Munich: The Chinese authorities, at a press conference on January 08 in Urumchi, capital of East Turkistan (aka: Xinjiang), announced that Chinese police raided an alleged East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) terror camp in the Pamir Plateau on January 05 and killed 18 “terrorists,” captured 17, and were searching escaped suspects. The Chinese spokesperson said police found 22 grenades and material for 1,500 more. During the raid, a policeman was killed and another injured, the spokesperson said.

This is the first time that Chinese authorities claimed the existence of an alleged terror camp in East Turkistan. But the spokesperson did not give the exact location of this camp or any evidence to prove its existence. On January 9th, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Jianchao told a press conference that “the camp was linked to international terrorism” but he gave no proof to substantiate his allegation.

According to Uyghurs interviewed by Radio Free Asia Uyghur Service, the Chinese police raid took place at Kosrak village in Aktu County near Kashgar. The people being interviewed could not confirm the Chinese claims.

“At this time, we do not really know what took place except the claims made by the Chinese government” said Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, president of World Uyghur Congress (WUC), “and since there is no way to substantiate the Chinese claims, we hope the United Nations would send a team to investigate what really happened.”

Prominent human rights organizations and think-tanks all concur that the Chinese government has been using the global war on terror as a convenient cover to persecute the Uyghur people who have legitimate grievances.

According to Amnesty International (AI) July 2004 report, following the attacks on September 11, 2001, “the Chinese authorities have actively sought to justify their crackdown in the XUAR as part of the international ‘war on terror’ in an attempt to garner international support for their actions.” Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said during a press conference in April 2005 regarding China’s religious persecution of the Uyghur people, “The worldwide campaign against terrorism has given Beijing the perfect excuse to crack down harder than ever in Xinjiang.”

Asserting that the Chinese government has a dubious intent in announcing the police raid, Strategic Forecasting, Inc., a U.S. think-tank, said China’s media blitz to bring attention to the destruction of an alleged terrorist base in East Turkistan serves both domestic and international public relations purposes. Questioning its timing, it said the announcement of the raid on camp came as Beijing is protesting the nomination of Rebiya Kadeer for the Nobel Peace Prize. It also said the coincidence of timing raises questions as to the accuracy of the Chinese security force’s announcement because Beijing frequently attributes militant activities to groups like ETIM, regardless of whether they are involved.

Accordingly, without an international inquiry into the Chinese police raid on January 05, it is impossible to find out what truly took place in the Pamir Plateau because the Chinese government has not yet substantiated its claims. Therefore, WUC calls on the United Nations to investigate the raid because that is the only way to know the truth of Chinese claims. If the Chinese government is telling the truth, it should allow UN to investigate.