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23-06-2006
HRC: WS on the Situation in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
First Session
Written Statement by the International Federation of the Protection of
the Rights of Ethnic, Religious, Linguistic and Other Minorities (IFPRERLOM),
a non-governmental organization on the Roster
Statement on the Situation in
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
East Turkestan, known as “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” in
present-day China, continues to be a region where Uyghurs face grave
violations of their fundamental freedoms and human rights, including
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Additionally,
the influx of Chinese settlers, together with coercive birth control
among Uyghur women and the systematic sinozation of the Uyghur language,
pose a substantial threat to the survival of the Uyghurs.
Uyghurs and the “War on Terror”
The people of East Turkestan continue to be arrested, tortured and
executed on political grounds. According to Amnesty International, since
11 September 2001, the Chinese authorities have arrested more than 3,000
Uyghurs. In November 2005, Reporters Without Borders condemned the
three-year prison sentence passed by a court in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, accusing Koresh Huseyin of publishing a fable
supposedly alluding to the region’s harsh laws. Reuters, quoting
Xinjiang Daily, reported on 21 January 2006 that in the year 2005 alone,
thousands of Uyghurs were arrested, accused of being separatists,
religious extremists or terrorists. Amongst the arrested were scholars
(such as Tohti Tunyaz), writers (such as Nurmuhammed Yasin) and
journalists and editors (such as Abdulgani Memetemin and Koresh Huseyin).
According to the United Nations (UN), arrested Uyghurs are frequently
subjected to torture, some left physically and mentally scarred as a
result. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Manfred Nowak, reports
that “torture in China is still wide-spread” and groups including the
Uyghurs and Tibetans “have been particularly targets of torture.” Mr.
Nowak made these conclusions after visiting detention centers in
Xinjiang, Tibet and Beijing during his trip to China in late 2005.
According to the 2004 Annual Human Rights Report, released by the US
State Department, the Chinese government “…used the international war on
terror as a pretext for cracking down harshly on suspected Uyghur
separatists expressing peaceful political dissent and on independent
Muslim religious leaders.” Similarly, Amnesty International stated in
its 2004 report that, “China has repackaged its repression of Uyghurs as
a fight against ‘terrorism’” and Human Rights Watch in its most recent
report noted that, “China has opportunistically used the post-September
11 environment to [..] claim that individuals disseminating peaceful
religious and cultural messages in Xinjinag are terrorists who have
changed tactics.”
Population transfer
Before 1949 there were only 300,000 Chinese settlers in East Turkestan.
According to a recent official Chinese census the number of settlers has
risen to more than 7 million in 2005 although according to observers,
this figure could be even higher.
It is estimated that annually 250,000 Chinese settlers are moving into
East Turkestan. Population transfer, including the implantation of
settlers and settlements, was recognised by the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in its
resolution 1991/92/93, to constitute a violation of the basic human
rights and freedoms of not only the peoples being moved or removed by
the governments, but also of the original inhabitants of the territory
into which settlers are being implanted.
As stated above, population transfer can violate the rights of the
settlers as well as the indigenous population, thus with the steady flow
of Chinese settlers into East Turkestan its original inhabitants are
faced with the danger of becoming a minority in their own homeland and
losing their cultural identity. This demographic policy not only
undermines the right to self-determination, but also affects the
economic, social and cultural human rights of the Uyghurs.
Despite the region’s natural wealth, the Uyghurs live at bare
subsistence level with almost 80 percent of them living below the
poverty threshold. According to a report released by the Xinjiang
Provincial Government in October 2004, the average income of Chinese
settlers in East Turkestan is four times higher than that of a Uyghur.
About 85 per cent of the Uyghur people are farmers. According to the
said official Chinese report, the average annual income of a Uyghur
farmer is 820 yuan or 100 US dollars, whereas a Chinese farmer in East
Turkestan earns an annual income of 3,000 Yuan.
Social and cultural rights violations
Furthermore, in effect restraining the growth of the Uyghur population,
coercive birth control is being carried out among Uyghur women, though
contradicting China’s stated policy of implementing special,
preferential population policies for designated minority groups.
Recently, in the town of Chapchal, with a population of 180,000, only
100 women were allowed to give birth. In the same town, 40 Uyghurs
working in the Chinese administration were fired from their jobs because
their wives were pregnant.
Today, Chinese authorities are pursuing a policy of systematic
sinocization of the Uyghur language and literature. Until 1949, the
literary language of the Uyghurs contained almost no Chinese words,
whereas now, a large quantity of Chinese words has been introduced into
the Uyghur vocabulary. In this regard, several thousands of already
existing Uyghur words have been removed for reason such as “not
favourable to the socialist construction”, “national unity” or for other
seemingly political reasons. According to Uyghur scholars, the situation
has reached an alarming proportion. Unless preventive steps are taken,
it is feared that the Uyghur language, the most representative language
of the Altay Language Family, which played a major role in the
enrichment of Central Asian civilization for almost two thousand years,
may disappear from the linguistic scene.
Lack of freedom of religion
Furthermore, a campaign of religious repression has been directed
against Muslim Uyghurs. According to a 114-page report released by Human
Rights Watch on 11 April 2005, “the world-wide campaign against
terrorism has given Beijing the perfect excuse to crack down harder than
ever in Xinjiang. Other Chinese enjoy a growing freedom of worship, but
Uyghurs, like Tibetans, find that their religion is being used as a tool
of control.” Recently Chinese authorities have also tightened curbs on
Uyghurs, banning any government officials, state employees, Party
members, and children and in some cases women from entering mosques. A
photo sent to Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Uyghur service shows a sign above
the gate of a Mosque in the southern part of Eastern Turkestan
forbidding Muslims to attend worship.
Concern is expressed at the fear of civil unrest as the people of East
Turkestan remain in a desperate, frustrated situation, and there is a
pressing need to defuse rising tensions by urging the Chinese government
to end systematic violations of human rights against the Uyghurs.
Recent Arrests
On 29 May 2006, as widely reported, the three adult children of Uyghur
human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience, Mrs. Rebiya
Kadeer, were detained by Chinese Police and refused permission to legal
counsel. The detention coincided with the arrival of a United States
Congressional team in East Turkestan. Ablikim and Alim Abdiriyim, and
Rushangul were taken into custody one day before the US Congressional
visit to the region. Mrs. Kadeer has reportedly been repeatedly
threatened, citing consequences for her children and her business, not
to speak out on behalf of the Uyghur people. The current whereabouts of
Alim and Rushangul remain unknown, although they are reported officially
by the Chinese government to be under house arrest.
In conclusion, IFPRERLOM appeals to the UN Human Rights Council
to urge the immediate release of Ablikim, Alim Abdiriyim and Rushangul
from Chinese custody;
and to adopt a resolution that calls upon the Chinese authorities;
to extend an open invitation to all thematic mandates of the Council and
receive them on official missions in Xinjiang;
to end so-called “Strike Hard” campaigns aimed at the Uyghur population;
to put an end to the practice of death penalty for political and
religious dissidents;
to release all ‘political’ and ‘religious’ prisoners; and
to guarantee the preservation of the cultural, religious and national
identity of Uyghurs.
Source: UN Human Rights Council
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