TOP STORY
  WUC and Uyghur Sources Dispute Official Version of Violent Incident in Guma
FEATURED ARTICLES
  Sweden Deports Uyghurs to China
  UNPO General Secretary States New Year Needs Resolve on Uyghur Rights
MEDIA WORK
  Statements by WUC Spokesman on New Crackdown on Uyghurs
  WUC Youtube Cannel
PAST EVENTS
   Head of the WUC's Committee for Religion at Islamic Congress
   5th East Turkestan Football Championship
   Dutch Uyghurs Meet Parliament Member
  Uyghur Leader Meet Turkish Ministers
  Uyghurs in the US Celebrate New Year
  Uyghur Action in Tokyo
  WUC President at NED Event “Honoring Vaclav Havel”
  New Uyghur Action on the Occasion of China Cultural Year in Turkey
  18th General Assembly of the East Turkestan Union in Europe (ETUE)
  Round Table Discussion at German Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  WUC Standing Committee Meeting
  China´s Silk Route - The Destruction of an Ancient Culture
UPCOMING EVENTS
  Joint UNPO-WUC Conference on Nuclear Testing in East Turkestan
  19th Session UN Human Rights Council
HIGHLIGHTED MEDIA ARTICLES AND REPORTS ON UYGHUR RELATED ISSUES
  Local Officials in East Turkestan Continue Curbs Over Religious Practice
  2011: The Uyghur Human Rights Year in Review
  Invisible walls in Xinjiang (Book Review)
  China's borderlands (Book Review)
  10th Anniversary Guantánamo
  MORE MEDIA ARTICLES

According to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency, on 28 December 2011 seven Uyghurs were shot dead in an alleged hostage rescue in Guma (Chinese: Pishan) county, Hotan Prefecture, East Turkestan, four others were wounded and another four arrested. The Chinese authorities claimed a group of “violent terrorists” were responsible for the kidnapping of two people and immediately linked the kidnapping – in typical fashion – to “a surge in religious extremism.” In a 29 December 2011 press release, the WUC called on the international community to view the official account with caution.

One day later, on 30 December, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that at least two of seven ethnic Uyghurs killed in a confrontation with police were women, and that children aged seven to 17 years old were among those detained following the violence. The two women killed were 29-year-old Burabiye Anduqadir and Buzohre Seydehmet, 27 years old. At the time of reporting, their bodies were being held by the county Public Security Bureau. Two others of the dead reportedly are Ablikim Abduqadir, 40, and Hebibulla Abduqadir, 26. According to the same RFA report, the group of seven had been attempting to flee to a foreign country due to religious repression in China when they were confronted by police. The Chinese government routinely conflates Uighur cultural and religious practice with “terrorism” through the concept of the “three forces”, i.e. “terrorism, separatism and religious extremism”.

On 2 January 2012, a new RFA report five ethnic Uyghur children were missing since the incident. At least one of the children, Memet Ablikim, 9 years old, is a student at the only elementary school in Mukula village in the southern city of Hotan, where the violence occurred. Some sources indicated that he was injured by a bullet, which hit him accidentally in the incident. When the director of the school went to meet his parents or relatives, this was not possible, because all of them have been detained over investigations into the incident.

On 6 January 2012, Amnesty International (AI) called on China in a press release that the government must reveal the whereabouts of five Uyghur children detained and some of the injured after the deadly clash in Hotan prefecture. “The Chinese authorities need to shed light on the whereabouts and health of these missing children and immediately provide medical care to those who need it,” said AI in its statement. "China, as a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is bound by standards regarding the detention of children to ensure that they are only held in detention as a last resort and for the shortest possible length of time.” AI also stated, “the official explanation that people were killed because they ‘resisted arrest’ doesn’t answer how seven people ended up being shot dead, and a number of others injured. Even where suspects have used force against the police, the number of people killed and injured in this incident raises serious questions about whether unnecessary use of lethal force - in violation of UN guidelines - was used. This needs to be explained by the government.”

On 8 January 2012, RFA reported that a six-year-old ethnic Uyghur boy has been missing for 11 days amid speculations he may have been shot when police personnel opened fire against the group of Uyghurs and killed seven of them on 28 December 2011. The Chinese authorities accused the six-years-old of taking part in the standoff and throwing stones at police. Local sources say that the police accidentally killed the six-year-old in the incident and produced a story about how he was throwing stones to cover or excuse their mistake.

The same report reveals the names of another two Uyghurs who were killed in the incident: Abdumijit Seydehmet, 25, and Abliz Seydehmet, 30. All of the killed are from Mukuyla village, and according to one village committee head, at least three of them are siblings – Abdumijit, Buzohre, and Abliz Seydehmet. According to the latest reports, Chinese officials had not turned over the bodies of those killed and freed the children.

The WUC calls on the Chinese authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the events. The WUC also calls upon the Chinese government to adhere to its obligation to respect human rights while countering alleged terrorism, as set forth in the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and international counter-terrorism framework.

See also:
Uyghurs shot to death in Guma County, amid intense state-led repression
UAA, 29 December 2011

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Authorities in Sweden have deported two Muslim ethnic minority Uyghurs to China after their request for political asylum was refused, sparking fears among other Uyghur asylum-seekers that they will also be sent home where they may be persecuted.

Munich-based World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilshat Raxit identified them as Adile Omer, a 25-year-old woman, and Faruh Dilshat, a 23-year-old man. “I don’t know what caused them to flee their homeland, but I know that they had participated in demonstrations held by the Swedish Uyghur community in front of the Chinese embassy in Stockholm. This is enough fodder for the Chinese authorities to punish them severely," Raxit said. He said Omer was deported on Monday while Dilshat was sent back last month.

A fellow Uyghur asylum-seeker identified only as Malik confirmed that Omer was forcibly repatriated after being held in an immigration detention center in Stockholm since Dec. 23. Omer had highlighted her plight to Raxit from a plane before it took off from Stockholm Arlanda airport to Beijing. “She was crying and begging to me to do something immediately to prevent her deportation,” he told RFA. “Maybe, she had used a police phone as they took her to the plane forcibly.” (…) Malik said the deportation of Adile, who is from Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, occurred after a swift appeal hearing."It was very quick. They didn't wait for the court appeal process, and before it was approved, they had already sent her home." Malik claimed Dilshat did not resist the repatriation.

At immediate risk Malik said a number of Uyghurs who had escaped China and arrived together in Sweden in September were now at immediate risk of deportation, in spite of having begun appeals in Swedish courts. He said the asylum-seekers had left China because of fears they would be persecuted in the wake of the July 2009 ethnic violence in Urumqi, which prompted hundreds of arrests and "disappearances," according to overseas rights groups. One woman had gone into hiding, moving house every few days for fear of being sent back to China, he said. (…) He said the Swedish immigration authorities had consistently treated them as if they were Han Chinese citizens, and appeared not to understand that they could face retaliation and further persecution if they returned. (…)

The full article is available here.

As Chinese New Year approaches, the international community must stand ready to renew its pressure on Beijing, both to uphold the rights of its citizens but also to end the policies that are discriminating and marginalisaing Uyghurs throughout East Turkestan and China.

The reported deaths of seven Uyghurs in Guma County of Hoten prefecture on 28 December 2011 came amid a renewed ‘Strike Hard’ campaign by Chinese authorities that has seen Uyghur activists detained, assaulted, and disappeared with no recourse to justice or compensation.

Those that have presented appeals to the Chinese authorities risk being consigned to ‘reeducation’ camps. In August 2011 seven Uyghurs disappeared, their families learning months later that they had been sentenced to ‘reeducation’ for the staging of a public protest against economic policies that have been impoverishing farmers for years.

As a result many Uyghurs have fled their country to find refuge elsewhere but the decision of authorities such as those in Sweden to repatriate Uyghurs to China sends a worrying signal. Beijing cannot be encouraged to act as it has done - the international community has a responsibility to evaluate Uyghur asylum claims with greater insight and understanding.

The Chinese authorities can no longer use the pretense of a ‘War on Terror’ to intimidate, terrorise, and disallow constitutional rights to its citizens, whoever they may be. The Chinese New Year must be a time when the international community makes clear to Beijing its conviction to protect Uyghur rights in China and around the world.

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The head of WUC's Committee for Religion Turghunjan Alawdun attended the "31th International Islamic Congress" from 24-26 December in Stockholm, Sweden, which was organized by the Islamic Union in Northern Europe.

The 5th East Turkestan Football Championship was held from 25-27 December in Adelaide, Australia. Several hundred young Uyghurs from all around Australia participated in this event, which contributed to strengthen the friendship and solidarity among the Uyghur youth communities in Australian. 

On 23 May 2011, Organized by the Uyghur American Association and the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, more than 150 Uyghurs from the Washington, DC area celebrated the New Year in Fairfax city on 31 December. WUC president Rebiya Kadeer attended the celebration. 

Hoping to raise awareness of the Japanese people towards the Uyghur human rights issue, the members of the Japan Uyghur Committee disseminated hundreds of leaflets, on the occasion of the New Year's Festival in Japan, describing the worsening human rights situation of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan to visitors of the Yasukuni Shrine on 2 January 2012 in Tokyo.

On the occasion of the China Culture Year in Turkey, a number of civil organizations in Turkey organised a variety of events to raise concerns on the worsening human rights situation of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan. Among others, the regional center of the Turkish Nationalist Movement in one of the largest Turkish provinces Sivas organized a conference entitled "East Turkestan under Repression" on 7 January in the Suşehri municipality of the province. WUC vice president Seyit Tumturk attended the event, in which more than 300 people including leaders of several Turkish civil organizations, government officials and journalists, participated and gave an comprehensive report on the situation of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan. He also attended a press conference and answered questions on WUC's attitude towards the China Culture Year in Turkey.

18th General Assembly of the East Turkestan Union in Europe (ETUE)

In the frame of the Fernwehfestival („Wanderlust Festival“) that annually takes place in the city of Göttingen, Germany, Ulrich Delius, Asia Director oft he Society for Threatened Peoples (STP, www.gfbv.org) spoke on 22 January 2012 about the destruction of ancient Silk Route cities like Kashgar in China.

From 27 February to 23 March 2012, the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will take place in Geneva, Switzerland. The WUC is currently lobbying for the inclusion of a mention of the Uyghur human rights situation in the oral and/or written statement of the country delegations or of the NGOs with ECOSOC status. 

On 16 December 2011, the CECC published an analysis of the continuous repression of religious practice in East Turkestan. According to the CECC, controls over religion in East Turkestan remain among the harshest in China, and local governments have reported continuing steps to tighten curbs over religious practice. In recent months, several local governments have reported carrying out measures to prevent women from veiling or wearing other apparel deemed to carry religious connotations and to prevent men from wearing large beards, practices authorities have associated with "backwardness," "extremism," and "illegal religious activities." Some local governments also reported increasing controls over women religious specialists known as büwi. Regionwide, authorities have described continuing steps to target "illegal" religious publications in censorship campaigns.

Invisible walls in Xinjiang (Book Review)

On the occasion of the sad 10th anniversary of the Guantanamo prison, several articles dealing with the Gitmo Uyghurs appeared in international media:

Freed from Guantanamo, Uighur makes pizzas in Tirana
Tribune, 10 January 2012

The Problem Prisoners
Foreign Policy, 10 January 2012

Free From Repression, But Far From Home
RFERL, 11 January 2012
 
Exchanging One Prison for Another
Der Spiegel, 19 January 2012 

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© 2012 World Uyghur Congress    |    Published: 25 January 2012