Press Release – For immediate release
27 March 2012
Contact:  World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) condemns the death sentence handed down to the Uyghur man Abdukerem Mamut (Abudukeremu Mamuti) in the strongest possible terms. According to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency, on 26 March 2012, the Intermediate People’s Court in Kashgar Prefecture sentenced Abdukerem Mamut to death for “organizing and leading a terrorist group and committing murder”, in connection to the Kargilik incident of 28 February 2012. According to the Court’s verdict, Mamut “spread religion extremism and violent terrorism and formed a terrorist group of nine between last July and February this year.”

On 28 February 2012, Chinese state media reported that an unknown number of “attackers” armed with knives killed 15 people in Kargilik (Chinese: Yecheng), Kashgar Prefecture, injured another 14, and that “police shot eight of the assailants dead.” During the clash, one security guard was killed. Police arrested Abdukerem Mamut at the scene. However, according to local sources, 12 people were killed in the incident, seven of whom were members of the security forces, and the police had shot and killed 10 Uyghurs, while injuring a further 11. Some of the injured were passers-by, and at least one of them was left in a life-threatening condition. According to Xinhua, “Mamut confessed to the crime.”

“Mr. Mahmut´s alleged confession causes serious concerns on how these confessions have been obtained. Ill-treatment and torture in detention are widespread in China, and we fear that Mr. Mamut has been subjected to torture to confess crimes that he has not committed,” said WUC President Rebiya Kadeer today. “His speedy conviction casts serious doubts on the legitimacy of the trial, and we do not believe that it met international legal standards.”

According to Amnesty International (AI), all trials in China are fundamentally flawed – with courts routinely relying on evidence extracted through torture or other ill-treatment, and defendants frequently denied the right to choose their own lawyers.

Further, shortly after the Hotan and Kashgar incidents of July 2011, four Uyghur man (Abdugheni Yusup, Ablikim Hasan, Muhtar Hasan, and Memetniyaz Tursun) were sentenced to death on “terror charges” for their alleged role in the incidents.

“The death sentence is not only used arbitrarily against Uyghurs who dare to stand up for their basic human rights, but also to intimidate the Uyghur population of East Turkestan as a whole,” stated Ms. Kadeer. “In China, political prisoners are executed in East Turkestan only.”

AI published its new annual report on death sentences only today. In 2011, China again topped the list of states with the highest number of executions worldwide. In fact, China has consistently figured among the top 5 executioners over the past five years. China accounts for by far the most executions, with thousands of people believed to be executed each year– more than the rest of the world put together.

Since the incident, Chinese security forces are detaining Uyghurs in Kargilik, and as of 1 March 2012, approximately 100 people had been detained. Immediately following the incident, Chinese security forces mobilized a large number of armed personnel to enforce the imposition of martial law in the city. The authorities prohibited inhabitants to leave the city, as traffic to and from Kargilik was blocked. In addition, information on the incident is reportedly being censored in the Chinese media and internet.

Soon after the incident, Beijing accused the WUC of masterminding and inciting the incident. The WUC strongly refuted these accusations, reiterating its strong commitment to the principle of nonviolence, and to finding a peaceful and democratic means of solving the conflict in East Turkestan.

In addition, the Chinese authorities immediately labelled the Kargilik incident as a “terrorist attack.” However, “terror” accusations are regularly used to equate any form of peaceful Uyghur opposition with the “three evil forces” (terrorism, extremism, separatism), misusing the fact that Uyghurs happen to be Muslims.

Several residents of Kargilik County interviewed by Radio Free Asia (RFA) on 29 February stated that the violence was an outbreak of Uyghur discontent towards the massive influx of Han Chinese into East Turkestan, which has led to increased economic discrimination of the Uyghur population. In addition, the incident has taken place amidst a heavy crackdown on Uyghurs’ human rights- an increased and tightened security presence in East Turkestan has led to a lack of religious freedom and a rise in arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances among the Uyghur population. East Turkestan has seen several incidents in the last month alone. Four Uyghur men were shot dead during a pre-dawn raid staged by Chinese police at a farmhouse in Towurchi village near Korla city, Bayin’gholin prefecture, on 8 March 2012. The four men identified as Nesrullah, Nurmemet, Abdurehim, and Abdulla, were gunned down as part of the Chinese government’s “strike hard” campaign in the region, after police had detained Tohti Ibrahim, a bomb-making suspect in the city. Police first reported that there was a connection between the five men. However, some days later a police officer stated that the men killed were not linked to the alleged bomb-maker, but the shooting was still considered necessary, “because the four disobeyed police during the raid operation.” Police accused them of “terrorist intentions” and considered “axes and boxing gloves enough evidence of a terror plan.” Local residents disputed police claims, saying “police, especially state security police, always fabricate evidence to justify their killing.” Some days later, local authorities began pursuing Erkin Emet, a new suspect in the Korla case.

In December 2011, seven Uyghurs were extrajudicially killed in Guma (Chinese: Pishan) County in an alleged attempt to flee the country. A six-year-old boy is still missing since the incidents.

One month later, in January 2012, the Chinese authorities announced that 8,000 police officers had been recruited to “beef up security in the vast countryside” and “crack down on illegal religious activities.”

Further, shortly after the Hotan and Kashgar incidents (July 2011), the Chinese government implemented a two-month “Strike Hard” campaign in East Turkestan “in order to strengthen anti-terrorism efforts.”