Uyghur Canadian Society / Association - Uyghur News, Uighur and East Turkistan, Tibet News

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Crackdown in TIBET condemned by parliamentary group

FRI, 14 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

Crackdown in TIBET condemned by parliamentary groupFor Immediate Release: March 14, 2007Ottawa ? The Parliamentary Friends of Tibet (PFT) join the international condemnation of the crackdown in Tibet.According to Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Chair of the PFT, ?the violent crackdown by Chinese paramilitary forces in Tibet is unacceptable. On behalf of the Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, I call upon China to respect the Tibetan people?s human rights, to allow them to gather freely and express themselves, to immediately release those detained, and to unseal the city and the monasteries.??It is clear from these events, which have resulted from decades of injustice, that China?s government must act decisively to redress the legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people and other minorities within its borders if it is to take its place in the world as a great nation.??Beijing secured the winning bid for this summer?s Olympics on the promise of change. The Game?s logo is ?One World One

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: MEP Appeal For Respect of Rights

THU, 13 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

MEP Appeal For Respect of Rights2008-03-13It has been a week in which the Chinese authorities have used the banner of terrorism ahead of the Beijing Olympics as a means of suppressing the rights of minorities such as the Uyghurs of East Turkestan. In response, Members of the European Parliament have taken the opportunity to express their solidarity and support for the ongoing work of Rebiya Kadeer, a campaigner at the forefront of attempts to win the freedoms supposedly guaranteed by China?s constitution. The original signatories of the appeal have found themselves joined by growing numbers of MEPs from countries throughout Europe and of all backgrounds and political colours. It is the sincere hope of all those who have endorsed the appeal that it will find a receptive ear in the People?s Republic of China.Below is an appeal issued by Members of the European Parliament:APPEAL IN SUPPORT OF UYGHUR NONVIOLENT LEADER REBIYA KADEERWe undersigned Members of the European P

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Engaging China globally

TUE, 11 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

Engaging China globallyBy Sandley ChouMarch 11, 2008China and Russia are two of the most important countries in the world. They?re both perennial world powers, both in population and size, and both hold seats on the UN Security Council. They?re not small world powers that pretend to be important; instead, these are two countries that move and influence enormous numbers of countries globally.Without a doubt, China and Russia matter.And these two nations are definitely marching to their own beat. Both ignore Western cries for democracy, the concern regarding environmental standards, and human rights violations that are raised about them. Even with these differences, the West probably has little hope of changing the trajectories of these countries in those respects.One of the biggest complaints against China and Russia is their insistence, or rather, their lack of concern for negotiating, cooperating and financially supporting regimes that are violators of human rights or harbor terroris

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China's Curious Olympic Terror Threat

TUE, 11 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

China's Curious Olympic Terror ThreatMonday, Mar. 10, 2008 By SIMON ELEGANT/BEIJINGA paramilitary police unit surrounds a China Southern Airlines passenger plane during an anti-hijack drill in Harbin, in China's northeastern Heilongjiang Province,The dramatic news came in the midst of China's staid and boring annual legislature: a terrorist hijacking plot, perhaps meant to mar the coming Olympic Games, had been stopped. Security forces had thwarted a plot to "create an air disaster," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC). Apparently, on Mar. 7, a hijacking attempt by separatists from the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang had been foiled. Initial reports stated that China Southern flight CZ6901 had made an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou at about 12:40 p.m. after an apparent attempt to blow up the aircraft. The plane was en route from t

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Critics question China's handling of alleged terror plot

TUE, 11 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

Critics question China's handling of alleged terror plotSecurity experts question whether claims about Friday's domestic airliner incident amount to state propaganda to bolster a pre-Olympics crackdown.By Simon MontlakeSince Chinese authorities arrested two airline passengers for allegedly plotting to blow up a domestic flight, some analysts and activists are casting doubt on the state's claim that it had thwarted a pre-Olympics terrorist plot.The passengers were reportedly arrested after flammable material was found in the airplane's toilet last Friday. The flight originated in western China, a region where pro-independence Uighur rebels are believed to operate, and was bound for Beijing, the host city for this summer's Olympics.Few details have emerged of the incident, or about why the plane was allowed to continue to Beijing after an emergency landing in the western city of Lanzhou. Questions have also been raised over separate claims that militants in the

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China still tight-lipped about airline incident

MON, 10 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

China still tight-lipped about airline incident Details of alleged plot to destroy domestic airliner still secret but there's plenty of chatter about it on the InternetMar 10, 2008 03:19 PMBill schillerAsian CorrespondentBEIJING ? It was almost halfway through China Southern Airlines flight 6901 to Beijing Friday and the alarming aroma of what some believed was gasoline began to drift through the passengers' cabin.What happened next, however, is unclear.Some say a young woman passenger around "18 or 19" years old was swiftly restrained in her seat by a female flight attendant and other staff.Others say the female passenger quietly reached the washroom undetected, then poured the liquid into the toilet where it was to be set alight later by an accomplice.But Chinese officials were keeping a tight lid on the details of the alleged plot to down a domestic airliner here last week.The Civil Aviation Administration would only confirm today that after an emergency la

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China fabricated terror plots: Uighur leader in US

MON, 10 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

AFP * China fabricated terror plots: Uighur leader in US Olympics will be safe, organisers say amid 'terrorism' threatsBEIJING (AFP) ? Beijing Olympic organisers sought Monday to play down security concerns looming over the Games, a day after authorities said two "terrorist" plots from its Muslim-majority northwest had been foiled."We are confident that we will be able to have a safe Olympics," said Sun Weide, a spokesman from Beijing's Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG).Sun gave no indication as to whether any new measures had been put in place since the announcement on Sunday of the apparent terror threats.But efforts from Beijing to quell fears came amid accusations from exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer that China fabricated the alleged plots and even schemed to carry out its own terror attacks to blacken her community's name.Wang Lequan, Communist Party chief in the northwestern Xinjiang region, said Sunda

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Officials release few details in alleged terrorist plot against Games sites

MON, 10 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

2008 OLYMPICSBeijing organizers 'confident' of securityBeijing organizers 'confident' of security Officials release few details in alleged terrorist plot against Games sitesMar 10, 2008 08:47 AMChristopher BodeenTHE ASSOCIATED PRESSBEIJING ? Organizers voiced confidence Monday about security arrangements for this summer's Beijing Olympic Games, a day after a Communist party official said authorities had foiled a plot by Islamic terrorists to target the event."An efficient Olympic security command system is in place," Sun Weide, a spokesman for the organizing committee, told The Associated Press. "We're confident of holding a peaceful and safe Olympic Games."Few details have been released about the alleged plot and an apparently unrelated attempt to crash a passenger jet last Friday.The response underscores China's secretive, often repressive approach to a long-simmering Muslim separatist movement in its far west: Offici

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China says that it foiled a terror threat ahead of the Beijing Olympics

MON, 10 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

From The TimesMarch 10, 2008China says that it foiled a terror threat ahead of the Beijing OlympicsJane Macartney in BeijingThe Beijing Olympics face the threat of terrorist attack by Chinese Muslim separatists after a shoot-out this year and an attempt last week to crash a domestic passenger flight.Top officials of the mainly Muslim far-western region of Xinjiang revealed yesterday for the first time the anxieties of China that extremists from the ethnic Uighur minority were plotting to sabotage the Games in August.The statements are unusual from a Communist leadership which has long insisted that anti-Chinese movements are so weak that they are incapable of causing instability.Uighurs, who are engaged in a low-intensity insurgency to demand an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang province, have been blamed for sporadic incidents of violence although no serious attacks have been reported in China for more than a decade.Related LinksNur Bekri, the governor of Xinjiang, said

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Olympic terror plot foiled, Beijing says

MON, 10 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

Olympic terror plot foiled, Beijing saysIncidents in Muslim region fuel fears of attack ahead of GamesGEOFFREY YORKMarch 10, 2008 at 5:00 AM EDTBEIJING ? Chinese authorities have revealed two alleged terrorist plots, including one targeting the Beijing Olympics, sparking new fears that militants could be escalating their activities in the lead-up to the Games.One of the plots was an attempt to hijack or crash a Chinese passenger jet, while the other led to a shootout where two militants were killed and five police officers were injured, officials said.Both of the alleged plots were said to originate in China's biggest Muslim region, Xinjiang, where China has used harsh tactics to crush militants who have been fighting for greater autonomy for the region.China has yet to provide evidence for the two reported plots, and rights groups say Beijing often exaggerates the terrorist threat to justify heavy-handed tactics in Xinjiang.The Beijing Olympics, a crucial showcase for China'

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Is Xinjiang a Chinese Territory ?

SAT, 01 MAR 2008 00:00:00 EST

Is Eastern Turkestan a Chinese Territory?Erkin AlptekinDuring an interview with the correspondent of the Beijing Review, Wang Enmao, first secretary of Eastern Turkestan Party Committee, claims that:"In the early days of liberation, some people suggested we copy the Soviet method of establishing a union of republics in China. But our circumstances are different from those of the Soviet Union, which became a union of republics only after the October Revolution with the gradual merging of 14 republics with Russia. China has been a united state since ancient times. How could it go backwards to a federal system to establish a union of republics?"(1)It is true that in the early days of the so-called liberation, the people of Eastern Turkestan pleaded that they might be permitted at least to form a federated republic in China. While doing this, they were relying on the promises of the Chinese Communists made before seizing power in China. The Provisional Constitution of the Chines

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Tortured Abroad? Forgotten At Home?

FRI, 29 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Tortured Abroad? Forgotten At Home? Feb 29, 2008 04:30 AMAlex NeveChris MacLeodLorne WaldmanIn three different corners of the world ? China, Egypt and Ethiopia ? three Canadian citizens languish in prison. Each has very likely been tortured. Each is at very real risk of being tortured again. None faces any prospect of gaining their freedom soon. All seem to have been forgotten. Each deserves more from their government.Huseyin Celil has been in prison in China since the end of June 2006. His wife and four children in Burlington have endured anxious fear for his safety ever since. Celil is an ethnic Uighur. In the far western reaches of China a decades-old campaign of brutal repression against the Uighur people has intensified in recent years. Torture, unjust imprisonment and other abuses abound. Celil thought he had escaped to safety. But he was surreptitiously arrested and sent back to China while visiting with his wife's family in nearby Uzbekistan. He has known nothing but

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Human Rights Groups Address European Parliament on Resettlement of Guantanamo De

THU, 28 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 28, 200810:02 AM CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)Jen Nessel, press@ccrjustice.org human rights Groups Address European Parliament on Resettlement of Guantanamo Detainees Who Fear Torture in Home CountriesApproximately 50 Refugees in Arbitrary Detention at Guant?mo in Need of Refugee Protection to Avoid Being Transferred to Torture in human rights Abusing CountriesNew Edition of Refugee Report Released WASHINGTON, DC - February 28 - Today, a representative from the Paris-based International Federation for human rights (FIDH) and the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) addressed the European Parliament in Brussels at a three-hour session on Guantanamo and the refugee population who cannot return to their home countries for fear of torture. CCR is the US member league of the International Federation for human rights (FIDH). Today, CCR also released a new and updated edition of its report, Guantanamo

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Kosovo ?independence? brings new uncertainties in Asia

FRI, 22 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Kosovo ?independence? brings new uncertainties in AsiaBy John Chan22 February 2008Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the authorThe unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, with the support of the US and a number of European powers, has produced destabilising shockwaves beyond the Balkans. There is a widespread recognition in Asia and elsewhere that carving out a nation-state by recognising a small group of people on ethnic or religious lines could apply to any country.China immediately opposed Kosovo independence, anxious to stop Taiwan and separatist movements in Tibet or Xinjiang from following the example. Some Asian governments that are battling against separatism in their own countries, such as Sri Lanka, have refused to recognise Kosovo.Kosovo?s breakaway from Serbia has emboldened Taiwan?s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government. Taipei was among the first states to recognise Kosovo. Foreign Minister James Huang declared

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Genetic study sheds light on humanity's restless migrations

FRI, 22 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Genetic study sheds light on humanity's restless migrationsBy Lisa M. KriegerMercury NewsArticle Launched: 02/21/2008 07:19:16 PM PSTA coalition of Stanford scientists has released the most detailed road map yet of human diversity, offering insight into the emergence and restless migration of the world's populations.Using the Stanford Human Genome Center to study genetic variations in almost a thousand individuals from 51 different populations, the team has completed the largest analysis to date of human diversity. Their data is published in today's issue of the journal Science.They discerned some of the great sweeps of human movement, like the early exodus out of Africa. They also found evidence of more recent micro-migrations by groups like American Indians, Silk Route traders and the Mongol invasion led by Ghenghis Khan."This is the definitive study to show variation within populations," said Marcus Feldman, professor of biological sciences and a member of

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Studies shed light on DNA mutations

FRI, 22 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Studies shed light on DNA mutationsBy David BrownThe Washington PostWASHINGTON ? We're all pretty much the same except, of course, for the little things that make us different.Those are the conclusions of three studies published this week that looked at human diversity through the keyhole of the genetic mutations we all carry.All three studies support the idea that modern human beings left East Africa, walked into Central Asia and fanned out east and west to people the planet. They also confirm earlier research showing that as a group, Africans have more diverse genes than people of other continents.But the new research also shows that genetic diversity declines steadily the farther one's ancestors traveled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is roughly the site of the exit turnstile for the "out-of-Africa" migration.The studies also show that many seemingly "purebred" ethnic groups have ancestry traceable to more than one continent.For example, the Arabian

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Kosova's Independence Sets Precedent

TUE, 19 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Kosova�s Independence Sets Precedent2008-02-18As the world?s nations contemplate whether to recognize Kosova?s newly declared independence, many wonder what it will mean for other similar regions, such as Abkhazia, Taiwan, and Northern Cyprus, for international law, and for the definition of self determination in general.Below is an article published by UNPO:Some say that Kosova?s declaration of independence on Sunday [17 February 2008] was a long time coming. Kosova has been a protectorate of the UN since 1999, but Serbia still asserts its claim on the region. Serbian officials declare that this is an unauthorized succession, unprecedented in international legal history, threatening the integrity of international law by redefining the concept of self determination. They also express worry over the ethnic Serbian population that represents 10% of Kosova?s population. In fact, that worry resonates in the reactions of states worldwide as they contemplate whether they will r

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Radiant Resources looks to dig up $5M in private placement

THU, 07 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Radiant Resources looks to dig up $5M in private placementBy Krystle Chow, Ottawa Business Journal StaffWed, Feb 6, 2008 4:00 PM ESTMining company Radiant Resources Inc. is planning to raise up to $5 million in a best-efforts private placement deal.The Ottawa-based company, which is exploring several gold and base metal properties in China, said Toronto's Integral Wealth Securities Ltd. has agreed to act as lead agent for the private placement, in which Radiant will offer up to 12.5 million units at 40 cents each with the usual 15-per-cent over-allotment option.Radiant said the net proceeds of the offering would be used to "fund further development of the company's mineral properties, acquisition of additional properties, ongoing exploration and for general working capital purposes."The company's main mine is the base metal Sarsuke property, located in northwestern China. Radiant's Chinese joint venture Xinjiang Pacific Resources Corp. also owns three oth

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Chinese Curbs Leave Uyghur Youth in Crisis

WED, 06 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Chinese Curbs Leave Uyghur Youth in CrisisRadio Free Asia2008.02.06 Chinese curbs on the traditional Muslim culture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have left Uyghur youth in crisis, according to experts and Uyghurs at home and overseas.According to exiled Uyghur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, for many years the Uyghur people were able to preserve their identity and way of life under Chinese rule, which began after the demise of a short-lived East Turkestan republic in the late 1930s and 1940s."We never heard of Uyghurs stealing, picking pockets, or robbing people," said Kadeer, who came to the United States in 2005 after serving a prison term in Xinjiang for attempting to meet with a human-rights delegation of the U.S. Congress.But she accused Beijing of beginning a concerted attack on Uyghur traditions in 1987, saying the authorities began to move "common criminals" into the region from other parts of China.Uyghurs, thought to number more than 16 million, a

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Court hands White House another setback over detainees

SAT, 02 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Court hands White House another setback over detaineesFrom Bill MearsCNNWASHINGTON (CNN) - A federal appeals court Friday let stand its ruling giving judges greater power to review government evidence against accused terrorists challenging their imprisonment.More than 300 foreign nationals are being held at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The decision hands the Bush administration another legal setback over its policies on foreign detainees.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia split 5-5 over whether to grant a full hearing.That upheld a ruling by a three-judge panel last July that the U.S. military could not limit what information the courts hear when foreign detainees seek freedom.The government had argued national security concerns gave them the discretion to decide what documents were pertinent for judicial review.The Justice Department now has the option of appealing to the Supreme Court, but any further review may not happen until autumn at the

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Court hands White House another setback over detainees

SAT, 02 FEB 2008 00:00:00 EST

Court hands White House another setback over detaineesin the government is restricting access to evidenceFrom Bill MearsCNNWASHINGTON (CNN) - A federal appeals court Friday let stand its ruling giving judges greater power to review government evidence against accused terrorists challenging their imprisonment.More than 300 foreign nationals are being held at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The decision hands the Bush administration another legal setback over its policies on foreign detainees.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia split 5-5 over whether to grant a full hearing.That upheld a ruling by a three-judge panel last July that the U.S. military could not limit what information the courts hear when foreign detainees seek freedom.The government had argued national security concerns gave them the discretion to decide what documents were pertinent for judicial review.The Justice Department now has the option of appealing to the Supreme Court, but any

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Refugee aplication of Mr. Adel Hakim to Sweden

MON, 28 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Svenska Helsingforskommitt?br />4shk-web-logga_smallF?detta Guantanmof?e b??tanna i Sverige2008-01-28 10:29Svenska Helsingforskommitt?uppmanar Sverige att visa solidaritet med dem som oskyldigt drabbats av ?kriget mot terrorismen?. Tillsammans med en rad organisationer v?ar vi i ett brev till Migrationsverkets generaldirekt?an Eliasson att bevilja f?detta Guantanamof?en Adel Hakim uppeh?stillst? i Sverige.January 25, 2008Mr. Dan EliassonDirector GeneralMigrationsverket601 70 NORRK?INGSwedenDear Mr. Eliasson,We, the undersigned nongovernmental organizations, are writing in support of the application of Adel Abdul Hakim for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds in Sweden. Our organizations respectfully request that the Swedish Migration Board evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hakim?s claim for resettlement and consider that the rights of recognized refugees, the right to family reunification, and the prohibition against torture so clearly implicated in his

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China?s Genocide Olympics

THU, 24 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

China?s Genocide OlympicsArticle Tools Sponsored ByBy NICHOLAS D. KRISTOFPublished: January 24, 2008The Beijing Olympics this summer were supposed to be China?s coming-out party, celebrating the end of nearly two centuries of weakness, poverty and humiliation.Fred R. Conrad/The New York TimesNicholas D. Kristof.Instead, China?s leaders are tarnishing their own Olympiad by abetting genocide in Darfur and in effect undermining the U.N. military deployment there. The result is a growing international campaign to brand these ?The Genocide Olympics.?This is not a boycott of the Olympics. But expect Darfur-related protests at Chinese Embassies, as well as banners and armbands among both athletes and spectators. There?s a growing recognition that perhaps the best way of averting hundreds of thousands more deaths in Sudan is to use the leverage of the Oly

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Zijin Mining Group

THU, 24 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Midas Resources (ASX:MDS) Announce JV With China's Third Largest Copper Miner - Zijin Mining GroupPerth, Jan 24, 2008 (ABN Newswire) - Midas Resources Limited ("Midas" or "the Company") (ASX: MDS) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") concerning a Joint Venture (JV) agreement with one of China's largest resources companies, Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd ("Zijin") (Hong Kong Stock Code: 2899), to explore the Da Hong Shan porphyry copper project in western China.The Da Hong Shan project, located within the Tian Shan Belt of Xinjiang province, comprises three contiguous exploration licences with a total area of 302 km2.The MoU between the two companies sets out in detail the joint venture relationship between the companies and the commercial terms under which Midas can earn up to a 70% interest in the project, subject to a Zijin Buy-back right. This agreement becomes binding once Midas completes due

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources

FRI, 18 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources Announces Engagement of the Global Consulting Group to Lead Financial Marketing and Investor Relations InitiativesPR NewswireGlobal Consulting to Spearhead High-Profile Visibility Campaign to Raise Awareness in U.S. and Global Investor CommunitiesJanuary 18, 2008: 07:30 AM ESTBEIJING, Jan. 18/Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources, Inc. (the "Company"), a leading company in the exploration, development, mining and processing of fluorite, zinc, lead, copper, and other nonferrous metals in the PRC, today announced that it has engaged the Global Consulting Group, a leading financial communications firm. Based in New York, Global Consulting is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huntsworth PLC , a strategic communications firm, and it will spearhead investor relations services, drive investment community visibility and support the Company's acquisition strategy, as well as its mission to create long-term shareho

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: UK's Brown urged to press China on human rights

THU, 17 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

UK's Brown urged to press China on human rightsBEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown should use his visit to China starting on Friday to press Beijing on a range of human rights issues ahead of this year's Olympics, according to rights groups.They include domestic issues such as the detention of activist Hu Jia, as well as international ones such as China's sale of weapons to the military government in Myanmar, human rights Watch said in an open letter to Brown."In the months prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics ... we believe that there is a unique opportunity to press for change. Your government's rhetorical commitments to promoting human rights in China must now be matched by concrete action," it said.Brown should insist on being allowed to meet Hu, arrested on charges of inciting to subvert the government, the letter said."In our experience, visits from foreign leaders such as yourself bring these kinds of critics an impor

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: United Nations - A Human Rights Farce

MON, 14 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

United Nations - A human rights FarceGuest Column | By Paul M. Weyrich | May 17, 2006Ironically, but not surprisingly, the UN keeps seeking more money, seriously considering global taxes, when it fails to spend wisely what it already possesses.Americans are coming to realize the United Nations is not the organization we once trusted, even revered. The UN betrays the idealism expressed in the preamble to its charter, forged over sixty years ago in San Francisco, which states, "We the peoples of the United Nations determined?to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small?" Two recent events demonstrate why the American people and their elected officials should be scrutinizing our country's subsidization of the United Nations. Last week the UN held elections to the newly created United Nations human rights Council (UNHRC), successo

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Congress Uses Olympics To Focus On China

MON, 14 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Congress Uses Olympics To Focus On ChinaUS Lawmakers Plan To Use Beijing Olympics Spotlight To Raise Complaints With China(AP) The world will be watching China closely as it gears up to host the Olympics this year. So will U.S. lawmakers, who hope to use the attention generated by the summer games to highlight their complaints about China's government.Lawmakers, in hearings and in legislation, will scrutinize what some see as unfair Chinese economic policies, its secretive military buildup and its human rights abuses. China already has been targeted by presidential candidates."The Chinese want this `Show' _ with a capital `S' _ to showcase their government to the world," Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in an interview. Congress, he said, should use that as leverage to "bring maximum scrutiny and light to their egregious human rights abuses."Smith champions legislation that would stop U.S. technology companies from aiding countries that restrict Intern

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Six years on, no clear sign when Guantanamo will close

FRI, 11 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Six years on, no clear sign when Guantanamo will closeWASHINGTON (AFP) ? Six years after the first prisoners arrived at the "war on terror" prison camp dubbed Gitmo, on January 11, 2002, the US government's stated intention of shutting it seems far from materializing.Calls for closure of the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention center have increased in the lead-up to the anniversary. Amnesty International plans demonstrations Friday from Britain to Bahrain, Paraguay to the Philippines, and of course in Washington.Two years ago President George W. Bush said he wanted to close the detention center on the US naval base on Cuba. But due to "legal concerns ... there has not been much progress," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged in late December.The camp has changed a lot in six years. The original open-air cages, images of which shocked the world, have gone to weeds and iguanas. Most of the inmates now live in modern cells built in 2006 and modeled o

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Majestic Gold Engages Firm for Chinese Technical Report

THU, 10 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Majestic Gold Engages Firm for Chinese Technical Report & Construction of Year Round Access Road at SawayaerdunJan 09, 2008 19:08 ETVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA-(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2008) - Majestic Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MJS) ("Majestic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has engaged a Chinese engineering firm, China ENFI Engineering Corporation ("ENFI"), to complete a technical report on its Sawayaerdun gold project in Xinjiang Province, western China.The technical report will be done to Chinese standards and will provide information to help the Company formulate its plans to further advance the project to a stage where a development decision can be made.In addition, Majestic has also begun construction of a year round access road to the Sawayaerdun project in order to allow for work to continue without interruptions. The continuous access to Sawayaerdun will allow the Company to expedite the project plans and shorten its timelines signifi

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Majestic Gold Engages Firm for Chinese Technical Report

THU, 10 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: In surprise move, China lets Celil meet sister

FRI, 04 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

In surprise move, China lets Celil meet sisterImprisoned Canadian complained of lack of medical attention, Uyghur-Canadian group leader saysOMAR EL AKKADJanuary 4, 2008In a rare event, Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil was allowed to meet one of his family members last week, as he continues to serve a life sentence in China.One of Mr. Celil's sisters, Meryem, met with the imprisoned Canadian for about 20 minutes, according to Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association. It was the first time he had talked to his sister in 13 years, Mr. Tohti said. Mr. Celil was arrested in Uzbekistan and handed over to China in 2006. He was travelling on a Canadian passport at the time.Chinese authorities accused him of terrorism and charged him with engaging in violent separatist activities. In April, he was sentenced to life in prison. In violation of international agreements, Beijing has refused to grant Canadian officials access to him.The Canadian's story garnered international h

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China increases use of lethal injections in executions

THU, 03 JAN 2008 00:00:00 EST

China increases use of lethal injections in executionsDavid Stanway in BeijingThursday January 3, 2008Guardian UnlimitedChina's executioners are to step up the use of lethal injections, a senior court official told state media today, in order to make executions "more humane" in the world's leading practitioner of capital punishment.Jiang Xingchang, the vice-president of the country's supreme court, told China Daily that lethal injections would "eventually be used in all intermediate people's courts" instead of relying on firing squads.The New York-based human rights Watch in China said there were 1,770 known executions in China in 2005, more than 80% of the worldwide total of 2,148 for that year, although a Chinese parliamentary delegate said the figure could be as high as 10,000.Since 2005, although China has continued to execute more people than any other country, state media has been allowed to report on a number of serious miscarriages of ju

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: An Open Letter to Prime Minister Harper

SAT, 29 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

An Open Letter to Prime Minister HarperFebruary 16, 2007 The Right Honorable Stephen HarperPrime Minister of CanadaHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6Email: pm@pm.gc.ca Dear Prime Minister:We, the undersigned, have followed with pride the excellent work by Canadian officials and civil society members at the United Nations where for the past 5 years Canada has taken a central leadership role in the elaboration of a new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We applaud Canada?s leadership at the United Nations on this issue. Through law reform and jurisprudence, Canada has a long history of making human rights protections meaningful to people with disabilities, and Canada brought this experience to the UN discussions. This important new human rights convention has been the beneficiary of Canada?s thirty years of leadership and innovation on disability issues, as well as our strong record in other areas of international law.Canada?s partic

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Beijing Olympics under a cloud

FRI, 14 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

ChinaBeijing Olympics under a cloudOn a recent trip to India, said to have cost around ?750,000 of public money, the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone offered the Bollywood film industry a cheap deal for the use of some of the Olympic buildings in East London after the Games of 2012 are over. He is obviously keen to find ways of paying off the mountain of bills that appears to get higher by the day!Clare DoyleEarlier this year, the mayor travelled to Beijing, to see for himself how the regime in China was coping with being hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games. That trip, probably no less extravagant, was sponsored by the private firm 'Freud' - a company which happens to be run by the son-in-law of Rupert Murdoch, the media tycoon against whom Livingstone has railed on a number of occasions... including in Beijing! There in April this year he likened Tiananmen Square to Trafalgar Square.He was asked about his attitude to the events of May-June 1989, when the mass movement for democ

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Arrest of Christian bookseller focuses attention on China

FRI, 14 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Arrest of Christian bookseller focuses attention on China By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAYBEIJING ? The owner of a Christian bookstore here, held in secret detention since Nov. 28, broke no laws and sold only legally sanctioned religious material, his wife says.Businessman Shi Weihan was arrested because of his faith and refusal to register their unapproved "house church" with authorities, says Zhang Jing, 37.Shi's case has attracted international attention and drawn condemnation from overseas Christian groups. His arrest comes as the Chinese government is struggling to convince critics that it has expanded religious freedom and tolerance.China is officially atheist and restricts religious practice to state-sanctioned churches and places of worship regulated by authorities. The government, military and ruling Communist Party discourage officeholders and members from practicing any faith.In September, though, the party made a historic concession to

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Reporters Without Borders stages demo in Hong Kong

FRI, 14 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

China - 2008 Beijing Olympics - Reporters Without Borders stages demo in Hong Kong after being banned from mainland China eight months ahead of Olympic Games MONTREAL, Dec. 10 /CNW Telbec/ - A large flag showing the Olympic ringstransformed into handcuffs was unfurled outside the Liaison Office of thecentral people's government of China in Hong Kong today by five ReportersWithout Borders representatives, including secretary-general Robert M?rd, ina protest to mark human rights Day. Two days before Chinese authoritiesrefused to give visas to members of the press freedom organisation. "We had initially planned to stage this demonstration in Beijing, but theauthorities refused to give us visas," Reporters Without Borders said. "Weknow that some of us are blacklisted by the Chinese immigration services. At atime when the government is compiling files on foreign journalists and humanrights activists in advance of the Olympic Games, this refusal

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Gitmo uyghurs Interview on El-Jazeera

WED, 12 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?doc...arch&plindex=8

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Guantanamo detainees face uncertain future

SAT, 08 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Guantanamo detainees face uncertain futureBrennan Linsley / Associated PressU.S. military personnel inspect cells in one of the blocks. About 300 prisoners remain at the camp.As the number of prisoners dwindles, many are left in diplomatic limbo.By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Staff WriterDecember 8, 2007GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - A turning point in the Bush administration's counter-terrorism strategy of indefinite confinement at the U.S. detention center here came on a balmy day in February, when two Afghans and three Tajiks were ferried across the bay, shackled and blindfolded, for their flights home.The men's departure reduced the detainee population to 385 - meaning that of the 777 men brought here over six years as suspected security threats, more prisoners had left than remained.Since then, at least 80 other Guantanamo inmates have been released.Although four new prisoners were brought in from secret detention sites in 2007, the releases and repatriations accelerat

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: The Supreme Court ponders habeas rights for Guantanamo prisoners

FRI, 07 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

The Supreme Court ponders habeas rights for Guantanamo prisoners8:43 PM ETJ. Wells Dixon [Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights and lawyer for several Guantanamo prisoners]: "The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) returned to the United States Supreme Court yesterday for arguments in Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush, which will likely decide the fate of about 300 men held without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay. At stake are questions directly impacting our government?s delicate system of checks and balances, including whether the Executive may hold prisoners indefinitely in military custody without the right to appear before a neutral court and argue for their release.Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, counsel for six Bosnian-Algerians, argued that Guantanamo prisoners have a constitutional right to habeas corpus that entitles them to relief because (i) all have been confined for six years without meaningful notice of the grounds for their dete

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Why is PM forgetting Makhtal?

THU, 06 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Why is PM forgetting Makhtal? Nov 29, 2007 04:30 AMThomas WalkomThat Stephen Harper's government takes a selective approach to human rights is well established. The Prime Minister has been vocal in support of Huseyin Celil, a Chinese-Canadian imprisoned in China after a questionable trial that convicted him of terrorism. Yet he remains strangely quiet when other governments with dodgy human rights records mistreat Canadians.I won't even bother getting into the case of former child soldier Omar Khadr whose forthcoming trial at Guantanamo Bay prison camp promises to be such a farce that even his American military lawyer calls it a kangaroo court. Here, Harper's silence is at least in line with a long, if dishonourable, Canadian tradition of toadying.But his failure to help Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian imprisoned without charge in Ethiopia is, on the face of it, baffling. As these things go, this one should be easy.Makhtal, who fled Ethiopia's war-torn Ogaden regio

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Clement meeting helps thaw relations with China

THU, 06 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Clement meeting helps thaw relations with China Health minister's `warm' chat with counterpart in Beijing seems to signal move to pragmatic footingNov 28, 2007 04:30 AMBill SchillerASIA BUREAUBEIJING?Amid continuing tensions, CanadianHealth Minister Tony Clement met with senior members of the Chinese government here yesterday, emerging to say the two sides agreed to recognize their differences ? but work together on matters of common cause.Canada and China launched a joint committee on health, to share information and tackle emerging health issues together; and they signed a memo of understanding to enhance consumer product safety ? including food and toys.Clement said he'd characterize his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Dr. Chen Zhu, as "warm." He detected, he said, "a desire to move forward on matters of mutual interest."That might signal a new kind of pragmatism in a relationship that has been chilly for the past year, ever since Prime

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. - Xinjiang Project update

THU, 06 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. - Xinjiang Project update (TSX-V: MPE) Shares Issued: 53,806,980 Last Close: 12-05-2007 $0.85 CALGARY, Dec. 6 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Reforestation ("Maple Leaf") and itsXinjiang Yellowhorn Project (the "Project") manager, Ms. Zhen Chen, arepleased to report that the initial advancement of $370,000 CAD has led to thefollowing updates: << 1. Maple Leaf has received 100,000 Yellowhorn seeds. A portion of these seeds have been sent to a leased greenhouse facility in Sanya, Hainan Island of southern China where they will be cultivated. Once these seeds reach seedling height, they will be shipped back to Xinjiang to be planted outside. Another 500,000 seeds have been ordered and are expected to be delivered in the near futur

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Guant?mo Attorneys to Justices: Restore the Constitution

THU, 06 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDECEMBER 5, 20071:08 PM CONTACT: Center For Constitutional RightsNell McGarity 202 292 6973 Guant?mo Attorneys to Justices: Restore the ConstitutionCombined Cases Will Determine Legal Fate of Men and Boys Held at Offshore Detention Center WASHINGTON, DC - December 5 - In a landmark human rights case with significant implications for the separation of powers, the Supreme Court today heard a challenge brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and co-counsel to the legality of Guant?mo Bay detentions.This case will decide whether federal courts have any say in checking the power of the Executive Branch to hold men at Guantanamo indefinitely and outside of the law.?All have been confined at Guantanamo for almost 6 years yet not one has had meaningful notice of the factual grounds of their detention,? said former Solicitor General Seth Waxman in his oral arguments.Thirty-six of the 37 detainees involved in this suit have been in d

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Victim of `war on terror' hopes to live in Sweden

SUN, 02 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Victim of `war on terror' hopes to live in SwedenAP, SUNDBYBERG, SWEDENThursday, Nov 29, 2007, Page 6"In the last interrogation in Afghanistan, the Americans acknowledged that they had arrested us by mistake, but said they could not let us go so easily."Adel Abdu al-Hakim, former Guantanamo Bay prisonerIt's been a harrowing journey: from repression in China to war in Afghanistan and four long years at Guantanamo Bay as a US captive in the war on terror.Adel Abdu al-Hakim hopes it ends here, in his sister's apartment in a suburb of the Swedish capital."I was in prison for four-and-a-half years and during that time I thought to myself that maybe this is my life," al-Hakim, 33, said in an interview. "Now I just want to live the life of a normal person."Last week he arrived in Sweden for a reunion with relatives he had thought he would never see again.Al-Hakim was released last year from Guantanamo along with four other Uighurs, a minority grou

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: In the Case of the Beijing Olympic Games, China Falls Short of Even the Bronze

SAT, 01 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

In the Case of the Beijing Olympic Games, China Falls Short of Even the Bronze MedalErin Mazursky Wed Nov 28, 11:05 AM ETThe timing of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is crucial for China because of significant political issues at play, issues that the spirit of the Games mask, and ones that the international community cannot ignore. China is an unsportsmanlike player-from its poor labor standards to its economic and often political support of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan to the organ harvesting rampant throughout the country to its failure to meet Kyoto environmental standards to the forced sterilization of its populace. In a true Olympic competition, China would be disqualified.The "Olympic Dream," to most, connotes something that transcends money or power-the universality of the human spirit. Practically, this translates into the world's greatest athletes coming together in one city for what is usually a once in a lifetime chance to show that they are the world

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Rights group lashes IOC chief over China controls

SAT, 01 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Rights group lashes IOC chief over China controlsFri Nov 30, 1:11 AM ETBEIJING (Reuters) - The International Olympics Committee has failed to ensure that China honors promised media freedoms ahead of Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games, a press rights group has claimed.In an open letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders recounted cases of foreign reporters briefly detained and roughed up while investigating village protests and other sensitive topics.China has vowed to set aside long-standing restrictions on foreign reporters before and during the Games, allowing them to roam the country without the usual need for official approval - a rule that many reporters have ignored anyway.That relaxation took force from early this year, but local officials and police have often proved reluctant to allow citizens to air complaints to foreign media about lost land, corruption and other sources of discontent.Reporters Without Borders has now bluntly told Ro

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Will China "Lose" the 2008 Olympics?

SAT, 01 DEC 2007 00:00:00 EST

Will China "Lose" the 2008 Olympics? /business/article/26198SOURCE: www.policyinnovations.orgWhen the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Summer Games in July 2001, the announcement ignited wild celebrations across the country. The Chinese Communist Party hoped to use the Games to showcase the country's emergence as a dynamic, modern nation. But as China's leaders begin final preparations for the Games next August, they may be wondering if hosting the event was such a good idea after all. They have significant reasons for doubt.China's senior leaders always closely monitor spontaneous public expressions of nationalist fervor, fearful that shifting winds might blow an unwelcome storm in their direction. Of course what they hope is that the Games will channel these energies toward national solidarity, which will allow the leadership to deliver its people a moment of achievement and patriotic glory. But the Olympics will als

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Odyssey for Chinese Muslim ends with hope for asylum in Sweden

WED, 28 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

Odyssey for Chinese Muslim ends with hope for asylum in SwedenThe Associated PressPublished: November 28, 2007SUNDBYBERG, Sweden: It's been a harrowing journey: from repression in China to war in Afghanistan and four long years at Guant?mo Bay as a U.S. captive in the war on terror.Adel Abdu Al-Hakim hopes it ends here, in his sister's tidy apartment in a suburb of the Swedish capital."I was in prison for four and a half years, and during that time, I thought to myself that maybe this is my life," Hakim, 33, said in an interview. "Now I just want to live the life of a normal person."Last week he arrived in Sweden to reunite with relatives he had thought he would never see again.Hakim was released last year from Guant?mo along with four other Uighurs, a minority group of Turkic-speaking Chinese Muslims, after the United States said they were not terrorists. The authorities believed they might face persecution if returned to China, so they were sent to Alba

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China political arrests increasing - rights group

WED, 28 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

China political arrests increasing - rights groupBEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Arrests in China on charges of "endangering state security" nearly doubled last year, a sign of increasing pressure on political activism, a U.S.-based human rights watchdog said on Wednesday.Statistics in the China Law Yearbook show prosecutors approved the arrest of 604 people on state security charges in 2006, up from 296 the previous year, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation said."This dramatic increase in arrests confirms the heightened crackdown on dissent in China that we've been witnessing since at least the middle of 2005," Dui Hua executive director John Kamm said in a statement.The increase comes despite the pressure on China's ruling Communist Party to improve its human rights record ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.State security cases encompass a variety of crimes, including subversion, providing state secrets to overseas entities and "splittism&quo

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Bingham Team Helps Reunite Gitmo Client with Family

THU, 22 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

Bingham Team Helps Reunite Gitmo Client with FamilyAdel Abdul Hakim embraces his sister Kavser at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport on Nov. 19 after arriving from Tirana, Albania.HIGHLIGHTS Nov. 19, 2007 ? Bingham pro bono client Adel Abdul Hakim, a Uighur refugee held for four years at Guantanamo Bay despite having been cleared by the U.S. military of any terrorist or military involvement, was reunited with family members in Stockholm, Sweden, on Nov. 19, as Boston partner Sabin Willett recounts. A team of Bingham lawyers and professionals had been pressing the courts for Adel?s release since 2005. In 2006, U.S. authorities released Adel but sent him to Albania. Since that time Bingham has been working with nongovernmental organizations and Swedish attorneys to secure Adel a short-term visa to Sweden, where he has now applied for permanent asylum.http://www.bingham.com/Media.aspx?MediaID=6138

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China's Uighurs fight for rights

WED, 21 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

China's Uighurs fight for rightsUighur men in Old Town Kashgar, Xinjiang. (Nice LogoFlickr) Image: Nice Logo, FlickrChina's eight million Muslim Turkic Uighurs hit the global stage with the fight for their rights after Beijing uses the war on terror to legitimize a crackdown on the minority and stave off its worst nightmare.By John C K Daly for ISN Security Watch (21/11/07)While the outside world may be slowly coming to an awareness of the concerns of China's little known Uighur minority, according to human rights activists, Beijing's policies in the last few years have put the minority under increasing pressure.Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 August 1949, its communist government has persistently pursued the policy of Communist Party supremacy in a single-party multi-ethnic state, which reunites all the areas of traditional Chinese influence.Among China's minorities, the Tibetans have persistently enjoyed

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Four Uyghurs sentenced to death in East Turkestan

TUE, 13 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

Four Uyghurs sentenced to death in East TurkestanFor immediate releaseNovember 12, 2007, 6:15 PM ESTContact: Uyghur human rights Project +1 (202) 349 1496 According to Xinhua, China?s official new agency, the Intermediate People?s Court of Kashgar has sentenced four Uyghurs to death, and another two to life imprisonment, on charges including engaging in ?separatist activities?, ?training at a terrorist camp? and ?illegally making explosives?. The men were part of a group captured by the People?s Armed Police during a raid on an alleged ?terrorist camp? last January near Kosrap on the Pamir Plateau in the southern part of East Turkestan (also known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or XUAR). Two of the men received death sentences with two years? reprieve. The Uyghur American Association (UAA) unequivocally condemns all acts of violence, but remains unconvinced of the veracity of PRC claims about the Uyghurs targeted in the January raid. To date, PRC authorities have not m

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China To Face UN Human Rights Body?s Scrutiny in 2009

TUE, 13 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

China To Face UN human rights Body?s Scrutiny in 2009 Tibetan UN Advocacy[Monday, November 12, 2007 10:19] According to the decisions of the UN human rights Council during the first segment of its Sixth session in September 2007, China?s human rights record will come up for scrutiny by the UN?s highest human rights body in early 2009.This will happen under the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism established in the Council whereby the human rights situations in all 192 Member States of the United Nations will be examined by a Working Group. This Working Group chaired by the Council?s President will conduct the first cycle of the UPR from 2008 to 2011, in twelve sessions, involving 48 countries per year.A background note by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for human rights says that through this UPR mechanism, ?the Council will review on a periodic basis the fulfillment of the human rights obligations of all countries. It will ensure that all States, including members of

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Activist slams China over Uighur human rights abuse

TUE, 13 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

Activist slams China over Uighur human rights abuseThe Yomiuri ShimbunChinese authorities have stepped up efforts to suppress the Uighur minority in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, claiming it is part of efforts to fight terrorism, according to Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur human rights activist. Kadeer was jailed from 1999 to 2005 for demanding the rights of Muslim Uighurs be recognized before going into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2005. At a press conference in Tokyo on Friday, Kadeer said she would continue a campaign calling for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She criticized the Chinese government's policy of assimilating Uighur people, saying that unmarried Uighur women between the ages of 16 and 25 have been forcibly "transferred" to coastal cities as cheap workers. According to Kadeer, only the Chinese language is allowed to be used for classes from primary school to university. The Uighur language is not used. In May, the Chinese governme

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China calls Canada's ambassador over Dalai Lama

FRI, 02 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

China calls Canada's ambassador over Dalai LamaUpdated Fri. Nov. 2 2007 9:30 AM ETCTV.ca News StaffThe Chinese government has called in Canada's ambassador to Beijing to express its displeasure over the Dalai Lama's VIP treatment by Ottawa. The Globe and Mail reported Friday that China's embassy has confirmed the meeting between Ambassador Robert Wright and China's Foreign Ministry. Details of the meeting aren't available, and Canada's Foreign Affairs Department won't discuss the matter. China views the Tibetan spiritual leader as a separatist who is attempting to undermine Chinese national sovereignty. The Chinese government has referred to Canada's actions - such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper receiving the Dalai Lama in his Parliament Hill office on Monday - as "disgusting conduct." "It's gross interference in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute oppositio

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Appeal for Freedom of Religion in China

FRI, 02 NOV 2007 00:00:00 EST

Appeal for Freedom of Religion in ChinaA Campaign Is Organised to Let Muslims in China Participate in the Hajj 2007-11-02??The Hague, 29 October 2007 - On 23 October 2007, UNPO sent a letter to President Hu Jintao to request that fundamental religious rights be guaranteed in China, in accordance with its international commitments. As one of the fundamental duties of Islam, the Hajj requires able Muslims to complete a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. However, Chinese local authorities have collected the passports of all Uyghur Muslims in China to ensure that no independent pilgrimages to Mecca could be organised. These passports may only be retrieved once authorities have approved the applicant??s participation. It is worth recalling that the People??s Republic of China has a constitutional provision protecting freedom of religion (Article 36), an equivalent provision in the 1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (Article 11) and regulations reaffirming free religious practices. However,

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Uighur activist asks U.S. to help stop China removals

WED, 31 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Uighur activist asks U.S. to help stop China removalsWed Oct 31, 2007 8:53pm EDT . WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's government is forcibly moving young women of the ethnic Uighur minority from their homes in Xinjiang to factories in eastern China, a Uighur activist told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.Rebiya Kadeer, jailed for more than five years for championing the rights of the Muslim Uighurs before being sent into exile in the United States in 2005, called for U.S. help in stopping a program she said had already removed more than 240,000 people, mostly women, from Xinjiang."Local authorities consider the transfer of Uighur women into China's eastern provinces as one of the most important government policies and they have expressed zero tolerance to any kind of opposition to it," she said.Kadeer, nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, told the Congressional human rights Caucus the women being transferred under the guise of "employment opportunit

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: When Cotton Becomes A Threat

WED, 31 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

The Rupp Report:When Cotton Becomes A ThreatOctober 30, 2007According to sources from Hong Kong and within certain human rights groups, thousands of cotton farmers in Xinjiang in northwest China protested in front of a police station at the end of September. The farmers demolished doors and windows in a demonstration against cotton price-fixing by the Chinese People�s Liberation Army (PLA). They also are said to have damaged a police car and engaged in fights with the police.The trouble began in an area controlled by the 7th division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a unique economic and paramilitary organization set up to colonize Xinjiang in 1954. A riot broke out September 22 at a cotton farm in Ili, 600 kilometers away from the regional capital of Urumqi in Northwestern China. This fact was reported by the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for human rights and Democracy.It was reported the police went to s

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Guantanamo Bay has been operational for five years and holds almost 400 prisoner

SAT, 27 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Guantanamo military lawyer breaks ranks to condemn 'unconscionable' detention Saturday, October 27, 2007 By Leonard Doyle in Washington An American military lawyer and veteran of dozens of secret Guantanamo tribunals has made a devastating attack on the legal process for determining whether Guantanamo prisoners are "enemy combatants". The whistleblower, an army major inside the military court system which the United States has established at Guantanamo Bay, has described the detention of one prisoner, a hospital administrator from Sudan, as " unconscionable ".His critique will be the centrepiece of a hearing on 5 December before the US Supreme Court when another attempt is made to shut the prison down. So nervous is the Bush administration of the latest attack ? and another Supreme Court ruling against it ? that it is preparing a whole new system of military courts to deal with those still imprisoned.The whistleblower's te

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. - Xinjiang project update

FRI, 26 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. - Xinjiang project updateTuesday, October 23, 2007; Posted: 10:49 AM Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. - Yellowhorn tree bio diesel and cooking oil project with Xinjiang Government CALGARY, Oct. 23, 2007 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) - MPEFF | charts | news | PowerRating - (TSX-V: MPE) Shares Issued: 53,781,980 Last Close: 10-22-2007 $1.55 CALGARY, Oct. 23 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Reforestation Inc. ("Maple Leaf") is pleased to report that its Board of Directors have approved the Memorandum of Understanding ("M.O.U.") with Jilin Saar County of Xinjiang autonomous region of China ("Jilin") to establish a Bio Diesel Production Chain (the "project") for Shiny-Leaved Yellowhorn trees ("Yellowhorn"), as previously announced by Maple Leaf on October 16, 2007. Maple Leaf will advance $370,000 ($3,000,000 RMB) to commence work on this project immediately. The investment in the first year of the project is e

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Risk of Torture Has Canada Reconsidering Move To Deport Chinese Gugitive Lai Cha

WED, 24 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Risk of Torture Has Canada Reconsidering Move To Deport Chinese Gugitive Lai ChangxingPosted by chinaview on September 21st, 2007ROD MICKLEBURGH, The Globe And Mail, Canada, September 19, 2007-VANCOUVER The federal government is going back to the drawing board in its long, costly fight to have high-profile Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing returned to China to stand trial, despite the continuing use of torture in the country.Immigration Canada spokeswoman Shakila Manzoor confirmed yesterday that the issue of Mr. Lai??s deportation is being turned over again to a ministry officer for a second assessment of the risk he faces back in China.The first review by the ministry found that Mr. Lai did not face an appreciable risk of harm.That decision, however, was overturned earlier this year by Mr. Justice Yves de Montigny of the Federal Court of Canada, who ruled that diplomatic assurances from China that Mr. Lai will not be tortured cannot be relied upon.Judge de Montigny called the immi

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Will Olympic torch light way to changes in China?

MON, 22 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Will Olympic torch light way to changes in China? Oct 21, 2007 04:30 AMJeremy KinsmanWhen Toronto was bidding to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the mayor of Rome gave the bid team some advice, having just lost Rome's bid to host in 2004 to a sentimentally attractive campaign by Athens. According to Francesco Rutelli, the IOC veers between safe "technical" bids and "political" bids representing a more daring "idea."Toronto's campaign turned out sadly underwhelming and embarrassed by the city's goofy mayor, but wariness persisted that the still semi-totalitarian Chinese regime might damage the Games.Still, the bigger and more interesting question was its opposite: What could hosting the Games do to the Chinese regime? Nine months from the event, it is apparent that the optimists may have had it right. The responsibility of hosting the world is having a positive effect on Chinese policy. But will it last past next summer?The question is rea

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: After Guantanamo, An Empty Freedom; Ethnic Uighurs Frustrated in Albania

WED, 17 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

After Guantanamo, An Empty Freedom; Ethnic Uighurs Frustrated in AlbaniaBy Jonathan FinerWashington Post Foreign ServiceWednesday, October 17, 2007; Page A13Abu Qadder Basim, 38, is one of five Uighurs from western China who now live in a refugee camp in Albania. They were released from Guantanamo Bay in May 2006 after three years, incorrectly classified as "enemy combatants." (By Jonathan Finer - The Washington Post) TIRANA, Albania - For 16 months, they have shared a clutch of tidy rooms in a small refugee camp in this city, living alongside a few dozen others whose lives were unraveled by war or persecution or both.But apart from their new home, the five men from the Uighur ethnic group of western China, whose most recent address was the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have little in common with the camp's other residents, most of whom come from one of Albania's neighbors and blend easily into the crowd on Tirana's busy streets.The Uighurs,

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Genocide Games

MON, 15 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

President Bush's Olympic Mistake. Genocide Gamesby Eric Reeves Only at TNR Online | Post date 09.14.07An international outcry over Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games has grown steadily louder in recent months. How, it is being asked, can the premier event in international sports be hosted by a nation complicit in the most heinous international crimes? The Chinese regime is guilty of perpetrating the ongoing destruction of Tibet, supporting the vicious Myanmar junta, engaging in gross domestic human rights abuses, and, perhaps worst of all, facilitating genocide in Darfur.Despite the controversy, President Bush announced last week that he will attend the Games. It's an unprecedented move-apparently no American president has ever attended

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Boycotts for Beijing 2008 Possible

MON, 15 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Boycotts for Beijing 2008 PossibleBy Charlotte CuthbertsonEpoch Times Wellington staffIllegal arrests, forced labour camps, brainwashing centres, organ harvesting, torture, murder, forced abortions, child labour, no freedom of press, internet blockades, widespread corruption and nepotism. This is Beijing 2007.Beijing appears light-years away from the Olympic Charter, which talks of "the harmonious development of man" and "promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."Last year Olympic Watch, Reporters Without Borders, International Society for human rights, Solidarit?hine and Laogai Research Foundation - an international coalition of human rights organisations - wrote a letter to the president of the International Olympic Committee, asking him to "focus on the continuing human rights abuses" in China before Beijing 2008 because they "threaten to damage the Olympic ideals forever."Rights groups are insinuating the

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Chinese Farmers Protest Cotton Prices

FRI, 05 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

Chinese Farmers Protest Cotton PricesFriday October 5, 2007 10:16 AMBy ALEXA OLESENAssociated Press WriterBEIJING (AP) - Cotton farmers in China's far west clashed with police and paramilitary guards over alleged price-fixing by local authorities, leaving 40 people injured, witnesses and a Hong Kong media report said Friday.The riot broke out Sept. 22 in Ili, an area in the northwest corner of the remote Xinjiang region, after police raided farmhouses looking for caches of hidden cotton, local farmer Zhang Xiaolan said.Farmers were hiding the cotton to sell on the open market because they believed the local authority's fixed price for the crop was too low, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said. Authorities paid about 55 cents a pound, but the same amount sells for about 82 cents on the open market, it said.The paper said local officials had earlier set up checkpoints around the settlement to make sure no cotton was smuggled.``One farmer was caught and lock

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: A challenge to China

TUE, 02 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

A challenge to China Canada takes a tougher tone as it calls on Beijing to respect human rightsPeter Goodspeed, National PostPublished: Friday, September 28, 2007China's leaders are dreaming of prosperity and good fortune by deciding to open the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing at 8:08 p.m. on Aug. 8.(The number eight is considered auspicious because it sounds similar to the Mandarin word for "wealth.")But when the Olympic torch is lit in Beijing's spectacular new National Stadium, known as the "bird's nest" for its intricate steel beams, the world's attention may be focused as much on China's failures as its success.How China abuses human rightsFor years, China's leaders have dreamed of turning the Olympics into a carefully choreographed coming-out party to showcase its culture and achievements.They have spent decades planning and spending billions of dollars to give Beijing a massive makeover, tearing down entire neighbourhoods to

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: French Associations demand Beijing Olympics Boycott

TUE, 02 OCT 2007 00:00:00 EST

French Associations demand Beijing Olympics BoycottPhayul[Sunday, September 30, 2007 09:56]By TenamParis, 29 September: Collective for the Boycott of the Beijing Olympics (COBOP), a group of French Associations supported by many other organisations, journals, professors, philosophers and intellectuals held a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy today, calling for boycotting next year's Beijing Games.The Group pointed out that since getting the right to host the Olympics, the Chinese government has increased its "attempts to weaken dissidents, its critical intellectuals, the poor, the unproductive, and the country's independent unions".The Games has also "meant the accelerated demolition of many working-class neighbourhoods (hutongs) and historical sites. The international recognition of the Games, consecrated by the Olympic consensus, will put a stamp of acceptability on this violence".Pointing to China's aggressiveness with regard to Taiwan, the

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: One Year Countdown to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing Begins!

FRI, 28 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

One Year Countdown to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing Begins!Amnesty International hosts protest outside Chinese embassy in D.C. calling for human rightsBy Gary Feuerberg, Epoch Times Washington, D.C. StaffAug 11, 2007Rebiya Kadeer speaks in a protest hosted by Amnesty International outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on August 8, exactly a year before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)Washington, D.C.?Exactly one year before the 2008 Olympic Games begin in Beijing, on August 8, Amnesty International (AI) hosted a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., calling on the Chinese regime to fulfill its promise of promoting human rights as part of the fundamental principles of Olympism.AI spokesmen, T. Kumar said that the Chinese regimes behavior is in direct contradiction to the spirit of the Olympics.Kumar read from a poster that quoted from the Olympic charter one of its "fundamental principles of Olympism":"

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China: Attacks on Media Violate Olympic Commitments

SAT, 15 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

China: Attacks on Media Violate Olympic Commitmentshuman rights WatchFor Immediate ReleaseAugust 7, 2007 China: Attacks on Media Violate Olympic CommitmentsIOC Should Press Beijing to Enforce New Rules on Media Freedom (New York, August 7, 2007) ? One year before the 2008 Olympics open in Beijing, the Chinese government is violating commitments on media freedom it made to the International Olympics Committee by continuing to harass, intimidate and detain foreign journalists and their local colleagues, human rights Watch said in a report released today. The 40-page report, ?You Will Be Harassed and Detained,? documents how Chinese authorities have repeatedly obstructed the work of foreign journalists this year, even though China on January 1 adopted temporary regulations to comply with commitments it made to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) on guaranteeing journalists freedom. The report draws on interviews and information provided from 36 f

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Osman Alihan Transferred to China

SAT, 15 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

Immigration officials transferred Osman Alihan from Pakistan to China. No one knows where he is so he could be a target for any number of human rights violations. PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 17/025/2007 UPDATE1 August 2007 Further Information on UA 177/07 (ASA 33/014/2007, 6 July 2007) Forcible return / Fear for safety / Possible enforced disappearance CHINA Osman Alihan (m), businessman, aged 33 Amnesty International has received information that ethnic Uighur activist Osman Alihan has been forcibly returned from Pakistan to China. His whereabouts are not known, and the Pakistani and Chinese authorities have made no official comment on his case. He may be at risk of

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China: No Progress on Rights One Year Before Olympics

SAT, 15 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

China: No Progress on Rights One Year Before Olympics human rights Abuses Shadow Countdown to 2008 Beijing Games(New York, August 2, 2007) ? China?s dire human rights record and a renewed crackdown on media freedom may spoil the government?s hopes of a successful ?coming out party? at the Beijing Olympics, which begin in a year, human rights Watch said today." Instead of a pre-Olympic ?Beijing spring? of greater freedom and tolerance of dissent, we are seeing the gagging of dissidents, a crackdown on activists, and attempts to block independent media coverage. "　Brad Adams, Asia director at human rights Watch A year before the August 8, 2008 opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns. Instead, apparently more worried about political stability, Beijing is tightening its grip on domestic human rights defenders, grassroots ac

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: SECRETS OF THE REDHEAD MUMMIES

SAT, 08 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

THE CAUCASIANS OF CHINASECRETS OF THE REDHEAD MUMMIES? Copyright June 2002 by Heather Pringle, JournalistExcerpted from The Mummy CongressHow could an ancient mummy found in remote China have red hair and caucasian features? The answer has sparked a battle over smuggled DNA, Western imperialism, and history as we know it.Until he first encountered the mummies of Xinjiang, Victor Mair was known mainly as a brilliant, if eccentric, translator of obscure Chinese texts, a fine sinologist with a few controversial ideas about the origins of Chinese culture, and a scathing critic prone to penning stern reviews of sloppy scholarship. Mair's pronouncements on the striking resemblance between some characters inscribed on the Dead Sea Scrolls and early Chinese symbols were intensely debated by researchers. His magnum opus on the origins of Chinese writing, a work he had been toiling away at for years i

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Supporters fear Celil headed for life in Chinese prison

THU, 06 SEP 2007 00:00:00 EST

Supporters fear Celil headed for life in Chinese prisonOMAR EL AKKADFrom Tuesday's Globe and MailSeptember 4, 2007 at 4:17 AM EDTFor the first time since he was arrested in Uzbekistan and handed to China some 18 months ago, Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil was allowed to meet his mother and sister in person yesterday.But Mr. Celil's supporters believe the meeting is a sign Mr. Celil's appeals have come to an end, and all that's left is for the onetime Burlington, Ont., resident to spend the rest of his life in a Chinese prison.Chinese authorities have labelled Mr. Celil a terrorist and charged him with engaging in violent separatist activities. In April he was sentenced to life in prison.Mr. Celil was allowed to meet his mother and one of his sisters yesterday, according to Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association.Canadian officials accompanied the family to the prison, Mr. Tohti said, but did not attend the meeting.The meeting, which lasted about an hou

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: British minister presses China on human rights, Darfur

FRI, 31 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

British minister presses China on human rights, DarfurThe Associated PressPublished: August 30, 2007 BEIJING: A British minister said Thursday he pressured China to improve its human rights record, telling officials a failure to do so could affect their staging of next year's Olympic Games.Lord Mark Malloch Brown, Britain's minister for Africa, Asia, and the United Nations, also appealed to China to help persuade the Sudanese government to negotiate with the African country's rebel groups."It is critical for us to go on reminding China that there is still very significant progress in our view to be made on the human rights side," Malloch Brown said."I also very much raised the linkage to the Olympics and the public relations costs if the (human rights) issues were not handled correctly," he said.Ahead of next year's Beijing Olympics, China has already come under fire from various human rights groups that say it has failed to deliver on a pl

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Kazakhstan signs deal to link China with Caspian Sea oil fields

MON, 27 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Kazakhstan signs deal to link China with Caspian Sea oil fields Monday, August 27, 2007Kazakhstan and China have agreed to extend a crude oil pipeline to link mainland China to the Caspian Sea, giving Beijing direct access to Kazakhstan's most lucrative oil reserves.The 962.2 km Atasu-Alashankou pipeline links CNPC-owned oil fields in central Kazakhstan to Xinjiang Province in western China. The line will be extended 700 km westwards to reach oilfields near the Caspian Sea, spanning all of Kazakhstan.The original pipeline was completed in November 2005 at a cost of US$700m.The extended line will have an ultimate oil carrying capacity of 20m tonnes/year. It will also transport 30bn cubic metres/year of gas to China from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, representing central Asia's first major non-Russian gas export route.The agreement was signed on 18 August by Uzakbai Karabalin, president of Kazakhstan's state-run oil company KazMunaiGaz, and CNPC president Jiang

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Cotton exodus? transferring tens of thousands to work in East Turkistan, despite

TUE, 21 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Cotton exodus? transferring tens of thousands to work in East Turkistan, despite high levels of Uyghur unemploymentFor immediate releaseAugust 21, 2007, 4:45 PM ESTContact: Uyghur human rights Project +1 (202) 349 1496With the support of the People?s Republic of China (PRC) government, more than 600,000 Han Chinese farmers will participate in a ?cotton exodus? to East Turkistan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or XUAR) this year, despite high levels of unemployment and low rural incomes for the Uyghur population in the region. According to reports in China?s official media, authorities in Gansu Province, Chongqing Municipality and the XUAR have been recruiting in rural areas, organizing special trains, providing stipends, printing informational brochures, and giving logistical support at sending and receiving train stations to ease the huge population transfer. The farmers will provide labor for East Turkistan?s cotton harvest, which lasts from early Septembe

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada has obligation to Afghans in Gitmo

MON, 20 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada has obligation to Afghans in GitmoMay 17, 2007 04:30 AMHaroon SiddiquiFaced with a furor over possible Canadian complicity in torture in Afghanistan, the Stephen Harper government has negotiated a new deal with Kabul to ensure the proper treatment of Afghan detainees captured by Canadian troops and handed to Afghan authorities.Why is the same principle of fair treatment not being applied to the dozen or so Afghans handed by Canadian troops five years ago to American authorities and transferred to the hellhole at Guantanamo Bay?That's what Liberal MP John Godfrey wants to know."My concern all along has been that in handing them to the Americans, we undermined the Geneva Conventions," he said in a telephone interview from Ottawa. "We cannot subcontract that legal obligation. We have the same obligation to them as the Afghans we hand over to Afghan authorities."Just because we turned the earlier detainees over to the Americans does not absolve us of our re

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: New Zealand refuses Guantanamo detainees

MON, 20 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

New Zealand refuses Guantanamo detaineesMon Aug 20, 9:56 AM ETWELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand refused several times to take detainees the U.S. wanted to relocate from its Guantanamo Bay military prison, a senior official said Monday."In 2005 and early 2006, New Zealand declined several requests from the United States to resettle Guantanamo Bay detainees as refugees in New Zealand," the Labor Department's refugee services director Kevin Third said in a statement.He was responding to questions after it was revealed that Washington had asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur descent, because they were likely to be at risk if sent back to China.Earlier this month, The Canadian Press reported that notes prepared for former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February indicate the Bush administration asked Canada to accept Guantanamo Bay detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.Canada balke

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada tells U.S. it won't take Guantanamo detainees

SAT, 18 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada tells U.S. it won't take Guantanamo detaineesComments (111)Thursday, August 16, 2007 | 09:44 AM ETThe Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, say newly released documents.The material, obtained by the Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicates the U.S. administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.American officials travelled to Ottawa on three separate occasions in late 2005 to press their case with the Liberal government of the time, but to no avail. By May 2006, Washington had succeeded in persuading Albania to take five men, who now live in squalid conditions.Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day.Notes prepared for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February this year suggest the g

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Records Show Canada Balked at Taking Detainees Cleared by U.S.

FRI, 17 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Records Show Canada Balked at Taking Detainees Cleared by U.S.By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: August 17, 2007TORONTO, Aug. 16 ? Canada balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the United States military prison at Guant?mo Bay, government documents released Wednesday show.Notes prepared for former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February this year, obtained by The Canadian Press news agency under Canada?s Access to Information Act, indicate that the Bush administration had asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China?s Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.The United States was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution.Canada ? like other countries ? seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a public-relations headache for the United States. Today, 17 of the men are still being he

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: The China syndrome

FRI, 17 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

The China syndromeThe Ottawa CitizenPublished: Friday, August 17, 2007In the 1970s, U.S. Senator Dick Clark said his country couldn't meddle in South African policy. "But," he added, "I think we ought to meddle in our own." The same could be said of Canada and China today.Canada's government is not obliged to ignore the Chinese government's human rights record. Canadian families are not obliged to buy their children dangerous toys or use contaminated products. And Canadian companies are not obliged to do business with a country that has a systemic safety problem.That doesn't mean we should officially break off trade with China, only that we should be discriminating in what we buy. We don't have to shrug off safety concerns as the cost of doing business cheap.And when it comes down to it, Canada is not obliged to send its athletes to the Olympic Games, either. Nobody wants to see a boycott. But it would be foolish to ignore the leverage pote

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: The 'Peace Mission'

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

The 'Peace Mission'By Richard D. Fisher Jr.The world will understandably have some questions Thursday when Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Vladimir Putin meet at Garrison Chebarkul, located in the Chelyabinsk region near the Ural mountains, to review troops from both their countries, as well as four Central Asian states. The event will commemorate the end of maneuvers called Peace Mission 2007, and it raises some important questions. Does this exercise signal a stepping up of already substantial military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing? And if it does, cooperation against what or whom?The answer to the first question is clearly yes, cooperation is increasing. This year's exercises involved about 4,000 troops and 100 aircraft from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, a threefold increase in participants over Peace Mission 2005, held in China. This year's exercises, conducted from Aug. 8 to 17, included full-fledged conve

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: SCO Summit: Crackdown Highlights Failings on Human Rights

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

SCO Summit: Crackdown Highlights Failings on human rights16 Aug 2007 17:02:07 GMTSource: human rights WatchReuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.Alert Me | Print | Email this article | RSS XML [-] Text (New York, August 16, 2007) - Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization missed a key opportunity to implement the organization's human rights principles when they met on August 16 at the SCO summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, human rights Watch said today. Moreover, the Kyrgyz government adopted security measures that restricted human rights as it prepared to host the annual summit."The SCO Charter includes a clause upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms, but this provision has been a dead letter," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at human rights Watch. "SCO members should affirm that human rights and regi

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: SCO discuss joint anti-terrorism measures

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

SCO discuss joint anti-terrorism measuresThe leaders of Russia, China and four Central Asian countries have agreed on improved energy co-operation as a guarantee for their mutual security. The heads of government have been meeting in a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.They've also been discussing joint anti-terrorism measures and efforts to bring stability to neighbouring Afghanistan as well as the fight against drug-trafficking and illegal immigration.Several treaties have been signed outlining future priorities in health and education. One of the most important of them is the Agreement of Good Neighbourhood, Friendship and Co-Operation.The leaders have agreed on the creation of an Energy Club that will ensure energy security for the organisation's members and observer states from the Middle East and Asia.In a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Putin has discussed Russia's oil supplies to China. Another iss

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Vancouver de namayishchilar bilen yighilish olturishi (

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Vancouver de namayishchilar bilen yighilish olturishi ( Uyghur - Tibet )Hormetlik wetendashlar,Aldinqi hepte beijing'da seddichin sepiligha lozinka esip qaytip kelgen Sam we Mel hem bashqa kishiler bilen Vancouver de shenbe kunisi uchrishish paaliyiti bolmaqchi. bu bir tebriklesh paaliyiti bolup, kop sanda Tibet likler hem Canada liqlar we Uyghurlarmu qatnishidu. bu Tibet herkiti teshkilatlirining orunlashturilishida elip berilidighan bolup, teshkilatlarning video cameralirimu bolishi iniq. xalighanlarning qatnishishi qarshi elinidu. egerde Mel and Sam 'din sorighinglar kelidighan qimmetlik sualliringlar bolsa, qarshi alidu. kilelmeydighan wetendashlarning suali bolsa bu temida bu yerge yezip qoysimu qarshi alimiz.7:00pm: Welcome, Drinks & Refreshments7:30pm: Video and talk by Mel and Sam8:30pm: Questionssaet 9:30pm bilen yashlar uchun kechilik olturush bashlinidu.OMERJAN BoreReply With Quote

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada Balked at Guantanamo Refugees

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada Balked at Guantanamo RefugeesBy ROB GILLIESThe Associated PressCanada Balked at Guantanamo RefugeesWednesday, August 15, 2007; 10:29 PMTORONTO - Canada balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, government documents released Wednesday show.Notes prepared for former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February this year, obtained by The Canadian Press news agency under Canada's Access to Information Act, indicate the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security. The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution.Canada _ like other countries _ seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbor. To

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Ottawa rejected Guantanamo refugees, reports show

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Ottawa rejected Guantanamo refugees, reports showJENNIFER DITCHBURNCanadian PressAugust 16, 2007OTTAWA - The Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, newly released documents say.The material, obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information legislation, indicates the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uyghur descent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.The United States was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear that they would be persecuted. Canada seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbour. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day."Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. delegation that the men would likely

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada rebuffed Guantanamo refugees

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada rebuffed Guantanamo refugees Documents show Ottawa turned down U.S. request to give asylum to Uyghur detainees held in prisonAug 16, 2007 04:30 AMJennifer DitchburnCanadian PressOTTAWA?The Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, say newly released documents.The material, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicates the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uyghur descent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to U.S. national security.The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution.Canada ? like other countries ? seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for the U.S. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada rejects asylum to Guantanamo detainees

THU, 16 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada rejects asylum to Guantanamo detaineesUpdated Thu. Aug. 16 2007 9:07 AM ETCanadian PressOTTAWA - The Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, say newly released documents.The material, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicates the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution.Canada _ like other countries _ seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbour. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day."Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. delegation that the men would

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Promises Cynically Broken Over the 2008 Beijing Olympics

WED, 15 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Promises Cynically Broken Over the 2008 Beijing OlympicsRSF[Tuesday, August 14, 2007 16:49]Much remains to be done before tens of thousands of athletes, sports enthusiasts and journalists turn up in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games on August 8 next year.Not just all the construction work for a great sporting occasion, but work on human rights, which are still being abused throughout the country on a daily basis.Despite clear promises China made before it was awarded the Games in 2001, it has done almost nothing to improve human rights. A Chinese official had told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that if it accepted China's candidacy, "you will be helping the expansion of human rights." But six years later, things are still very bleak.At least 30 journalists and 50 Internet users are in prison in China, and some have been there since the 1980s. Many have been tortured. They are serving heavy jail sentences for "disclosing state secrets," &q

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Canada balked at Guantanamo refugees: documents

WED, 15 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Canada balked at Guantanamo refugees: documentsAugust 15, 2007 - 18:24By: JENNIFER DITCHBURNOTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, say newly released documents.The material, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicates the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security.The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution.Canada - like other countries - seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbour. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day."Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. delegation that the men woul

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China's objectives in Xinjiang

MON, 13 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

China's objectives in Xinjiang13 August 2007 China is nervously looking forward to hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is ensuring that nothing spoils the global publicity surrounding the event. As such, an incident in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on 11 May does not bode well for those hopes. A protester threw an incendiary device at a large portrait of Mao Zedong hung over the gate leading to the Forbidden City. The last time the portrait was defaced was during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.Police immediately arrested the culprit; Xinhua news agency reported that the protester, Gu Haiou, was a 35-year-old unemployed man from Urumqi, the capital of China's restive Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The Chinese government consistently portrays protesters in Xinjiang as terrorists. The province is increasingly important to China's ambitious economic plans; however, the government has yet to devise a policy to deal with nationalist aspirations amon

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China can do no wrong

MON, 13 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

China can do no wrong Critics silenced as Olympics approachBy PETER WORTHINGTONHow things have changed! In 1979, some 28 years ago, then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter urged that because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, the 1980 Moscow Olympics should be boycotted.When the International Olympic Committee rejected Carter's proposal that the Moscow Olympics be switched to Greece, the U.S. Olympic Committee sided with the president and announced American athletes would not be attending.Ultimately, the decision whether to attend the Moscow Olympics was left to individual Olympic committees. In Britain, for example, the government supported the boycott, but its Olympic Committee opted to compete - as did France, Italy and Sweden.GAMES A DISASTERThe 1980 Moscow Games were a financial and international disaster. Some 60 countries boycotted Moscow, where Soviet athletes won 195 medals, of which 80 were gold.The great Russian dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky, scolded that

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Olympics won't make us forget Celil

SUN, 12 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Olympics won't make us forget CelilThe GazetteChina is resolutely determined to make a good impression on the whole world with next year's Olympic Games. Perhaps those in power there imagine some hoopla and a bag of medals will make Canadians forget about Huseyin Celil. But we don't think that's going to happen.The Chinese government will now, we can expect, throw away the key to Celil's jail cell and forget all about him. He has been sentenced, in a court in the city of Urumqi, to life imprisonment - which in China doesn't mean three years in jail, minus time served, and then a little community service.China locks up of plenty of its own citizens - although we can't say precisely how many - but what makes this case different is that Celil is a Canadian citizen. A member of the Uyghur ethnic minority and a Muslim, Celil was convicted of "separatist activities" in the Xinjiang region, in China's west, where Uyghurs are the principal eth

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Group Upset China Hasn't Increased Human Rights

SAT, 11 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Group Upset China Hasn't Increased human rightsPOSTED: 10:27 am EDT August 2, 2007[NEWSVINE: Olympics: Beijing Clamps Down On Activists] BEIJING - One year before the start of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government has failed to live up to promises of greater human rights and has instead clamped down on domestic activists and journalists, human rights Watch said Thursday.China, which has long been criticized for its human rights record, has cracked down on dissent to stave off potential political instability, the human rights group said."The government seems afraid that its own citizens will embarrass it by speaking out about political and social problems, but China's leaders apparently don't realize authoritarian crackdowns are even more embarrassing," Brad Adams, the Asia director of New York-based human rights Watch, said in a statement.sponsorThe Beijing Olympics, which begin Aug. 8, 2008, are a huge source of pride for China. In bidding for the game

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: China's Olympic human rights test

SAT, 11 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

China's Olympic human rights test Aug 09, 2007 04:30 AMStarting today, the world's attention will turn to the Beijing Olympics, where China, as a proud first-time host, hopes to "build a good image and show our civilization to the world," in the words of Liu Qi, head of the organizing committee.China's Communist leaders have spared no effort burnishing that image, including last night's gala countdown to the Aug. 8, 2008, opening ceremonies. They have spent $40 billion building the Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube aquatics centre, rebuilding Beijing's skyline and subways, and relocating industry to curb lung-clogging smog. People have been urged to polish their English, to stop spitting and to queue up for buses. Scientists are trying to control the very weather.The aim is to showcase China as a modern, confident, increasingly affluent society that is freer than ever, more open and more respectful of civil liberties including press fr

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Beijing Olympics: human rights concerns

SAT, 11 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Beijing Olympics: human rights concerns The World Today - Tuesday, 8 August , 2006 12:55:18Reporter: John TaylorELEANOR HALL: One million people will perform co-ordinated "morning exercises" in parks throughout China's capital today to mark the two year countdown to the Beijing Olympics.China's Olympic Games organisers say preparations are going smoothly. But human rights groups say China still has a long way to go if it wants to shine in the international spotlight.As our China Correspondent John Taylor reports.JOHN TAYLOR: In exactly two years the world's best athletes will be in China for the Beijing Olympics. Beijing is an ancient city getting younger by the day. Construction sites are everywhere and the Olympics are driving much of it.New roads and overpasses are springing up, new subway lines are being dug and then there is the new Opera House, the television headquarters and police ministry.China is determined that its Olympics wi

Uyghur Canadian Society / Association: Olympic Watch writes National Olympic Committees

SAT, 11 AUG 2007 00:00:00 EST

Olympic Watch writes National Olympic CommitteesPrague, December 10, 2006 - Olympic Watch, an organization campaigning for human rights improvements in China before the 2008 Olympic Games, has sent a letter to national Olympic committees around the world. Sent twenty months before the Games are to start and on the eve of the International human rights Day, the letter alerts the national committees about the ongoing human rights violations in China and reminds them of their obligations in defending Olympic ideals.Contrasting the Chinese government?s record on universally defined human rights standards such as the death penalty, torture, freedom of expression and other issues, with the Olympic ideals of ?dignity of the individual?, and ?respect for fundamental universal ethical principles?, Olympic Watch calls on the national committees to respond to the fact that the International Olympic Committee ?has apparently made little effort to actually hold [the Beijing Organizing Committee] a