http://www.uyghurnews.com/ World Uyghur Congress - Feed for Uyghur, Uighur, East Turkistan, Tibet News en-us http://www.uyghurnews.com/SiteDesign/etflag.gif http://www.uyghurnews.com/ For immediate release October 30, 2009, 7:15 PM EST Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496 The Uyghur American Association (UAA) expresses profound disappointment in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Higher People’s Court’s ruling upholding of the sentences of 21 defendants convicted of charges related to the July 5 unrest in the regional capital of Urumchi. Nine of those convicted were sentenced to death. The trials of the 21 men sentenced in connection with the July 5 unrest did not adhere to standards of either domestic or international law. The verdicts are slated to be reviewed once more by China’s Supreme People’s Court. Since China’s Supreme Court began reviewing all of the country’s death penalty cases in 2007, it has overturned some sentences issued by lower ]]> SUN, 01 NOV 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=regional-courts-approval-of-death-penalty-and-other-punishments-in-july-5-cases-demonstrates-rigidity-political-motivation-of-chinese-judicial-authori&ItemID=XO-1172009463630817684200 Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant) state-sanctioned "patriotic religious associations" (PRAs). Officials have wide latitude to interpret the phrase "normal religious activities." By law only the PRAs may register religious groups and places of worship. The Government permits proselytism in registered places of worship and in private settings, but does not permit it in public, in unregistered places of worship, or by foreigners. The Constitution states that religious bodies and affairs are not "subject to any foreign domination" and affirms the leading role of the officially atheist Chi]]> TUE, 27 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=international-religious-freedom-report-2009&ItemID=LE-1172009804230817891677 China's Xinjiang 'isolated' by email, phone blocks AFP BEIJING — Residents in China's restive Xinjiang region remain isolated from the outside world with long-lasting Internet and phone cuts that have prompted some businesses to relocate, locals said Saturday. Emails are still blocked nearly four months after deadly ethnic unrest erupted in the regional capital Urumqi, as are text messages and international phone calls, residents told AFP. "Our business has been seriously affected, and we have had to set up an office in Lanzhou (capital of neighbouring Gansu province)," said the head of an Urumqi-based firm, who asked to remain anonymous. Xinjiang authorities "set up a green channel (for calls and the Internet) for... trade companies in Xinjiang, but it's not enough for us to handle business", he told AFP by phone. Riots erupted in Urumqi on July 5, leaving 197 people dead, according to official figures, in the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Authorities quickly reacted by ]]> MON, 26 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china039s-xinjiang-039isolated039-by-email-phone-blocks&ItemID=XE-1172009493430817635231 Xinjiang University in Urumqi, and now still has many relatives and friends in Urumqi. An Uyghur residential area in Urumqi called the Horserace Track (Sai Ma Chang in Chinese) was surrounded by police, and male residents were rounded up in the field, according to an article entitled “Tight Security in Xinjiang,” published by Radio Free Asia on July 6. According to Shohret, a massacre took place in complete darkness on the night of July 5. "The Horserace Track community disappeared. Many were killed, some fled."  “The lights were all turned off and only the sounds of machine guns could be heard, so there’s no telling how many were killed, and people probably will never find out anyway.” said Shohret.  “On July 7, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) instigated Han Chinese to ta]]> MON, 26 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=australian-uyghur-scholar-alleges-massacre&ItemID=HP-1172009182430817383594 East Turkestan: China Accused of Abuses Against Uighurs Friday, 23 October 2009   In the program The World Today on ABC News, Dinah PoKempner, general counsel for human rights Watch, talked about abuses against Uighurs.      Below is an article published by ABC News: ELEANOR HALL: A human rights group is warning that ethnic tensions in the Uighur region of China are at extreme levels and is calling on the international community to condemn the Chinese Government's response to this year's deadly ethnic riots. Last week, Chinese authorities sentenced nine men to death for being involved in the protests. Today the New York based group, human rights Watch, released its report into the unrest in the Urumqi area of China. It found that authorities detained at least 43 Uighur men and boys who have since disappeared. Dinah PoKempner is the general counsel for human rights Watch and she spoke to me from New York. Dinah PoKempner thanks for joining us. Now your report says t]]> FRI, 23 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=east-turkestan-china-accused-of-abuses-against-uighurs&ItemID=KU-1172009957330817784015 East Turkestan: Testing Conditions Friday, 23 October 2009   When the Melbourne International Film Festival refused Chinese demands to drop documentary The 10 Conditions Of Love from this year's line-up, international controversy ensued. Adam Benzine reports.     Below is an article published by C21 Media: The 10 Conditions of Love, a documentary about exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, hit headlines worldwide in July, dragging the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) into a maelstrom of controversy. MIFF's decision to screen the film and host a Q&A with Kadeer drew condemnation from the Chinese consulate in Australia, which demanded the doc be withdrawn. The festival's refusal led to its website being hijacked and crashed by Chinese hackers – a move that focused global attention on the film. But, recalls producer John Lewis, the doc nearly didn't make the line-up. "We were very lucky," he says. "I pestered them and pestered them, and (MIFF director) Richard Mo]]> FRI, 23 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=east-turkestan-testing-conditions&ItemID=UC-117200927523081712870 China's Muslim Region Owen Fletcher, IDG News Service Oct 23, 2009 Nearly four months after deadly ethnic riots in China's Muslim region led authorities to shut off the Internet there, local residents are still barred from sending text messages and getting online. The clampdown on telecommunication in China's western Xinjiang province, where rioting claimed nearly 200 lives in early July, has hurt local businesses and cut residents off from many nongovernment sources of news and other information. The rioting between Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority group native to Xinjiang, and Chinese Han, the country's ethnic majority, also led China to block various social networking Web sites nationwide. Twitter, similar Chinese services and Facebook all remain inaccessible in the country. China has blamed communication on such Web sites for helping lead to the riots, which were sparked by an ethnic brawl in far-away southern China. Observers have cited a seri]]> FRI, 23 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=still-no-internet-or-sms-allowed-in-china039s-muslim-region&ItemID=DX-1172009164730817952574 China: Detainees ‘Disappeared’ After Xinjiang Protests Chinese Government Should Account for Every Detainee human rights Watch (New York) - The Chinese government should immediately account for all detainees in its custody and allow independent investigations into the July 2009 protests in Urumqi and their aftermath, human rights Watch said in a new report on enforced "disappearances" released today. The 44-page report, "‘We Are Afraid to Even Look for Them': Enforced Disappearances in the Wake of Xinjiang's Protests," documents the enforced disappearances of 43 Uighur men and teenage boys who were detained by Chinese security forces in the wake of the protests. "The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg," said Brad Adams, Asia director at human rights Watch. "The Chinese government says it respects the rule of law, but nothing could undermine this claim more than taking people from their homes or off the street and ‘disappearing' them - leaving their families uns]]> WED, 21 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-detainees-disappeared-after-xinjiang-protests&ItemID=WZ-1172009396830817524561 China riots By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing , 21 October 2009 Dozens of ethnic Uighurs have disappeared since being detained in the wake of the riots in China's Xinjiang region, a human rights group has said. human rights Watch said the 43 men and teenaged boys were taken in police sweeps of Uighur districts of Urumqi, and had since vanished without a trace. The riots and protests in the city in early July left nearly 200 people dead. China's central government declined to answer questions about those detained by the authorities in Xinjiang. It referred questions about the ethnic unrest to the regional government, which also did not respond to enquiries from the BBC. 'Not global leadership' "The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg," said Brad Adams, Asia director at human rights Watch. The rights group is calling for the Chinese government to give details of everyone it is holding in detention. In a report on the disappeared people]]> WED, 21 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=many-039missing039-after-china-riots&ItemID=ZE-1172009171830817924982 Uighur leader urges Japan to press China on rights AFP TOKYO — Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, alleging that China has "destroyed" her Muslim people, is urging Japan's new government not to ignore their plight as it presses to bolster ties with Beijing. Kadeer was speaking during a visit to Japan, where Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's centre-left government took power five weeks ago vowing to improve regional ties and to promote an EU-style Asian community. US-based Kadeer, whom China labels a separatist, arrived Tuesday for a 10-day visit, her second trip to Japan this year, triggering an immediate protest from China against Japan for allowing her entry. Speaking with AFP late Tuesday, Kadeer criticised China for rights abuses but said she was ready to talk with Beijing on improving ethnic minority policies as she seeks "self-determination" for her people. "I hope Japan will talk with the Chinese government about the problem," added the grandmother and mother-of-11. "Japan plays ]]> WED, 21 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-leader-urges-japan-to-press-china-on-rights&ItemID=NU-1172009433230817369764 Rebiya Kadeer is expected to visit Japan from the United States as early as Tuesday as the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has issued her a visa, government and other sources said Monday.]]> TUE, 20 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghur-activist-likely-to-visit-japan-tuesday-as-visa-issued&ItemID=SK-1172009951030817799581 Uighur leader slams Book Fair for honoring China Reuters FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer sharply criticized the Frankfurt Book Fair for inviting China as its guest this year, arguing that the country should not be honored given its poor human rights track record. "It is just not right to welcome a country, where executions are a daily occurrence and human rights are treated with disrespect," Kadeer, a former businesswoman who now leads the exile group the World Uighur Congress, said at the book fair on Sunday, the last day of the fair. "Before the Olympic Games, the world was of the opinion China would be forced to respect human rights more as the world turned its attention to the games in China," said Kadeer, her long grey hair in her signature braids and wearing a traditional four-cornered Uighur cap. Amnesty International in a report last year criticized China for failing to honor vows to improve rights that officials made in lobbying for the Games, and sai]]> MON, 19 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-leader-slams-book-fair-for-honoring-china&ItemID=MM-1172009183230817371568 Uyghur leader and campaigner Rebiya Kadeer says that the northwestern province of Xinjiang, China, is like an "open prison" for the Uyghur people. She is calling on the Chinese authorities to stop their "cultural genocide." The exiled activist, who has been labeled a “terrorist” by the Chinese Communist Party, was speaking out to audiences at Auckland University and the Pioneer Women's Hall earlier this week. Introducing Ms. Kadeer, Green Party Member of Parliament Keith Locke said that the Green Party's invitation to Rebiya Kadeer had raised questions over democracy, not only in China, but in New Zealand as well. Mr. Locke said that Auckland University's initial refusal to allow Ms. Kadeer to speak on campus set a bad precedent. Everyone should be free to speak and debate ideas on university property, he said.  “We will [not] deny the students, the lecturers and people of Auckland the right to hear her on univers]]> MON, 19 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghur-leader-seeks-support-in-new-zealand&ItemID=RX-1172009329830817281877 China's southwestern province of Sichuan. HONG KONG—Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have denied reports of a series of syringe stabbings like those reported in Urumqi in September, but they have confirmed that people have been beaten to death in the city this month. The Chinese-language Apollo News Web site reported Oct. 4 that five people were beaten to death by angry crowds in early October, with some local people saying they were thieves, and others saying they were suspected syringe attackers of the kind reported in September's attacks in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Police in Suining confirmed that people had been beaten to death but ruled out a racial element in the attacks. "The status of the victims and the cause of the event is not clear yet," an employee who answered the phone at the Shehong police station in Sichuan's Suining city said. "T]]> MON, 19 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=suining-deaths-039not-about-xinjiang039&ItemID=VU-1172009476230817196996 Uighur leader to visit Japan, likely to irk China Reuters TOKYO (Reuters) - Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer will visit Japan on Tuesday, a trip that is likely to upset China which has accused her of instigating ethnic riots that killed about 200 people earlier this year. The official website of Kadeer's group, the World Uighur Congress, said she would be in Japan until Nov. 2, where she will deliver speeches at 10 universities. Kadeer, a former businesswoman who now leads the World Uighur Congress, last visited to Japan in July, but this week's trip will be her first since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has vowed to deepen ties with Beijing, took office last month. China strongly condemned Tokyo for allowing her to visit last time. Beijing has repeatedly blamed Kadeer for triggering the deadly July unrest in the strategic and energy-rich northwestern region of Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs. Kadeer has denied the allegations. Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most poli]]> MON, 19 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-leader-to-visit-japan-likely-to-irk-china&ItemID=IU-1172009165530817940548 China. To the observer back home in Colorado, the troubles of this industrial city on the other side of the globe were not consequential to everyday life. But when the riots were directly in front of my face this summer, the situation became very real, very fast. But it’s not like I was caught completely off my feet, either. My family and I were in an area of China known as Xinjiang Province. Known officially as Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, it is home to the Uighur ethnic minority. In the province, the Uighurs are the majority, as the population is 90 percent Muslim. Constantly crisscrossed by different ethnic groups, great nations such as Great Britain and China have maneuvered for supremacy of the ]]> SUN, 18 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=seeing-unrest-puts-people039s-plight-in-focus-chinese-have-whittled-patience-of-uighurs&ItemID=YQ-1172009259308172648 China’s largest internet phone service providers suspended its services and apparently shut its website down on Oct. 7, after being accused of harboring users who were spreading “Xinjiang independence” messages through its network. A notice claiming to be from UUCall, a voice over IP (VoIP) company, was later posted on the Internet, indicating that an official body had instructed the company to make changes to its service. VoIP is a protocol that allows calls to be made through the internet. The notice, attributed to username UUCall102 on Baidu Post, a popular website, explained that UUCall is actively communicating with the unspecified government department that issued the shut down, and informed users that its services will soon be resumed. With over 30 million registered users in mainland China, the company promises to “assume responsibility for all its customers.” At present, a call to UU]]> SAT, 17 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=039subversive039-messages-lead-to-shut-down-of-chinese-internet-phone-company&ItemID=BU-1172009800830817403069 human rights and Rule of Law in China 2009-10-16 (Washington, D.C.)—The Congressional-Executive Commission on China released its 2009 Annual Report on human rights and the rule of law in China on October 16, along with a PDF containing case records of 1,279 political prisoners currently detained or imprisoned in China. “We are deeply concerned about continued human rights abuses and stalled rule of law reform documented in the Commission's 2009 Annual Report. Many Chinese government policies designed to address social unrest and bolster the Communist Party's authority are resulting in a period of declining human rights for Chinese citizens,” said Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman of the Commission in a joint statement with Representative Sander Levin, Co-Chairman of the Commission. “The Chinese Government has made economic development a priority, and has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But, Chinese government policies and pract]]> FRI, 16 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=cecc-releases-2009-annual-report-on-human-rights-and-rule-of-law-in-china&ItemID=FS-1172009947130817318188 American Association +1 (202) 349 1496 Following an unannounced trial on October 12, the Intermediate People’s Court of Urumchi sentenced Uyghur defendants Abdukerim Abduwayit, Gheni Yusup, Abdulla Mettohti, Adil Rozi, Nureli Wuxiu’er (Hoshur) and Alim Metyusup to death on charges of murder and other crimes they were alleged to have committed during July 5 unrest in Urumchi, the regional capital of East Turkestan. A seventh man, Tayirejan Abulimit, was sentenced to life in prison on charges of murder and robbery. The Uyghur American Association (UAA) strongly protests the verdicts handed down to these men, out of concern that the men faced highly politicized trials that did not adhere to standards of either domestic or international law. UAA calls upon the international community to express concern over the verdicts, in light of a demonstrated lack o]]> THU, 15 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=politicized-verdicts-for-six-uyghur-defendants-given-death-sentences&ItemID=TX-11720098230817571628 China-But For Which People?" UNPO UNPO publishes a special report to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China which draws attention to the ongoing and in many cases worsening situation of the different ethnic and religious groups that reside within China's borders. UNPO demands that these voiceless people are not forgotten amidst the great pomp and splendour of today's unabashed celebrations. To download the report, please click here.]]> WED, 14 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=unpo-special-report&ItemID=OB-1172009240330817143616 China’s unwillingness to abide by the United Nations Global Moratorium on the Death Penalty, adopted in 2007, which establishes a suspension on executions with the view to abolish the death penalty. “This goes against all international standards of human rights, most notably the universal right to equality before the law”, Marino Busdachin, Secretary General of UNPO, stated in immediate response to the Chinese decision. Dolkun Isa, Secretary General of the World Uyghur Congress and prominent human rights activist, expressed the need for the i]]> TUE, 13 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=unpo-condemns-chinese-death-sentences-without-fair-trial&ItemID=KU-1172009843730817230300 World Uyghur Congress Phone: +49 89 54321999 October 13, 2009 Munich, Germany   The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) strongly condemns the decision of the Chinese court to sentence six Uyghur men to death without fair trial. On 5 July 2009, thousands of Uyghur students with Chinese national flags in hand expressing their disavowal of separatism, took to the streets of Urumqi, the capital of East Turkestan, and petitioned the Chinese government to bring to justice of those murders of innocent Uyghur workers in a factory in south China’s province Guangdong. The government instead used overwhelming force to crush the peaceful demonstration, with Chinese paramilitary forces mercilessly firing rounds indiscriminately into the crowds of demonstrators in four separate locations. Authorities cut off electricity, telephone and internet co]]> TUE, 13 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=wuc-strongly-appeal-the-international-community-to-protect-the-innocent-uyghur-people&ItemID=UC-1172009161630817459155 Rebiya Kadeer, human rights activist and exiled leader of the Uyghur people from China's Northwestern province of Xinjiang has been granted a visa to speak in New Zealand next week. “Ms Kadeer will speak on the discrimination and human rights abuses that are being perpetrated against the Uyghur people in China,” said Keith Locke, member of parliament for the Green Party who are hosting the Uighur leader. “I think that the world supporting a human rights activist like Ms Kadeer helps to promote democracy in China.” Ms Kadeer's visit to New Zealand is a reminder that the influence of the Chinese Communist Party extends well beyond its borders. Last month, Maori Television screened the controversial documentary 10 Conditions of Love, despite pressure from the Chinese Embassy. The film documents the life of Ms Kadeer and the struggle for the rights of the Uyghur people. Mr Locke called the Chinese embassy's pressure on Maori Tel]]> MON, 12 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghur-activist-to-visit-new-zealand&ItemID=QV-1172009992330817653269 Uighur leader AFP WASHINGTON — The Nobel Peace Prize will raise expectations for US President Barack Obama to stand up for human rights around the world, exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said Friday. Kadeer, who has often been tipped for the prestigious prize for her fight on behalf of the Chinese minority group, offered congratulations to Obama. "I am very happy that he got it. Now he has to do something with the award. It raises expectations on him to stand up for oppressed nations," she told AFP. "Uighurs are getting killed even know. With the award, he should know how to talk to dictatorships like China," said Kadeer, head of the World Uighur Congress who lives in exile in the Washington area. Kadeer, who spent six years in a Chinese prison, has become a top nemesis to Beijing for her campaign on behalf of the largely Muslim Uighur community based in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. Some 200 people died in Xinjiang in July in China's]]> SAT, 10 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=nobel-prize-raises-obama-expectations-uighur-leader&ItemID=EN-117200953030817911520 Rebiya Kadeer from visiting Taiwan, despite widespread criticism of the ban. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators lashed out at the minister as he made his first appearance before the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee. Jiang said last month that Kadeer, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), should not be allowed into the country since she has “close relations to a terrorist group.” He also accused WUC secretary-general Dolkun Isa of involvement in terrorist activities that led Interpol to issue a “red notice” for him. Jiang’s remarks were criticized by opposition lawmakers, civic groups, Kadeer and Isa. Kadeer said that she would file a lawsuit against the government unless it apologized for the terrorist remark. DPP Legi]]> FRI, 09 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=jiang-defends-decision-to-ban-kadeer&ItemID=GR-1172009827930817311942 China's Urumqi is stable but security remains tight October 8, 10:28 PM Glen Loveland Urumqi, Xinjiang – I just returned from China’s far-west Xinjiang province. In July, a deadly riot broke out in Urumqi, officially killing at least 197 people. Some local residents I spoke with contend that the number is closer to 800. Urumqi is now safe and calm, but the security presence throughout the region is intense. There continues to be no Internet access and it is impossible to send or receive text messages on cell phones. One Chinese businessman I spoke with said that he calls a friend in South China to ask him to check his email for client inquiries. A host of military and police convoys patrol the city at all hours. I was staying at the Urumqi Mansion Hotel and had eight uniformed soldiers stationed outside. Entering the hotel required bag searches. Military convoys roam the streets in open-air trucks that one would expect to see in Iraq. Seemingly around every corner you’ll find a platfo]]> THU, 08 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china039s-urumqi-is-stable-but-security-remains-tight&ItemID=NV-1172009346030817736948 China Must Improve Its human rights Record   Gordon Cinco: China’s policy towards its ethnic nationalities is unsustainable and inhumane. The international community must exert more pressure on China to abide by its own constitution and respect the human rights of its different ethnic groups. Great power always comes with great responsibility. This past week, during China's grand celebrations for its 60th anniversary, deep cracks in the façade of the CCP were revealed. While columns of infantry, tanks and missiles paraded down the streets of Beijing, a deep-seeded paranoia was palpable. Citizens were ordered to stay in their homes and Tibet was locked down to prevent anyone from arriving or leaving. China has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 30 years since Deng Xiaoping and reformed on many fronts, though it remains unwilling to examine its ethnic policies, which have remained largely unchanged since Mao. The Chinese government has experienced increasingly tense re]]> THU, 08 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-must-improve-its-human-rights-record&ItemID=GG-1172009206730817794237 Rebiya Kadeer, the U.S.-based head of the World Uyghur Congress, is a controversial figure in her native land. Kadeer was once held up by Chinese authorities as a model for the promotion of interethnic harmony. A woman, a Muslim, and an ethnic Uyghur, she is a member of a nation that has for centuries inhabited the area now called the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, part of western China. The mother of 11 started a Laundromat in 1976, gradually expanded the business into a department store, then to a huge trade center, and by the mid-1990s was one of the five richest people in China. Kadeer was an active philanthropist, helping other Uyghur women start businesses and championing the cause of equality for Uyghurs and other minorities in China. Her criticism of Beijing's handling of riots in the western Xinjiang city of Yining (also called Kuldja) in 1997 sparked her downfall. She lost her]]> WED, 07 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghur-leader-039entire-turkic-speaking-world-rallied-to-support-us039&ItemID=TX-117200926743081752488 American Association +1 (202) 349 1496 Sixty years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), more than six decades have passed since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of human rights. However, the unrest that has taken place in East Turkestan since July 5, 2009, stands as a grim reminder that Uyghurs in East Turkestan continue to experience human rights abuses in nearly every aspect of their lives. Sixty years of Communist rule have left Uyghurs a voiceless, powerless population in their traditional homeland, despite official guarantees regarding the implementation of autonomy. A new report by the Uyghur human rights Project (UHRP) details the PRC’s violations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in the case of the Uyghur people. On Sep]]> TUE, 06 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghurs-as-indigenous-people&ItemID=LL-1172009499230817629285 China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Recent developments in the educational system once again bring into the spotlight the delicate balance between China's mainstream influence and the cultural and individual identities of Uyghur minorities living in this region. Two school systems The population in Xinjiang is composed of 40% Han Chinese and roughly 60% ethnic minorities, of which in turn 45% are Uyghur. As a result of this multicultural and multilingual environment, the education system in the region has had to accommodate different language needs. The regional autonomy system was established in the 1950s and granted a certain amount of control over local education to the autonomous regions. For half a century, two separate school systems have co-existed in Xinjiang. In Chinese-language schools, education was provided in Chin]]> TUE, 06 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghurs-face-an-education-dilemma&ItemID=VS-1172009817030817858140 Rebiya Kadeer Visit To NZ Highlights Amnesty International's Concerns For The Uighurs Monday, 5 October, 2009 - 13:04 Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ welcomes the Green Party's announcement that Rebiya Kadeer will visit New Zealand next week. Kadeer will visit both Auckland and Wellington where she will meet with Members of Parliament and hold two public meetings. Rebiya Kadeer is a Uighur business woman and a former Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience. She was charged with 'providing secret information to foreigners' by the Chinese Government after sending newspapers to her husband in the USA. Since her release from jail in March 2005, she has lived in exile in the USA. "Kadeer's fundamental right to freedom of expression has been denied to her by the Chinese Government, but that has not stopped her travelling the world to raise awareness about China's repression of the Uighur people," says Patrick Holmes, CEO of Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ. "The Uighur people have b]]> MON, 05 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=rebiya-kadeer-visit-to-nz-highlights-amnesty-international039s-concerns-for-the-uighurs&ItemID=BI-1172009334830817287957 Uighur leader Kadeer invited to New Zealand 10/5/2009 Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer has been invited to speak in New Zealand next week and the government will decide within days whether to issue her a visa, Prime Minister John Key said Monday. Taiwanese officials last month banned Kadeer, whom Beijing accuses of leading a separatist terrorist movement, from visiting the island and China objected to her visit to Australia in August. Key told journalists he was not aware of any request from the Chinese government to stop New Zealand issuing a visa to Kadeer. New Zealand's Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke said he would host Kadeer from October 12 to 15, when she will speak at two public meetings and meet legislators. Locke said there was no reason Kadeer should not be given a visa. "Her life is an open book. She advocates non-violent change and disassociates herself from violent change," he said. "I think there would be quite an outcry from New Zealanders if ]]> MON, 05 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=exiled-uighur-leader-kadeer-invited-to-new-zealand&ItemID=YQ-1172009938530817369832 China's party killed millions David Burchell October 05, 2009 YOU can learn a lot about a country's political culture by the way it celebrates. In the present mood of mingled discretion and convenience that governs our interactions with China, the Western media chose to avert its eyes from the lifeless spectacle of China's official 60th birthday celebrations. But if you have a taste for such things, you can view the entire proceedings - from the first rocket-launcher to the very last - in seemingly endless instalments provided by China's semi-official netizens on YouTube. It's all there: the familiar balletic processions of white-gloved, goose-stepping soldiery; the unearthly martial music trapped in a perpetual loop; the studiously vacant expressions of the party functionaries and, to indicate the presence of The People, a few dozen cheerfully waving patriotic citizens, hemmed in beside the otherwise empty, echoing expanses of Tiananmen Square. The whole frigid, airle]]> MON, 05 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=lest-we-forget-china039s-party-killed-millions&ItemID=BV-1172009713530817770252 China's 'terrorist' to visit Oct 05, 2009 By Lincoln Tan Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who China says is a terrorist, will be in New Zealand next week after an invitation from the Green Party. Ms Kadeer will be holding two public meetings in Auckland and Wellington during her four-day visit, which is likely to infuriate the Chinese Government, which also strongly protested against her visit to Melbourne in August. "Rebiya Kadeer's visit will allow New Zealanders to learn about the plight of the Uighur people, which was brought to light because of recent events," said Green MP Keith Locke, who will be her host in New Zealand. Ms Kadeer has applied for a visa from Washington for her New Zealand tour, but although she has not yet received a reply from immigration, Mr Locke says he did not see any problems with her being granted one. The Chinese government says Ms Kadeer is a criminal who masterminded ethnic violence in her home region of Xinjiang in northwest China in]]> MON, 05 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=greens-invite-china039s-039terrorist039-to-visit&ItemID=LD-117200931430817999107 Xinjiang it is a crime to even talk of separatism 10/03/2009 A law is approved that punishes those who discuss it on the internet. Three months after the protests, Urumqi remains occupied by police and subjected to tight controls. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The government of Xinjiang last week approved a law that punishes as a crime mere talk of separatism on the internet. According to the government, the "Information Promotion Bill" aims to prevent the Internet from being used to foment ethnic separatism or disrupt social stability. Now internet cafes are under police surveillance, with officers ready to arrest those who dare to even discusses the ethnic protests that erupted in Urumqi on July 5, in which there were 197 deaths. During the fighting and in the following weeks, the authorities blocked all communication with the area via internet or phone and even blocked access to global sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Local sources report that many mobile phones us]]> SAT, 03 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=in-xinjiang-it-is-a-crime-to-even-talk-of-separatism&ItemID=XD-1172009720630817742660 World Uyghur Congress Set to Stage Protest in Amsterdam 30 September 2009 The World Uyghur Congress is organising a protest for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on Thursday, 1 October 2009. On 1 October 2009, the People’s Republic of China will celebrate its 60th anniversary and stage an elaborate military parade through the streets of Beijing. As it happens, 2009 is a year of many anniversaries, especially for those who have been victims of the Chinese government’s autocratic policies towards ethnic minorities. It has been 50 years since the uprising in Tibet which forced the Dalai Lama into exile, 20 years since the Tiananman Square massacre and the 10th anniversary of China’s banning of the peaceful religious sect, the Falun Gong. While China will take this opportunity to congratulate itself for its achievements over the past 60 years, its brutal domination of its minorities must also be brought to the forefront. For decades, the People’s Republic has carried ]]> THU, 01 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=world-uyghur-congress-set-to-stage-protest-in-amsterdam&ItemID=UO-1172009896430817530574 East Turkestan: A Land and its People in Mourning   For immediate release October 1, 2009, Contact: World Uyghur Congress +49 89 54321999   On October 1st, 1949 Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China and incorporated East Turkestan into its territory. Since the land had been conquered by the non-Chinese Manchu emperors of China in the later part of the 19th century and renamed 'Xinjiang' or 'New Dominion', the people of East Turkestan had tried more than three times to throw off the yoke of the foreign invaders. Replacing the rule of the Manchu emperor with Nationalist Chinese or Communist Chinese did little to help the people of East Turkestan. On this 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the World Uyghur Congress does not celebrate the yoke of oppression or the 'dictatorship of the people.' This date conjures feelings of anguish and misery for the people whom have endured the takeover and transformation of their homeland into another C]]> THU, 01 OCT 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=east-turkestan-a-land-and-its-people-in-mourning&ItemID=WS-1172009671430817930995 China (seen by Uyghurs, Tibetans, Falun Gong, human rights Defenders) Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 13.00-15.00 European Parliament (Brussels)    Dolkun Isa Secretary General of WUC     Lades and Gentleman,   It is my honor to be here and to speak about Uyghurs issue today.   As most of you know, the Uyghurs are the indigenous people of East Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. East Turkistan has been under military controlled by Communist China since 1949. The territorial size is 1,818,000 square kilometers, The territorial size is 1,818,000 square kilometers, According to the 2005 census of China, Uyghur population of 9.5 million. However, the Uyghur sources put the population of Uyghurs around 20 million. October 1, 2009 will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).   China is preparing for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People]]> WED, 30 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=speech-of-the-wuc-general-secretary-at-the-european-parliament&ItemID=QB-1172009846530817728530 Uighurs, Chinese Muslims who face oppression, intimidation and often worse treatment in their homeland because of their religion. In 2001, Bahtiyar traveled to Afghanistan, where he bunked down with other Uighurs and received rudimentary arms training. At the behest of his mother, Arkin went to Afghanistan in search of his younger brother. Both men were captured after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and have been held in Guantanamo since 2002. Th]]> TUE, 29 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=the-meaning-of-freedom&ItemID=VQ-1172009364330817158347 TUE, 29 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=2-brothers039-grim-tale-of-loyalty-and-limbo&ItemID=MM-1172009224730817220446 Uighurs still held at the US Guantanamo Bay detention centre, says others in the group may still accept temporary resettlement in Palau. Over the weekend Palaun President Johnson Toribiong told the United Nations General Assembly that his country was preparing for the arrival of six of the Uighurs. Negotiations are continuing with the other members of the group, who have so far refused Palau's offer, concerned about its proximity to mainland China. The United States has rejected Chinese requests for the Uighurs to be returned home, because the detainees say they will face prosecution and possibly death. Washington-based lawyer George Clarke has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program his clients have been held at the facility since 2001 but were moved to a minimum security section since being cleared of terrorism related charges last year. He says they're]]> TUE, 29 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-detainees-039positive-and-ready039-for-palau-resettlement&ItemID=OR-1172009999630817620867 East Turkestan For immediate release September 28, 2009, 11:30 am EST Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496   October 1, 2009 will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and officials from Beijing to East Turkestan are pulling out all the stops to ensure that no discord mars the scripted celebrations that will take place. The year 2009 in East Turkestan marks one of the most turbulent periods in the region in modern history, with unrest, state brutality and ethnic violence exposing deep social rifts and grossly flawed government policies. More than 130,000 troops have been specially deployed to East Turkestan from other regions of China in a bid to restore order and crack down on the Uyghur population, following an untold number of deaths and injuries that began on July 5, 2009. Against this backdrop, the Chinese government has issued a “White Paper on Development ]]> MON, 28 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=separate-and-unequal-the-status-of-development-in-east-turkestan&ItemID=ZY-1172009317530817849722 Rebiya Kadeer, during the festival beginning on Oct. 16. The documentary has raised political issues, as well as allegedly spurring a wave of cancellations from Chinese tourists. Kadeer is the president of the World Uyghur Congress, which advocates the rights of the Uighur ethnic minority in China. She has been living in Washington since 2005 after China released her from prison and travels the world to campaign for the Uighur cause. China portrays her as a separatist and accused her of plotting the July 5 riots in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, a charge she denies. Concerns about the effect the screening would have on the city’s tourism sector caused the Kaohsiung City Government to hold four screeni]]> MON, 28 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=documentary-on-kadeer-will-screen-at-film-festival&ItemID=LX-11720096830817593275 World Uyghur Congress President Rebiya Kadeer regarding remarks of Taiwan Interior Minister Chiang Yi-hua   For immediate release September 25, 2009, 5:35 pm EST Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496   On September 25, the government of Taiwan announced that it would ban a proposed visit by Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer to the island. Ms. Kadeer had accepted an invitation from two private groups in Taiwan, but had not yet submitted a visa application. On the floor of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s Interior Minister, Chiang Yi-hua, stated that the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), led by Ms. Kadeer, has close links with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and her visit should be banned because it would endanger Taiwan’s national interest, public security and social order. In response to a lawmaker’s question, Chiang stated: “We don’t wish to see the shadow of terrorism fall on Taiwan.” Taiwanese premier Wu Den-yih indicated on the]]> FRI, 25 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=statement-from-world-uyghur-congress-president-rebiya-kadeer-regarding-remarks-of-taiwan-interior-minister-chiang-yi-hua&ItemID=CW-1172009439130817361414 Uighur activist trip 25 September 2009 Taiwan will not allow exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer to visit the island as she had planned, a government official has said. Ms Kadeer, a Chinese Muslim from Xinjiang, had been invited by an entertainer close to the opposition. China has accused Ms Kadeer of orchestrating recent violence in Xinjiang - a charge she denies. In July about 200 people were killed in riots between Uighurs and Han Chinese in which mostly Han were killed. Taiwan is self-ruled after breaking away from China at the end of the civil war in 1949. Beijing considers the island part of its territory. "We have decided not to allow Kadeer entry considering that her visit could affect national interest and social order," Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah was quoted as saying to members of parliament. Despite opposition from China, a documentary about Ms Kadeer was screened this week in Taiwan's second city, Kaohsiung. Local tourism officials had spoken out against]]> FRI, 25 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=taiwan-stops-uighur-activist-trip&ItemID=EB-1172009214130817761834 Uighurs to Palau Sept 24, 2009 WASHINGTON — The US administration told Congress it plans to transfer eight Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo to Palau, official documents showed, as President Barack Obama inches toward closure of the controversial prison. The US State Department notified Congress on September 16 that "the US government intends to transfer eight of the petitioners to Palau, with the transfer to occur no earlier than October 1," Solicitor General Elena Kagan wrote to the Supreme Court, noting that six had already accepted. "The US government has every reason to believe that at least six of the petitioners shortly will be resettled in Palau, although it is impossible to be certain until they actually board the plane," she added in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. Discussions with the two petitioners who have not yet accepted the deal were "ongoing," Kagan said, adding that the State Department "hopes that all eight of the]]> FRI, 25 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=us-plans-to-send-eight-guantanamo-uighurs-to-palau&ItemID=IY-1172009360530817676953 China charges 21 with murder in July riots 9/25/2009, 6:59 a.m. EDT SCOTT McDONALD The Associated Press (AP) — BEIJING - Chinese prosecutors brought murder and arson charges Friday against 21 people arrested in connection with riots in July that left nearly 200 dead in Urumqi. The riots in the capital of the western region of Xinjiang saw Muslim Uighurs attack members of the country's dominant Han ethnic group, followed two days later by Han attacks on Uighurs. It was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Police have said hundreds were detained following the riots, which the government says also injured more than 1,700. The city's prosecutors brought charges of murder and arson against 21 suspects in six cases Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Most of those named were from the Uighur minority, although there were also Han Chinese names in the report. A woman from the political department of the Urumqi Intermediate Court confirmed that charges had been issued b]]> FRI, 25 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-charges-21-with-murder-in-july-riots&ItemID=ER-117200913853081729271 American Association +1 (202) 349 1496   Uyghur The Uyghur American Association (UAA) believes that the indictment of only eleven Han Chinese suspects involved in an attack on Uyghur workers at a toy factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong indicates a favorable approach in civil unrest cases toward ethnic Han Chinese by Chinese criminal and judicial authorities. A report released by Xinhua, the Chinese government’s official news agency, on September 23, 2009 stated that the eleven suspects had been indicted “for intentional injury and group affray”. UAA believes that the number of suspects indicted and the nature of the charges do not correspond to the severity of the incident at Shaoguan. UAA also believes that charges of murder or attempted murder should be brought against suspects known to have been involved in the beating of Uyghurs at Shaoguan. In a statement, Uy]]> FRI, 25 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uaa-expresses-concern-over-shaoguan-indictments&ItemID=RJ-1172009199130817287522 Uighur activist plans to visit Taiwan in December (update- 1) Etaiwan News Adds comments by Kadeer and Lim Washington D.C., Sept. 23 (CNA) The exiled Uighur political activist Rebiya Kadeer said Wednesday that she has accepted an invitation to visit Taiwan. Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, told reporters that she thinks December will be a more convenient time for her to visit, rather than November, as suggested by her hosts. Kadeer said she has been dreaming about stepping foot on Taiwan's soil and hopes the government of Taiwan will approve her planned visit, which she stressed is non-political. According to Kadeer, while Chinese authorities have painted the Uighurs as terrorists, extremists and radicals, she will disprove such false accusations by presenting a true picture of the Uighurs to the Taiwanese people. Kadeer, who is living in exile in the United States, obtained the invitation during a meeting in Washington D.C. with Freddy Lim, the lead vocalist of ]]> THU, 24 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=exiled-uighur-activist-plans-to-visit-taiwan-in-december&ItemID=TO-1172009974030817687943 Rebiya Kadeer plans to visit Taiwan   World Bulletin Exiled Uighur woman Rebiya Kadeer plans to visit Taiwan in December following an invitation by groups advocating independence for the island, reports said on Thursday. "I hope to visit Taiwan and meet with Taiwanese people. This is very simple and has nothing to do with politics," Kadeer said in footage aired by Taiwanese cable news channel TVBS. "I have not applied for a visa yet but I hope the Taiwanese authorities will issue me a visa," she said Backers of Rebiya Kadeer's proposed visit to Taiwan said they saw no reason for her to be denied a visa to the island, Reuters said. Kadeer, whose buildings where her family lived in Urumqi demolished by China, hopes to visit Taiwan in December, but the island's China-friendly government has yet to examine her visa request. Uighur demonstrators took the streets in Urumqi on July 5 to protest against Han Chineses' attacks on Uighurs workers at a factory in south China in ]]> THU, 24 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=exile-uighur-rebiya-kadeer-plans-to-visit-taiwan&ItemID=HD-1172009663630817426685 World Uyghur Congress. Mr. Isa was invited by WFDA to attend its Third Biennial Meeting, which was held in Seoul on 16-18 September 2009. Mr. Isa, a German citizen, participated in the WFDA Second Biennial Meeting which was held in the Philippines in 2007, with no difficulty. Therefore, he was invited again this time to present a paper on the human rights situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), which is a topic of great concern to all democrats in the region, especially after the tragic outbreak of interethnic violence earlier this year. We do not believe there is any merit to the accusations by the government of China that he is a terrorist. Moreover, the WUC of which he is the executive head is an organization that operates o]]> TUE, 22 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=wfda-deeply-regrets-decision-of-korea-to-deny-entry-of-uyghur-delegate&ItemID=TC-1172009352930817170239 China warns Taiwan over Uighur film  Al Jazeera China has warned authorities in Taiwan's second-largest city not to "stir up trouble for cross-strait relations" by screening a documentary about an exiled Uighur activist accused by Beijing of inciting ethnic violence. Beijing said on Sunday that it "resolutely opposes" the screening of the film The 10 Conditions of Love, about Rebiya Kadeer, the US-based World Uyghur Congress leader, at a film festival in Kaohsiung, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The municipal government of Kaohsiung, which angered China last month by inviting the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile, to the island, said in a statement: "To draw the curtains over this controversy as soon as possible, the film will be screened ahead of schedule." Citing a statement by the spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Xinhua said officials in Kaohsiung should not "obstinately insist" on showing the film, which "distorts the facts and glorifies a separati]]> MON, 21 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-warns-taiwan-over-uighur-film&ItemID=NE-1172009585030817742225 China’s remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are in a tense standoff with authorities over their demand for an inquiry into how he died, villagers and the local police chief said. One villager, contacted by telephone, said eight trucks of soldiers and two other armed vehicles had surrounded the man’s family home in Lengger [in Chinese, Langan] village in Qorghas [in Chinese, Huocheng]county, Ili prefecture. Surrounding streets were blockaded, and another witness said police told him to remain inside when he tried to walk several blocks to Tursun’s family home. “The police are asking us to bury the body early in the morning, otherwise they said they will bury him themselves,” Haji Memet, a relative of Shohret Tursun, 31, said. “We want to find out how he was killed.” “We are asking the authorities to investigate—we want photos taken of his bruised body, we want justice, we want whoever kil]]> MON, 21 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=standoff-over-death-in-custody&ItemID=GS-1172009816730817319023 American Association expresses concern over arrest of six terror suspects in Aksu  UAA For immediate release September 17, 2009, 1:45 pm EST Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496   The Uyghur American Association (UAA) urges the international community to view with extreme skepticism terror allegations made against six suspects in Aksu, East Turkestan. On September 16, 2009, Xinhua News Agency issued a report[1] detailing the arrest of six suspects in Aksu, alleged to be part of a “terror gang” plotting to carry out terror attacks. Xinhua stated that the “ringleaders” of the gang, now in custody, are Seyitamut Obul and Tasin Mehmut, indicating that the suspects are Uyghurs. The report added that police had seized “materials and tools to make explosives” and that the suspects “had made more than 20 explosive devices in three places in the suburbs of Aksu after the July 5 riot”. Details on the arrests offered by the local police and the official Chinese]]> SAT, 19 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=the-uyghur-american-association-uaa-urges-the-international-community-to-view-with-extreme-skepticism-terror-allegations-made-against-six-suspects-in-&ItemID=JP-1172009963130817234142 China failing to protect Tibetan, Uighur rights   TibetanReview.net (TibetanReview.net, Sep17, 2009) The UN High Commissioner for human rights, Ms Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, has cited “discrimination and the failure to protect minority rights” among the factors that had led to the recent violent events in Chinese ruled Eastern Turkestan and Tibet. Pillay made the comment in an “update report” to the 12th session of the UN human rights Council (HRC), Geneva, on Sep 15 morning. She called lack of democracy a major factor contributing to rights violations.  “I followed with concern the recent disturbances in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region and those previously in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and surrounding areas. While condemning such violence and urging the Chinese authorities to respect human rights in upholding the law, I also encourage them to reflect on the underlying causes of such incidents, which include discrimination and the failure to protect min]]> SAT, 19 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=un-rights-chief-says-china-failing-to-protect-tibetan-uighur-rights&ItemID=VO-1172009652430817977694 American Association +1 (202) 349 1496    The Uyghur American Association (UAA) welcomes the safe return of Uyghur human rights activist Dolkun Isa to Germany following South Korea’s refusal to let Isa, a German citizen, enter the country on September 15. Isa had traveled to Seoul in order to attend a private conference organized by the World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA). Isa is the secretary general of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), based in Germany, an organization dedicated to the peaceful promotion of democracy and human rights for Uyghurs. Isa fled persecution in China in 1997 and was given asylum in Germany the same year. He became a German citizen in 2006. He has traveled abroad frequently since the late 1990s to speak about human rights conditions in East ]]> SAT, 19 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=south-korean-detention-of-uyghur-activist-dolkun-isa-raises-concern-over-chinese-influence-on-peaceful-uyghur-activities&ItemID=SX-117200925623081759569 World Uighur Congress Amnesty International Amnesty International on Friday welcomed the release of the Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, following his detention at Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea but said the authorities should not have denied him entry to the country. Dolkun Isa had been held at the airport for two days after being denied entry to South Korea.     "We welcome the news that Dolkun Isa was released and that he has safely returned home to Germany," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty International Asia Pacific deputy director. "We are, however, disappointed that the South Korean authorities did not permit Mr Isa to enter South Korea to attend the World Forum for Democratization in Asia in Seoul as he had planned." Mr Isa has travelled widely around the globe to participate in activities promoting human rights for Uighurs in China.   The Chinese authorities have accused the W]]> FRI, 18 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=south-korea-releases-secretary-general-of-the-world-uighur-congress&ItemID=OR-1172009859730817146254 World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has finally been released from his detention under the supervision of South Korean security forces in Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea.  Mr Isa was escorted on to the next available outbound flight via Dubai, securing him a transfer and safe return to Munich, Germany where he has been a citizen since 2006. Mr. Isa’s purpose in South Korea had been to attend a conference held by the World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA). Due to his detention Mr. Isa was unable to attend and no explanation has been released concerning his detention.  The Unrepresented Nations a]]> FRI, 18 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=wuc-secretary-general-released&ItemID=YZ-1172009177630817375109 World Uyghur Congress, Tel: +49 89 54321999, Fax: 089 54349789, Email: contact@uyghurcongress.org 17 September 2009   Munich – The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) urges the government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to immediately release prominent Uyghur human rights activist and WUC general secretary Mr. Dolkun Isa from ist custody and ensure his safe return to Germany. Mr. Isa flew to Seoul on Tuesday to attend the conference on the World Forum for Democratization in Asia. He was barred entry into South Korea and detained by the immigration authorities at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport. He was believed to be detained upon Beijing’s pressure on Seoul. “I ask the South Korean authorities to release Mr. Isa and allow his safe return to Germany as soon as possible,” said Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur democracy leader and WUC president. Mr. Isa is a citizen o]]> THU, 17 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=wuc-urges-the-south-korean-government-to-immediately-release-mr-dolkun-isa&ItemID=LY-1172009866830817118662 China's Uyghurs: forbidden to fast Beliefnet As I alluded in my earlier primer on the oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, China, the Chinese authorities are engaged in what amounts to a cultural genocide against the Uyghur people. One of the ways this is done is by denying the Uyghurs the ability to practice their faith freely - such as forbidding Uyghurs from fasting during Ramadan: Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Province have issued a notice that any Uyghur cadres or workers found not eating lunch during Ramadan could lose their jobs. It is part of the campaign of local authorities in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, to force the Uyghur people to give up their religious rituals during the fasting month of Ramadan. (...) "Free lunches, tea, and coffee-that authorities are calling 'Care from the government' or 'Living allowance'-are being offered in government departments and companies. But it is actually a ploy used to find out who is fasting," said Dilx]]> WED, 16 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china039s-uyghurs-forbidden-to-fast&ItemID=IK-117200942630817906575 Uighur activist urges world to pressure China PRAGUE — An exiled Uighur activist accused China on Friday of destroying the cultures of the country's minorities and urged democratic nations to force China to change its policies on minorities. Despite protests from China, activist Rebiya Kadeer spoke before the "Peace, Democracy and human rights in Asia" conference organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation established by former Czech President Vaclav Havel. The Chinese Embassy in Prague protested her appearance — and that of the Dalai Lama — at the conference because it said Kadeer's aim was "to promote her separatist views." Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer privately met with the Dalai Lama Friday, Fischer spokesman Roman Prorok said. He gave no details of the 20-minute meeting, which could anger China. Former Premier Mirek Topolanek met the Tibetan spiritual leader during his previous visit a year ago. China accuses Kadeer, the U.S.-based leader of the World Uyghur Congress, of inciting ]]> SAT, 12 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-activist-urges-world-to-pressure-china&ItemID=KP-1172009817530817306997 Holiness the Dalai Lama backs non-violent struggle of Uighur leader Dharamshala: His Holiness the Dalai Lama voiced support for Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer in Prague on Thursday ahead of joining her at an Asian human rights conference whose line-up has drawn loud protests from China, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Thursday. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kadeer were to be guests at the conference in Prague later Thursday organized by the Forum 2000 foundation co-established by former Czech dissident-turned-president, Vaclav Havel. "I'm very much impressed. Unlike some other local people... she (acted) totally, strictly non-violently," AFPquoted His Holiness the Dalai Lama as saying. "And second, unlike some other local people who want independence, she fully agreed with my stand - she also prefers a meaningful autonomy, not separation," His Holiness the Dalai Lama added. In response to angry reaction from the Chinese embassy, the Czech Foreign Ministry said in a statement Ka]]> FRI, 11 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-backs-non-violent-struggle-of-uighur-leader&ItemID=OM-1172009963930817222116 Uighurs agree to go to Palau AP KOROR, Palau — Three Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay have formally accepted an offer to take up new lives in the Pacific island nation of Palau and could be moved there as early as next month, lawyers say. They are the first among a group of 13 ethnic Uighurs being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba who have been offered resettlement in Palau in an arrangement that would clear a major hurdle to President Barack Obama's plans to close the contentious facility. Negotiations are still under way with the 10 other Uighurs at Guantanamo. After months of talks with U.S. officials, lawyer George Clarke said his two Uighur clients had recently formally accepted the offer to go to Palau. "They're excited," Clarke told The Associated Press by telephone Tuesday from Washington. "They want to get the heck out of Guantanamo Bay. They look forward to getting to Palau and getting on with their lives." Eric Tirschwell, the lawyer for fo]]> THU, 10 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=first-guantanamo-uighurs-agree-to-go-to-palau&ItemID=ES-117200924930817475556 China are not generally associated. We are accustomed to thinking of China as an authoritarian state in which the will of the people is crushed or, at best, silenced by lightning economic growth and improving living standards. To be sure, the country has its fair share of tyranny and censorship, as well as rice and shopping malls (the modern Chinese equivalent of bread and circuses.) But there is more going on besides. Take recent events in Xinjiang province. There, tens of thousands of Han Chinese protesters have poured on to the streets of Urumqi demanding the head of Wang Lequan, regional Communist party chief. Anger has been prompted by a bout of syringe stabbing attacks blamed on the Uighur minority, as well as by the authorities’ perceived timid response to July ethnic riots in which 197 people, mainly Han, were killed. The government responded by offering up the scalp of Urumqi city’s party secretar]]> THU, 10 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=beijing-strains-to-hear-the-voice-of-the-people&ItemID=XU-117200925703081747544 China needs new understanding for ethnic minorities Zaman Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the Turkish secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), has said the OIC expects China to develop a new understanding of the cultural rights of Muslims and said the incidents in Urumqi shocked the Muslim world because of the good relations that had historically existed between China and the Islamic world. Violent clashes between local ethnic-Turkic Muslim Uighurs and the dominant Han Chinese community which started on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, left 197 dead and several hundred wounded according to official Chinese numbers. Turkey and the OIC have condemned the incidents. Underlining the historically good relations between China and Muslim countries, İhsanoğlu noted in an interview with the Cihan news agency in Jeddah, where the OIC headquarters are based, that the incidents in Urumqi resulted in shock among Muslims,]]> THU, 10 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=oic-china-needs-new-understanding-for-ethnic-minorities&ItemID=TP-1172009860430817134228 China’s Internet have called for balance in reporting on recent ethnic violence in the northwestern city of Urumqi. “I think there are some things which should be made open, and I don’t think that the news should all be one-sided,” UyghurBiz.com Web site manager and ethnic Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti said. “It needs to be a bit more even-handed,” said Tohti, who was himself detained briefly after writing about the reasons behind deadly ethnic strife that erupted in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in July. Mass protests were sparked in the regional capital last week after reports that hundreds of people had been stabbed with syringes in the city, with a demonstration Thursday leaving at least four dead. Beijing blames Muslim separatist groups among ethnic Uyghurs for the syringe attacks, which came after deadly ethnic violence killed nearly 200 people in early July. In a bid to publicize nongovernment a]]> WED, 09 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=bloggers-report-beatings-death&ItemID=TF-1172009635130817539459 Xinjiang Riots, Say Critics Sep 9, 2009 Chinese scholars and freelance writers are coming forward to criticize the Chinese regime for blaming the July riot in Xinjiang Province on outside influences. These critics say that Chinese government propaganda on the issue led to the mass demonstration of Han people in Urumqi. Many protesters asked Wang Lequan, the Communist Party secretary of the region, to step down. The Beijing Cultural Palace of Nationalities is currently featuring a photo exhibition documenting the government crackdown of the July 5 Urumqi riot. The exhibition also includes a video applauding the government for keeping Urumqi under control, and blames hostile forces abroad for sparking the unrest. Most visitors to the exhibition are organized groups. Peng Dingding, an economist in Beijing, believes that the exhibition will only serve to create more misunderstanding about the event. “The public should be asking what the government]]> WED, 09 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=039hostile-foreign-forces039-not-to-blame-for-xinjiang-riots-say-critics&ItemID=GF-1172009324430817283012 Rebiya Kadeer's Trade Centre to be demolished September 9, 2009 Jane Macartney, China Correspondent A landmark in the restive city of Urumqi is to be demolished on the orders of the Chinese Communist Party because it bears the name of an alleged Uighur secessionist. The Rebiya Trade Centre was built by Rebiya Kadeer, the Muslim Uighur businesswoman blamed by Beijing for fomenting a riot in July, when members of the ethnic Uighur minority turned on Han Chinese in violence that left nearly 200 people dead. Now the shabby, six-storey building is to be torn down, along with two other large commercial centres that once formed part of the business empire that Ms Kadeer built up in the 1990s. She was then the richest woman in China and seen by officials as a model success story both for economic reforms and ethnic integration. Officials say the three buildings have been deemed unsafe. On the streets of Urumqi, ethnic Uighurs say they believe the decision is based on an o]]> WED, 09 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-businesswoman-rebiya-kadeer039s-trade-centre-to-be-demolished&ItemID=AH-1172009556530817854999 China, and so the voices carried. Construction sites halted work on Friday and Saturday and road blocks kept cars out of the city so that demonstrators wouldn’t flood in, after thousands gathered in People’s Square on Sept 2 to demand the resignation of the region’s most powe]]> WED, 09 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=misinformation-age-in-urumqi&ItemID=GS-1172009703130817765307 China Editor HONG KONG - In need of a scapegoat over massive protests by the Han Chinese community in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, against a string of bizarre syringe attacks supposedly orchestrated by Uyghur separatists, the government at the weekend sacked Li Zhi, Urumqi's Communist Party chief. Li, a vice-ministerial-level official, became the first Chinese official to fall victim to new government regulations that hold local officials accountable for "mass incidents" - the official term for mass demonstrations - which came into effect in mid-July. Li, 59, may have taken a fall to quell growing public anger, particularly among Han residents, over worsening public security in the region. But the main target of criticism from the Han Chinese protesters is Wang Lequan, the party secretary of Xinjiang since 1995. Analysts agree that Li's removal will secure the position of Wang,]]> WED, 09 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=beijing-scrambles-to-find-scapegoats&ItemID=JP-1172009849530817680426 Xinjiang on Pins and Needles  SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 When mosquito bites are routinely confused for race-based syringe attacks, you know you have a problem. Welcome to China's western province of Xinjiang, where security has gone from bad to worse thanks in part to ham-fisted government policies. Racial tensions between the Han Chinese, China's majority ethnic group, and the Uighurs, a Muslim and Turkic ethnic group, have probably never been worse. On July 5 a Uighur demonstration turned into a violent riot that left 197people dead, most of whom were Han Chinese. Last Thursday tens of thousands of Han protesters took to the streets asking for better state protection and the resignation of Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan. State media reported five dead after those demonstrations, with no official explanation given. For much of the last six decades Beijing has steadily built up the Han presence in Xinjiang and solidified its control there. This process was sped up by the "Strike Ha]]> TUE, 08 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=xinjiang-on-pins-and-needles&ItemID=VP-1172009538830817423980 Tibetans and Uighurs to rise up in bloody violence in western China. It's quite another for thousands of ethnic Han Chinese to denounce by name a Politburo strongman, Wang Lequan. China is changing at an almost unimaginable pace and in ways that are unpredictable. Tibet, Xinjiang and a series of other violent but localised incidents across the country show how institutional structures have not evolved to take the strain. The Communist Party remains capable of fending off all competitors to its one-party rule so long as its leadership remains publicly united. The risk to China's political and therefore economic stability is that these social challenges are taking place at a time of political transition, when leadership contestants may be tempted to exploit social fissures for their own political gain. There are some well-connected political observers in Beijing who believe tha]]> MON, 07 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=leadership-struggles-may-put-potholes-in-the-smooth-road-of-reform&ItemID=ZL-1172009912330817446528 China unrest: Appeal for help 2009-09-07 Beijing - Three more people were killed and more than 20 injured after Han Chinese residents attacked Uighurs in China's far western city of Urumqi, a Uighur exile group reported on Monday as it appealed for UN observers to investigate the ethnic conflict there. The latest attack by about 100 "Chinese migrants" came late on Sunday in a Uighur area near Urumqi's Xingfu Road and Jiefang South Road, the Munich-based World Uighur Congress said in a statement. The group said two Uighur men and a 40-year-old woman died in the attack, but the report could not immediately be confirmed. State media reported no new attacks on Sunday in Urumqi, where migration has made Han Chinese the dominant ethnic group in the capital of China's vast Xinjiang region. "We are extremely worried about the current situation in Urumqi," Dilxat Raxit, the spokesperson for the World Uighur Congress, said in the statement. "Now it is very difficult for Uighurs and Han to conti]]> MON, 07 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-unrest-appeal-for-help&ItemID=UF-1172009515930817533213 human rights Echo As Rebiya Kadeer Concludes Brussels Visit   Friday, 4 September 2009 Brussels, Belgium   The visit of Ms. Rebiya Kadeer to Brussels has concluded amid strong public statements of support from Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and following productive conversations with the European Commission and leading human rights NGOs. Successive meetings have reaffirmed the support from MEPs for concrete action in response to the Uyghurs’ deteriorating human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China.   Ms. Kadeer, President of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and a leading human rights advocate for the Uyghur people led a WUC delegation to Brussels following an invitation from the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on human rights.  The invitation came after unrest swept East Turkestan in July 2009 as news emerged that Chinese authorities failed to protect Uyghur workers when attack]]> SUN, 06 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=messages-of-support-and-calls-for-action-in-support-of-uyghur-human-rights-echo-as-rebiya-kadeer-concludes-brussels-visit&ItemID=YC-1172009662230817448332 Uighur China's Xinjiang province was rocked by riots over the weekend which resulted in the deaths of more than 140 people - the country's worst violence since the Tiananmen Square incident 20 years ago. The tragedy comes as no surprise to anybody familiar with Chinese society. The only surprise should be that it does not happen more often.   Enormous, landlocked Xinjiang has only been part of China for 115 years, and it is one of the most volatile regions in Asia. As far as most Chinese are concerned, the northwest region is at the end of the civilised world - the place where the dilapidated tail of the Great Wall disappears into the sand. It is also a place of barbarism, un-Chinese values and danger. Wen Ding is a Chinese national living in the UK who spent years of her childhood travelling back and forth to Xinjiang with her father, a Beijing newspaper editor. "It was so scary walking in the street," she says of Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. "Me and my dad bot]]> SUN, 06 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=my-day-as-an-uighur&ItemID=OI-1172009723230817701772 China warning to syringe stabbers Sunday, 6 September 2009 16:30 UK China has warned anyone found guilty of syringe attacks that led to protests in the western city of Urumqi could face the death penalty, state media reports. Harsh punishment would be meted out to those who carried out stabbings with hypodermic needles, the Xinhua news agency said. Twenty-five people have reportedly been held over the attacks in the capital of north-western Xinjiang region. Chinese officials have blamed Uighur Muslim separatists for the incidents. At least five people have died this week in ethnic unrest triggered by the stabbings, with thousands of angry Han Chinese staging daily mass protests. Heavy security presence The Xinhua report, citing a notice from the municipal court, said penalties for those who stabbed others with syringes containing poisonous or harmful substances would range from three years in jail to the death sentence. Correspondents said Urumqi was calmer on Sunday, although the sec]]> SUN, 06 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-warning-to-syringe-stabbers&ItemID=IL-1172009955330817273760 Xinjiang flashpoint 06-09-2009 URUMQI, China — Broken glass crunched under the Uighur man's feet as he sneaked up a dim stairwell, careful not to be seen in a building that could become the next flashpoint in China's restive Xinjiang region. The building, part of the Rebiya Trade Centre complex of now-exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, has loomed for years in this regional capital as a reminder of the support she commands among her restive Muslim ethnic minority. But following repeated recent ethnic unrest here, China has targeted the buildings for demolition in an apparent bid to banish Kadeer's shadow, say local Uighurs, who warn that such a move could spark a new round of violence. "The Communist Party is rotten to the core," said the man, whose name was withheld to avoid possible police reprisals. Along with many other Uighurs, he had lived in this decrepit and now-deserted building until an eviction notice last month. He had returned to salvage some]]> SUN, 06 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=kadeer-buildings-loom-as-next-xinjiang-flashpoint&ItemID=KP-1172009730330817674180 China from embarrassment on Xinjiang violence’ Saturday, September 05, 2009 By Sajjad Malik * Both countries have not fully utilised political ties for economic gains * New Chinese embassy issue different from US embassy’s expansion ISLAMABAD: Pakistan played a key role in dissuading certain Muslim countries from taking the issue of violence in China’s Xinjiang region to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and saved Beijing from embarrassment, Chinese Ambassador Lou Zhaohui said on Friday. “Yes, Pakistan played its role in doing so,” the ambassador said in response to a question, adding that certain western countries were fanning the Muslim Uighurs’ issue to incite violence. Addressing reporters at the Chinese embassy highlight the importance of President Asif Ali Zardari’s frequent visits to China, he said they had been instrumental in transforming the relations from political to economic. Zhaohui said Pakistan had been helpful in dealing with the East Turkestan]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=pakistan-saved-china-from-embarrassment-on-xinjiang-violence&ItemID=LG-117200950503081779412 China, where the north and south Silk Roads met and a frenzy of trade resulted. These days, travellers along the route come by bus or plane rather than by cam]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=hanging-by-a-thread&ItemID=WG-1172009194230817822964 Uighur leader A Taiwan film festival is set to screen a documentary on the exiled leader of the Uighur minority next month, organisers said on Saturday, in a move seen as bound to anger China. The Kaohsiung Film Festival in the island's second largest city is scheduled to show "Ten Conditions of Love" on the World Uighur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer, said organiser Liu Hsiu-ying. "We selected Kadeer's film because it fits one of this year's themes - 'people power.' Our goal is to promote arts and culture, we hope people will not see it from a political angle," Liu told AFP. More than 70 films from around the world are scheduled to be screened at the festival between October 16-29, she said, adding it was a coincidence that none of them was from China. Beijing has labelled the US-based Muslim minority leader a "criminal" and accused her of inciting recent ethnic violence in the restive Xinjiang region in which authorities say nearly 200 people di]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=taiwan-festival-to-show-film-of-exiled-uighur-leader&ItemID=KX-117200925493081781216 Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer to speak in New Zealand - just as China issued a fresh warning to other countries not to provide a platform for the woman they consider a terrorist. Green MP Keith Locke said he had made contact with Kadeer's World Uighur Congress over the possibility of her coming to New Zealand, but had yet to issue a formal invitation. "China's efforts to censor Ms Kadeer and stop her explaining the issues of the Uighur people to audiences in other countries cannot be accepted," Mr Locke said. "In actual fact, China's threats certainly make many more interested to hear what she has to say, which is why we are investigating how we can get her here." China's warning to other countries on Thursday comes after Australia granted a visa to Ms Kadeer, a Muslim, last month despite strong objections by Beijing. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=greens-to-invite-kadeer&ItemID=QJ-1172009401530817991523 Uighurs Sept. 4, 2009 Nathan Thrall: From Afghanistan To Guantanamo, A Trail Of Deceit (The New Republic)  Nathan Thrall is a writer whose work has appeared in Commentary, GQ, and The New York Times, among other publications. In June, when four Uighur detainees at Guantánamo were released to Bermuda, the media's portrayal of their story served as both distraction and palliative: Articles in many papers were written as though the United States had rescued members of an oppressed minority in China and delivered them to a tropical paradise. The New York Times wrote that the men "expressed wonder at their good fortune" and "basked in their new-found freedom," while "smelling hibiscus flowers" and "marveling at the serene beauty." Photographs accompanying the article showed the husky, bushy-bearded men strolling alongside azure waters, splashing in the waves, and licking double-scoop ice cream cones. But the real story of the Uighur detainees is to be found i]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=how-the-us-betrayed-the-uighurs&ItemID=TG-1172009547930817906643 Xinjiang struggled to contain escalating unrest yesterday as thousands of people confronted police in Urumqi, the regional capital, accusing the government of incompetence in maintaining public safety. Five people have been confirmed dead and 14 others injured and admitted to hospital in protests the day before, Zhang Hong, the city's deputy mayor, said. The protests, which grew in number and intensity for a third consecutive day, come at a sensitive time for Beijing as the Communist party seeks to reaffirm the legitimacy of its rule, with celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1. Xinhua, the official news agency, reported from Urumqi that more than 1,000 demonstrators had confronted police near Communist party headquarters and that security forces had dispersed the crowds with teargas. A]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=five-dead-as-thousands-take-to-streets-in-urumqi-protests&ItemID=MQ-1172009408630817963931 Xinjiang ethnic groups united in hostility towards leaders By Kathrin Hille Last updated: September 5 2009 03:00 The government in Xinjiang has been caught off guard by the anger it faces from its own people. For decades its rulers brought in millions of people from China's Han ethnic majority to colonise the ethnically diverse region in the country's far west. They kept a wary eye on the Uighurs, the biggest local ethnic group, as the main security risk. But since Wednesday it has been Han marching in the streets of Urumqi, the regional capital, calling for Wang Lequan, Xinjiang's Communist party secretary, to step down. The protesters' wrath was triggered by fear over reported syringe stabbing attacks that most attributed to the Uighurs. But the unfolding complaints about the government reflect much broader dissatisfaction across ethnic boundaries. "The central government may have put the economy first for the past 30 years but, in Xinjiang, stability has always been first and the e]]> SAT, 05 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=xinjiang-ethnic-groups-united-in-hostility-towards-leaders&ItemID=HS-1172009640730817535919 China ethnic unrest 4 September 2009 Five people have been killed in ethnic unrest in China's western city of Urumqi this week, officials say. It was unclear how the deaths happened, but thousands of Han Chinese have been protesting over an unexplained spate of stabbings with syringes. Many of the protesters blame ethnic Uighur Muslims for the stabbings. Riot police used tear gas to disperse angry crowds earlier, and China's top security official has arrived in Urumqi to try to restore order. In July about 200 people - mostly Han Chinese - were killed in ethnic riots in Urumqi. Chinese authorities blame Uighur separatists for July's violence, saying it was orchestrated by Uighur separatists in exile. Xinjiang's population is split between mainly-Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese - the country's majority ethnic group. 'Undermining unity' Zhang Hong, vice-mayor of Urumqi, confirmed to reporters that there had been casualties in the latest unrest. "On Thursday, 14 people were ]]> FRI, 04 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=039five-die039-in-china-ethnic-unrest&ItemID=FV-1172009187930817838530 China blames Muslim separatists for needle attacks URUMQI, China — China's security chief blamed Muslim separatists Friday for a string of bizarre needle attacks that drew thousands of angry protesters into the streets as officials disclosed five people were killed and 14 injured during demonstrations in this restive city. Police fired tear gas to break up continuing protests by thousands of Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group, underscoring how unsettled Urumqi remains despite a massive security crackdown following ethnic rioting in July that left 197 people dead. The Xinjiang region, of which Urumqi is the capital, has for decades faced a simmering separatist movement by Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group. Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong said the most recent deaths all came Thursday, the first day of the demonstrations. Zhang said two of those killed were "innocent," but gave no other details of their identities or the circumstances of their deaths, other than saying they oc]]> FRI, 04 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=china-blames-muslim-separatists-for-needle-attacks&ItemID=PD-117200950573081767386 China (CNN) - The latest unrest in western China has left five people dead and 14 hurt, a deputy mayor said Friday. The deaths and injuries were in the city of Urumqi, said Zhang Hong, the city's deputy mayor. Demonstrators have clashed with police in Urumqi for two days amid a strange string of syringe stabbings. Some Han Chinese demonstrators have taken to the streets to demand better police protection and a crackdown on ethnic Uyghurs, who are blamed for the attacks. Police fired tear gas on demonstrators Friday, a CNN affiliate reported. Armed security forces faced down protesters in front of Chinese Communist Party offices and later in a public square, according to Hong Kong-based i-CABLE. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported a heavy security presence Friday and helicopters hovering over Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. People were stocking up groceries f]]> FRI, 04 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=five-killed-as-police-face-syringe-protesters-in-chinese-city&ItemID=CD-1172009195030817810938 China 3 September 2009 There have been fresh protests in western China's Xinjiang region, where almost 200 people were killed in ethnic violence in July. A witness told the BBC that as many as 2,000 ethnic Han Chinese have been demonstrating in the capital Urumqi. The protesters are said to be angry at the deteriorating security situation in the wake of the July riots. A trigger for the protests appears to have been a spate of unexplained stabbings using hypodermic needles. State-run news agency Xinhua said that 15 people had been arrested over the stabbings, and that four of them had been prosecuted and would receive their judgements soon. Safety fears A businessman in Urumqi told the BBC that members of the Han community were demonstrating to complain about the worsening security situation. "Han Chinese people have been protesting in the streets since yesterday," he said. "Nearly everyone in Urumqi is on strike or protesting. Right now in front of me there ar]]> THU, 03 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=new-protests-in-western-china&ItemID=SB-1172009627330817579077 American Association calls on Chinese authorities to guarantee the safety of all people in East Turkestan in the wake of new unrest For immediate release September 3, 2009, 5:45 p.m. EST Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496   The Uyghur American Association (UAA) calls on Chinese authorities to guarantee the safety of all people in East Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang, in the wake of fresh unrest in the regional capital of Urumchi.   According to a report[i] issued by Reuters quoting an eyewitness, up to 3,000 Han Chinese gathered in People’s Square in Urumchi on September 3, 2009 to demand the resignation of Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary, Wang Lequan. The protest was prompted by rumors of a spate of stabbings in Urumchi, in which victims have been allegedly injured by syringes. The assembled protestors were upset that Communist officials had done little to protect citizens against such attacks. According to the eyewitness interviewed by Reute]]> THU, 03 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uyghur-american-association-calls-on-chinese-authorities-to-guarantee-the-safety-of-all-people-in-east-turkestan-in-the-wake-of-new-unrest&ItemID=UG-1172009402330817979498 Xinjiang leader step down By Ben Blanchard and Lucy Hornby Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13pm IST BEIJING (Reuters) - Protesters massed in the capital of China's far western region of Xinjiang on Thursday demanding the resignation of its top official, who faced the crowd amid a scare over syringe stabbings that has reignited ethnic tensions. The demonstration was a rare public challenge by Han Chinese to the ruling Communist Party in tense Xinjiang, where ethnic clashes with Muslim Uighurs broke out in early July. It also happened at a highly sensitive time for China, as it readies to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on Oct. 1, which has been accompanied by a nationwide security clampdown. "Resign Wang Lequan, the government is useless!" protesters shouted outside the regional government building in Urumqi, referring to Xinjiang's Communist Party chief, who has held office for 14 years. Others called for his execution. A photograph of the s]]> THU, 03 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=protesters-demand-xinjiang-leader-step-down&ItemID=YD-1172009548630817894617 Xinjiang after syringe attacks 2009-09-03 BEIJING, Sept 3 - A round of unrest broke out in China’s far western region of Xinjiang on Thursday, as protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against a series of reported syringe attacks in the regional capital, witnesses said. The protests happened at a highly sensitive time for China, as it gears up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party coming to power in less than a month, which has been accompanied by a nationwide security clampdown. While the number of demonstrators in the regional capital, Urumqi, was hard to verify, some witnesses said they had seen ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the region, being beaten up by majority Han Chinese. A resident said he had seen a group of Han Chinese protesters beating up a Uighur suspected of carrying out attacks with syringes, but he was rescued by police and taken to hospital. Some of the demonstrators were calling for Xinjiang’s Commu]]> THU, 03 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=new-unrest-in-xinjiang-after-syringe-attacks&ItemID=OH-117200937730817442018 Xinjiang capital 2009-09-03 BEIJING — Crowds of angry Han Chinese took to the streets of the restive city of Urumqi on Thursday, witnesses said, less than two months after deadly unrest rocked the capital of mainly Muslim Xinjiang. Police ordered residents to stay indoors and stationed officers throughout the city, in a quick response aimed at staving off a second wave of bloodshed following that seen here in July, when nearly 200 people were killed. The number of demonstrators, who appeared to be protesting against a series of reported syringe attacks in the city, was not immediately clear. Witnesses described large crowds, with some putting the turnout in the thousands. "There are about 10-20,000 people and many police in the street at every intersection. There are more than 100 police stationed every 400-500 metres," said a Han woman who runs a local medical clinic, asking not to be named. "I heard there was a protest yesterday afternoon and I saw it mys]]> THU, 03 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=039fresh-protests039-in-restive-xinjiang-capital&ItemID=CY-117200998330817700269 China’s Muslim Uyghurs Forbidden to Fast During Ramadan Sep 1, 2009 Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Province have issued a notice that any Uyghur cadres or workers found not eating lunch during Ramadan could lose their jobs. It is part of the campaign of local authorities in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uyghur ethnic group, to force the Uyghur people to give up their religious rituals during the fasting month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month in the Islamic calendar, which begun this year on Aug. 22. It requires not eating during the daytime. “Free lunches, tea, and coffee—that authorities are calling ‘Care from the government’ or ‘Living allowance’—are being offered in government departments and companies. But it is actually a ploy used to find out who is fasting,” said Dilxat Raxit, World Uyghur Congress spokesman, speaking to The Epoch Times. According to Dilxat, Uyghur Communist Party cadres throughout Xinjiang had been forced to sign “letters of responsibility” promising to avo]]> WED, 02 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=chinas-muslim-uyghurs-forbidden-to-fast-during-ramadan&ItemID=WS-1172009701830817786954 Uighur leader Kadeer ready for talks with Beijing By Paul Harrington (AFP) 2009-09-01 BRUSSELS — Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, accused by Beijing of fomenting violent unrest in Xinjiang province, said Tuesday she was prepared to hold direct talks with the Chinese authorities. "I'm ready to discuss with the Chinese government the way we can address its policy failures of the past 60 years and seek political reforms," she told a session of the European parliament's human rights committee. "It is time for the Chinese government to sit and talk with me, his Holiness the Dalai Lama and all those leaders of non (majority) Han Chinese communities who have been vilified, imprisoned and slandered just because we happen to disagree with the bankrupt official policy," she said. Speaking through an interpreter, Kadeer called on the European Union to "put pressure on the Chinese authorities to respect the autonomy laws that are in their constitution and start a true dialogue with the Uighur people"]]> WED, 02 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=uighur-leader-kadeer-ready-for-talks-with-beijing&ItemID=LH-1172009391430817525697 Rebiya Kadeer to visit for the film’s premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, we said on many occasions that when ‘The 10 Conditions of Love’ screened on Maori Television, the Chinese ought to be very careful about picking a fight with the Maoris. It seems we were wrong.   We are proud that ‘The 10 Conditions of Love’ will be screened on Maori Television.  It will be the first television broadcast of the film in the world, followed we hope, by many other broadcasters. But it is particularly galling that the Chinese program will be shown immediately after ‘The 10 Conditions of Love’ as th]]> WED, 02 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=broadcast-of-chinese-program-by-maori-television&ItemID=WG-117200980630817269250 China, is saddened that a documentary owned by the Chinese Government will also be aired tonight. Maori Television has said it is not bowing to pressure, despite a visit from embassy staff asking it to pull Mr Lewis' documentary. The Television chanel announced today that it would also show Xinjiang Urumqi July 5 Riot: Truth tonight in the interests of showing two points of view. Ms Haggie originally said that the station was not planning on displaying a message before the Chinese Government's documentary aired to explain where it had come from. She later confirmed that a message would run to say that]]> WED, 02 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=maori-tv-to-show-chinese-govt-video-after-kadeer-documentary&ItemID=RJ-1172009312730817841236 human rights committee backed a call on Tuesday for an independent international inquiry into deadly riots in northwest China's Xinjiang region in July. "We have got some quite worrying information about events of July 5," Heidi Hautala told a joint news conference with Rebiya Kadeer, exiled leader of China's largely Muslim Uighur ethnic group who earlier addressed the parliamentary committee. "I believe that there is a case for an independent international investigation so that all human rights violations from all sides can be cleared and investigated," Hautala said. She said such an inquiry should be conducted by the United Nations with the backing of the European Union. In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighur rioters attacked majority Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5 after taking to the streets to protest against attacks on ]]> TUE, 01 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=eu-parliament-rights-head-calls-for-uighur-inquiry&ItemID=TN-117200987730816241658 China Tuesday, 01 September 2009 By: Ngawang Choephel Drakmargyapon, UNPO Representative in Geneva Geneva, 31 August - The seventy-fifth session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) while expressing concern on the future demographic composition in minority areas due to the continuing influx of Chinese settlers has recommended to the Chinese authorities that “any policies or incentives offered that may result in a substantial alteration of the demographic composition of autonomous minority areas be reviewed.” The Committee made the above assertion after reviewing China’s compliance on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) on 7 and 10 August 2009 at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.  China ratified the Convention on 29 December 1981 with its last report reviewed by the Committee in ]]> TUE, 01 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=un-committee-fears-alteration-of-demographics-in-minority-areas-of-china&ItemID=HF-117200921743081681948 East Turkestan: Dutch MP Support Statement 01, September 2009 Dutch MP deeply concerned about recent violence in East Turkestan, calls on an independent investigation on the July 2009 riots. The Socialist Party of the Netherlands (SP) is deeply concerned about the violence and unrest in China’s region Xinjiang and urges that international law is fully respected by all parties. We have urged the Dutch Government to support an independent investigation into the events of July 2009 that led to a tragic loss of life. Our Government has The SP has recently raised questions in Parliament concerning the statement released by Ms Rebiya Kadeer, leader of the World Uygur Congress (WUC), that 10.000 Uygurs went missing during the events in July. The fact that the Dutch Government only relies on information provided by the Chinese authorities deeply worries the SP. Our Government will now urge the Swedish presidency to include the issue of recent events and the treatment of detainees in the human]]> TUE, 01 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=east-turkestan-dutch-mp-support-statement&ItemID=SF-1172009906530816825500 Xinjiang Years Ago? Aug 31, 2009 For many years, the plight of the ethnic minorities of East Turkistan (Xinjiang), the largest group being the Uyghurs, was almost entirely eclipsed by that of Tibet and its people, and it seems that it’s only because of recent violence and the Chinese regime’s propagandised threat of terrorism that they’ve managed to pass the threshold of media attention and popular awareness at all. Consequently, if we were to have asked people about Xinjiang several years ago, most would have had very little or nothing to say about it, unless they had a special interest. Even now, in my own conversations with a range of people, many have indicated that, until very recently, they had no idea about Xinjiang or that its ethnic groups even existed—many Australians would probably still think that there’s just the one. Presuming this is widespread and despite recent media attention, it probably still deserves to be briefly reiterated that, after str]]> TUE, 01 SEP 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.uyghurnews.com/congress/Read.asp?UighurNews=why-wasnt-i-told-about-xinjiang-years-ago&ItemID=JD-1172009338930816593639