Uyghur News, Uighur and Tibetan News

The Story Of Human Rights.





Please Uyghur News Bookmark and Share


Uyghur News / Uyghur Human Rights Project



»  New testimonies reinforce call for China to investigate Xinjiang riots... - 02-July-2010
Amnesty International 2 July 2010 Amnesty International has urged the Chinese government to launch an independent investigation into last year's riots in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, after new testimony obtained by the organization has cast further doubt on the official version of events. A new report, "Justice, justice": The July 2009 Protests in Xinjiang, China includes newly gathered testimonies from Uighurs who fled China after the unrest, which centred on Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi.  Interviewees described unnecessary or excessive use of force, mass arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture and ill-treatment in detention that occurred on 5 July 2009 and during the ensuing government crackdown. "The official account leaves too many questions unanswered. How many people really died, who killed them, how did it happen, and why?" said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Director.  Ahead of the 5 July anniversary, security in Xinjiang has been ti

»  Can you hear us now? Uyghur report details Urumchi unrest and repression... - 02-July-2010
DemdigestJuly 1, 2010A year on from the unrest in Urumchi that followed the violent suppression of an initially peaceful demonstration, human rights activists are calling on China to accept an independent international investigation into the events. A new report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project examines the unrest of July and September 2009 in Urumchi, East Turkestan’s regional capital (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). Drawing on eye-witness accounts, Can Anyone Hear Us? Voices From The 2009 Unrest In Urumchi details the security forces’ use of deadly live fire against Uyghur demonstrators on July 5, subsequent beatings and arbitrary detentions, and the communist authorities’ efforts to exacerbate tensions between the Uyghur and Han communities. Two eye-witnesses gave moving accounts of ferocious and arbitrary violence against innocent Uyghur civilians. One described seeing police handing out steel batons to Han mobs, confirming reports that

»  Xinjiang one year on: the world "could do more" - 02-July-2010
Asia News07/02/2010 13:05 Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The world "shows more attention to the Uyghur cause in China, but could do much more for us”, says Rebiya Kadeer, the Uyghur leader exiled in the United States to commemorate the first anniversary of one of the bloodiest ethnic riots to take place in the Asian country. Meanwhile, to control the situation, the central government has installed 40 thousand cameras in the provincial capital Urumqi. A year ago, in fact, an ethnic Uyghur Muslim community residing in the northern province of Xinjiang challenged the domination of central government in Beijing.  During the clashes, according to official sources, 200 people were killed. A further 1,700 were wounded, while the number of arrests is unknown: according to dissident leader, there are tens of thousands detained. The Uyghur are not asking for independence from Beijing, but demand greater autonomy. Although Xinjiang - the dissidents call the region East Turkistan - is one

»  Can Anyone Hear Us? Voices From The 2009 Unrest In Urumchi - 01-July-2010
For immediate releaseJuly 1, 2010, 1:45 pm ESTContact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 535 0039 and +1 (202) 535 0018 A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) examines the unrest that took place in July and September 2009 in Urumchi, the regional capital of East Turkestan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or XUAR) through the accounts of Uyghur eyewitnesses. Can Anyone Hear Us? Voices From The 2009 Unrest In Urumchi also investigates the economic, social and political factors that set the context for the unrest, as well as the information lockdown that followed. Residents of Urumchi who spoke to UHRP have described witnessing security forces’ use of deadly live fire against Uyghur demonstrators on July 5, extensive beatings of Uyghurs by civilians in July and September and arbitrary detentions that have exacerbated the growing divide between the Uyghur and Han communities. The accounts provided to UHRP cast sufficient doubt on the Chinese go

»  Uighur leader appeals to world year after unrest - 01-July-2010
Article LinkBy Shaun TandonAFP2010-07-01 WASHINGTON — One year since China's worst ethnic violence in decades, the exiled leader of the Uighur minority has seen a surge of global interest in her cause but says the world can do far more. Long an obscure issue to much of the world, the simmering resentment against Beijing's rule by the mostly Muslim Uighur community burst into the open in July last year as riots engulfed Urumqi, capital of the vast Xinjiang region. The violence catapulted into the spotlight Rebiya Kadeer, a department store tycoon turned activist. The 63-year-old mother of 11 spent years in a Chinese prison before she was allowed to go into exile in the United States in 2005. "I'm just an ordinary woman, yet the Chinese government is so fearful of what I say and do. That shows I stand for justice," Kadeer, her booming voice softened by a smile, told AFP in her tiny office in Washington. Since the unrest, Kadeer has become an itinerant traveler - and a top public e

»  China installs 40,000 security cameras in Urumqi - 01-July-2010
The Washington PostBy CARA ANNAAP2010-07-02 BEIJING — China has installed about 40,000 high-definition surveillance cameras in the western region of Xinjiang days before the one-year anniversary of the country's worst ethnic violence in decades. The security cameras with "riot-proof" protective shells will be monitored by police at more than 4,000 public locations, including on city streets and buses and in schools and shopping malls, city government spokesman Ma Xinchun said Friday. Long-simmering tensions between Xinjiang's minority Uighurs and majority Han Chinese migrants turned into open violence in the streets of Urumqi — the capital of the traditionally Muslim region — last July 5. The government says 197 people were killed. Beijing blamed overseas Uighur (pronounced WEE-gur) groups of plotting the violence, but exile groups denied it. The installation of thousands of surveillance cameras follows a crackdown on violent crime launched there last month, as well

»  Zardari to visit China during joint military excercise; nuke deal likely... - 30-June-2010
Times of IndiaSaibal Dasgupta, TNN, Jun 29, 2010, 06.55pm IST BEIJING: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is visiting Beijing during the joint military exercise between China and his country on the Muslim dominated border region of Ningxia early next month. During the visit, Zardari is likely to push Chinese leaders to take a final decision on the propose sale of nuclear power reactors. Going by remarks by the Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday, he is pretty close to achieving his goal while offering to help China curb Uighur separatists in the China-Pakistan border region. Beijing is simultaneously wooing the Pakistani government and wooing fundamentalists forces like Jamat-e-Islami for this purpose. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said his country's civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is not aimed at any third country. Sino-Pakistan cooperation is in line with international non-proliferation regime, he said. But Qin did not reply a question on whether Beijing w

»  US & China play 'chicken' in the Yellow Sea - 30-June-2010
Indian ExpressC. Raja MohanPosted: Wed Jun 30 2010, 16:16 A first rate crisis is brewing in and around the Korean Peninsula that may well come to a head this week. The escalation of military tensions in the Yellow Sea that separates the Korean Peninsula from the Chinese mainland is likely to take two pathways - one originating in Pyongyang and the other in Beijing - or both. As Washington and Seoul respond with diplomatic and military measures to the alleged sinking of a South Korean naval ship, 'Cheonan', at the end of March by a small North Korean submarine, Pyongyang is promising more defiant action. In a statement issued on Monday, the North Korean government referred to its "nuclear deterrent", a term that it had used before conducting nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009. This time around it went a step further to warn that it had a new approach to demonstrate its strategic capabilities. China, in turn, has condemned the US-South Korea military exercises planned for this w

»  Kyrgyz and Uzbeks Turn Out to Vote for Stability - 30-June-2010
EurasianetJune 27, 2010 - 12:30pmby Joanna Lillis and David Trilling Just weeks after Kyrgyzstan's worst violence in the post-Soviet era, voters turned out in larger-than-expected numbers on June 27 to cast ballots in a constitutional referendum. Many voters said they yearned for a return of stability to Kyrgyzstan. Amid a general atmosphere of skepticism in the southern city of Osh, scene of worst interethnic fighting June 10-14, many ethnic Uzbeks defied expectations that they would stay away from the polls. Uzbeks appear to have suffered disproportionately during the violent clashes, in which hundreds were killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes. Roza Otunbayeva, the leader of the provisional government, visited Osh to cast her referendum ballot. "Quite a lot of people are saying that our country is on the brink of collapse," she said. "However, we, the citizens of the republic, will show the whole of the international community today that Kyrgyzstan is unified and

»  An open door for Mutalip - 30-June-2010
Christian TodaySIM AustraliaTuesday, 22 June 2010, 16:38 (EST) The name of the city where Mutalip was born remained the same for thousands of years. When Mutalip’s grandfather was a boy, he was one of about a million Uighur (WEE-gur) people living in this desert oasis. At that time the region had a very clear Uighur majority, and the official language was Uighur. Now the city has a new name. The official language is Chinese and all commerce and higher education must be done in Chinese. Even as little as six years ago, when Mutalip graduated from college, 80% of the teachers and 90% of the students there were Uighur. Today that same college has just 20% Uighur teachers and 3% Uighur students. Last year, as Mutalip was reading about the history of the Uighur people, he wondered where many of the modern-day rules about living in Uighur society originated. He studied various Muslim rules and regulations, but found that they did not completely explain some of the things he was seeing

»  Espionage Probe Casts Shadow on Ties with China - 30-June-2010
Spiegel06/30/2010By Sven Röbel and Holger StarkA Chapter from the Cold War ReopensEspionage Probe Casts Shadow on Ties with ChinaA new espionage case is putting pressure on ties between Germany and China. German prosecutors are investigating senior Chinese officials who they believe spied on Falun Gong supporters in Germany. The developments have seriously strained relations and brought back practices last used during the Cold War. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel flies to Beijing in July, she will have plenty of the usual accolades for the Chinese. She will say that relations between the two countries are excellent and communication is amicable and intense. "I believe that one can say that relations are gaining a lot of momentum," the chancellor typically says on such occasions. What Merkel will probably not mention publicly is the other side of the German-Chinese relationship, which is also gathering momentum. It takes place in the world of espionage and intelligence agenci

»  EU must press China over human rights: Amnesty, HRW - 28-June-2010
Expatica Communications28/06/2010 Human rights groups Monday urged the European Union to use talks with China this week to demand Beijing release dissidents, withdraw curbs on freedom of expression and end arbitrary arrests. "The European Union must seize this opportunity to address the serious human rights violations reported throughout the country," said Esteban Beltran, the director of Amnesty International Spain. It should demand "strong action from the Chinese government to promote the reforms needed to once and for all respect human rights," he said in a statement. Spain, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, hosts the latest round of a human rights dialogue with China in Madrid on Tuesday. But the US-based organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged that the dialogue, which began in 1995, has "consistently failed" to produce substantive results because it is not linked to other issues "such as trade, investment and the environment. "For too long, the EU-Chi

»  China's push to develop its west hasn't closed income gap with east, critics say... - 28-June-2010
By Keith B. RichburgWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, June 29, 2010; A11 BEIJING - Ten years ago, China's leadership launched its "Go West" campaign, an ambitious plan to develop and modernize the country's poor western hinterlands. The aim was simple: to close the region's yawning income gap with the more prosperous east and assuage restive minority populations, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet. Chinese officials rattle off all the statistical measures of the program's success: Highways were constructed. Houses were built. Nomads were resettled in "model" villages. Millions of people have electricity and clean drinking water. A rail line links Beijing in the east to Lhasa on the Tibetan plateau. And annual economic growth in the west is about 12 percent, higher than the national average. But beneath the barrage of official statistics lies another reality. China's west - defined as the dozen provinces and "autonomous regions" stretching from Inner Mongolia to Xinjiang and Tibet -

»  China's 'Major' Terrorist Haul - 26-June-2010
The DiplomatBy Jason MiksJune 25, 2010arlier this week, Chinese authorities said they had uncovered a ‘major’ terrorist organization. The timing raised some eyebrows, as it the announcement came just a couple of weeks before the anniversary of the riots last year in Ürümqi, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, during which almost 200 people were killed after Uyghur protests turned violent and protesters turned on ethnic Han.The Chinese government said that the riots were pre-planned and instigated from abroad, with official fingers pointing to the exiled independence group the World Uyghur Congress (an allegation the WUC denied). The violence came on the back of long-running tensions between the Uyghur’s and majority Han migrants, with many Uyghur’s complaining that they are discriminated against in terms of employment prospects and when trying to secure bank loans.So what had this ‘major’ organisation been putting together before bein

»  China breaks up Muslim terrorist gang - 24-June-2010
Telegraph UKPeter Foster in Beijing Published: 4:12PM BST 24 Jun 2010The group with alleged links to the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) was said to be plotting further attacks using pipe-bombs and other improvised explosives in the restive western Chinese province of Xinjiang. The announcement at a news conference in Beijing came days before the one-year anniversary of brutal race riots in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi that left 200 dead and exposed the deep divisions between majority Han Chinese and the minority ethnic Uighur populations. "Since 2008 this terror group planned and carried out many terror acts in Xinjiang, including an attack on police and border guards in Kashgar during the Olympics," said the Public Security Bureau spokesman. "The breaking up of this large terrorist group once again proves that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement is the major terror threat facing China at present and henceforward," he added. The riot on July 5 last year was the most seri

»  China to develop Kashgar - 24-June-2010
Article LinkJun 24, 2010BEIJING - CHINA plans to ramp up growth in the ancient city of Kashgar in the restive Xinjiang region by making it an 'economic development zone' focused on central Asian trade, state media said on Thursday. Preferential investment and tax policies will aim to boost investment in the Silk Road trading hub near the borders of Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the China Daily reported. 'After detailed research, the central government has decided to build an economic development zone in Kashgar,' Wang Yongzhi, Deputy Commissioner of Kashgar prefecture, was quoted as telling the newspaper. 'None of the policies will be finalised until the end of this year at the earliest,' Mr Wang said. However, the plan could court controversy due to anger among the region's Muslim ethnic Uighurs over China's development policies and concerns over the city's ancient architecture. Xinjiang's roughly eight million Uighurs have long alleged Chinese politic

»  China Breaks Up Xinjiang Terror Group - 24-June-2010
VOABeijing24 June 2010 The Chinese government says it has broken up a major terrorist organization that plotted attacks in the far northwestern region, Xinjiang.  Thursday's announcement comes nearly a year after the region was hit by deadly ethnic violence that left nearly 200 people dead.  Chinese Public Security Ministry spokesman Wu Heping said Chinese public security authorities have arrested more than 10 terrorists, including the alleged ringleader of the group. Two Xinjiang incidents specifically mentioned by the spokesman both occurred around the 2008 Beijing Olympics - deadly attacks on police stations in Kashgar and Kuqa. At a meeting with reporters in Beijing, Thursday, Wu read out a brief statement, but did not take questions.  A document handed out at the media briefing included photos of two places where the terrorists had allegedly made and tested explosives, along with other weapons. China said the alleged terrorists belong to the East Turkestan Independence Movement. 

»  Ihsanoglu pays unprecedented visit to Chinese Muslim regions - 24-June-2010
Saudi GazetteBy Habib Shaikh2010-06-24 JEDDAH - The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary General Ekmeleddin  Ihsanoglu made an unprecedented first visit by an OIC secretary general to the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Muslim-majority autonomous region of Ningxia, and toured the historical city of Kashgar, during his eight-day official tour of  China that concluded on Tuesday. The visit was especially significant because China is known for its categorical rejection of any foreign interference in the affairs of its ethnic minorities. According to informed OIC sources, Ihsanoglu toured the mosques and religious sites in Kashgar. In his meeting with the city’s municipality chief, Akbar Ghofur, the Secretary General reiterated the need to preserve the traditional nature of Kashgar and stressed that economic industrial expansion should not come at the expense of the cultural heritage of the city which is one of the most outstanding historic

»  A new step in restoring Sino-Canadian relations - 23-June-2010
The Montreal GazetteBy AILEEN MCCABE, Canwest News Service June 23, 2010 Chinese President Hu Jintao's official visit to Ottawa today is seen here as the next step -but not necessarily the final one -in restoring normalcy to Sino-Canadian relations. Hu's visit "will improve the political relations," but not completely heal the rift caused by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's outspoken criticism of China's human rights record and his official meeting with the Dalai Lama, Jin Canrong, a professor at Beijing's Renmin University's School of International Studies, said in an interview. "Stephen Harper's visit (to China) last year made some progress, but it wasn't substantial. Both sides still hold their original views," he said. Categorizing the current relations as still "relatively cold," Jin predicted: "President Hu Jintao's visit will make the Chinese government attach more importance to Sino-Canada relations and exchanges between the two governments will warm up, striking a balance with

»  Post July 2009, asylum for Uighurs is a tricky business - 23-June-2010
Shanghaiist June 22, 2010 4:00 PMThe rippling consequences of last July's unrest in Xinjiang continues. Along with rampant arrests, and quite a few executions of those held responsible, it's an understatement to say that this year was hard on Xinjiang. Exasperated by last summer's syringe attacks, the crackdown on Uighurs "terrorists" goes on. What's the latest? Moving under the radar, Uighurs are quietly slipping out of China, to the chagrin of officials looking for them. The World Uyghur Congress (led by the exiled Rebiya Kadeer) estimates that at least 300 Uighurs have fled - although given the organization's interests, the number should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, the Uighur's movements have been the source of tension in global immigration policies. According to the AP, China has called for the extradition of Uighur refugees. Many countries oblige. Others simply play down the number of incoming Uighurs. Cambodia sent back 20 Uighur refugees to China in December des


Headline Topics;