests in the first place,” said Sam Zarifi. “The Chinese government has to listen to the grievances of the Uighur community and address their demands to have their rights respected and their culture protected.”
Memetjan Abdulla, a prominent state radio broadcaster is serving a life sentence for posting a protest notice on the Uighur website Salkin. Tursanjan Hezim and Dilshat Paerhat, both former web editors of well-known Uighur websites that reportedly posted protest notices, are serving seven and five years sentences respectively.
Hairat Niyaz, a Uighur journalist and website editor previously seen as pro-government, is serving a 15-year sentence on charges of “endangering state security” for essays he had written and interviews he gave to Hong Kong journalists following the July 2009 protests.
The Chinese authorities blamed overseas agitators for planning, directing and instigating the July 2009 unrest, without presenting evidence. According to official figures, 197 died in the course of the violence, the vast majority of them Han Chinese.
Eye witness accounts presented by Amnesty International in its 2010 report, ‘Justice, justice’: The July 2009 protests in Xinjiang, China, cast doubt on 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.
Comments
Michael Wild | Posted on 18 July 2011, 10:23PM | Report comment
Mieszko is quite right Justin. There’s a group who does opinion polling around the world (I think it’s Pew’s Global Attitude Surveys) and they report that while anti-Americanism is rife to dominant in the Muslim world (Good work Bush Junior) support for suicide bombers is under 20% in fact under 10% in most Muslim countries. Unfortunately news like that is never published in the main stream media, but the results are widely known by those interested in the niity-gritty of Foreign Affairs. Yes there is a dangerous group of Islamic Jihadists and it’s in everyone’s interest for them to be treated like the very dangerous criminals that they are. They should be arrested, given proper trials (no confessions taken via torture…a very common practice) and if found guilty put away for a very long time. But I would be extremely surprised if as many as 10% of the Uighers imprisoned were Jihadists and guilty of anything at all but a desire for the end of Chinese oppression. I’d think more like 1%.
Mieszko | Posted on 18 July 2011, 01:40PM | Report comment
Justin, I think you are mistaking the highly-publicised voices of the few for the beliefs of the many. There are 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. If this was a concerted effort supported by all Muslisms (as you seem to suggest), I think we would be seeing a little more than the mild rumblings we are currently.
I contest your view that those beliefs are shared by most Muslims. I do not believe it is accurate. As for Islam being deadlier than Communism… well… I think I know which one has a far higher body count to date.
Justin | Posted on 16 July 2011, 11:42PM | Report comment
The Chinese government misunderstands these Uighur as mere separatists, when in fact they are Islamic Jihadists, working to Islamise the Western part of China. If anyone who has learned a bit about Islam, will know that all Muslims have the responsibility, as commanded by the Koran, to overthrow all forms of governments on Earth and to replace it with their barbaric Sharia law, which in reality is far more brutal than Communism. The Chinese Government and the West has to understand this fact. It is the goal of all Muslims to Islamise the world. Historically, there has been two waves of Jihad after the death of Muhammad. But the world is still not fully Islamised. Currently, we are witnessing the “Third Jihad” arising globally.
When the Uighur in Turkey went to the streets to protest against China, what kind of flag did they waved? It was a flag with the Islamic symbol you’d find on the top of all mosques - the crescent moon with a star next to it. This so-called separatist movement is all done in the name of Islamisation, and not just that they wanted independence.
If the Chinese government would one day give them the Western part of China, they’ll soon want to Islamise the whole of China. This is Islamisation ! Look at Europe. Thanks to democratic political correctness, Muslims openly went to the streets yelling “Islam will dominate the world”. In the UK, they publicly demanded the Buckingham palace to become a local mosque and the Queen to get out of UK. Doesn’t that concern anyone at all? The whole non-Islamic world should wake up and realize Islam is far deadlier and tenacious than Communism. Communists still love life, but Muslims love death more than life and they proved it by blowing themselves up. They are trained to hate the infidels (non-Muslims) the moment they learn to speak. It is fascism at its worst, but hiding behind the guise of religion, thanks to the Koran that Muhammad left behind.
Michael Wild | Posted on 6 July 2011, 09:00PM | Report comment
When it came to repressing the Uighers the Chinese Security Forces were never lacking in courage in the first place! Still good on Amnesty continuing to shine a light on these under reported black spots.