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Kyrgyz Human Rights Group Seeks
to Dispel "Myth" of "Uighur Terrorism"
2 June 10, 2003
Kyrgyz human rights body the Coalition for Democracy
and Civil Society has denied reports that Uighur "terrorists"
were behind the 11 September attacks in the USA, a bus
bombing in Osh and the explosions at the Dordoy trade
centre in Bishkek on 27 December last year and an
exchange office in Osh on 8 May 2003. "Uighur
terrorism" is a myth created by the Chinese
authorities, the report added.
The following is the text of the report entitled "Who
is stirring up the myth of 'Uighur terrorism'"
published on Kyrgyz newspaper Res Publika web site on
27 May; subheadings have been inserted editorially In
connection with the tragic events in the USA on 11
September 2001, a bus explosion in the (southern
Kyrgyz) town of Osh in 1998, similar acts at the
Dordoy trade centre on 27 December 2002 and at the
Bakay bank's exchange office in Osh on 8 May 2003,
many media sources have begun publishing articles
expressing views on "Uighur terrorism". Bishkek-based
human rights organization Democracy (a Kyrgyz
non-governmental organization, the Coalition for
Democracy and Civil Society) has the following to say
in this regard:
Victims of "Political Intrigue"
Firstly, we will speak about the bus explosion in Osh,
which killed four people. Askar Tokhti, Akhmed Gyunan,
Bakhromzhan Akhmed and Nazyr Chotchayev, citizens of
China, Turkey and Russia, were accused of organizing
and carrying out the act of terrorism and were
sentenced to death. Ali Masum was sentenced to 25
years in prison. Lawyers and human rights activists
consider the case to be a complete fabrication.
A resolution holding these people responsible as
defendants is the only document which defines the
boundaries of the punishment. No eyewitnesses or
evidence were presented. Moreover, Akhmed Gyunan, one
of those sentenced to death, had never been to Osh.
Proceeding from the abovesaid, human rights
organizations have come to the conclusion that the
investigation and the court hearing were not fair and
violated all international and national procedural
rules. The convicts fell victim to political intrigue
and the law-enforcement agency officers' desire to
find culprits at any price.
"It does little credit to be a yes man of a careerist
from the (Kyrgyz) National Security Service. I do not
recommend that anyone repeat that nonsense so that not
to be under the thumb of Kurmanbek Tuybayev, who
places his personal and mercenary interests before the
security interests of sovereign Kyrgyzstan. The time
has come for everyone to rid themselves of their
slavish psychology," Nazyr Chotchayev wrote in a
letter to the (Kyrgyz southwestern Dzhalal-Abad
Regional) human rights organization Spravedlivost (Justice).
The trial of Kasarzhi Zhalal was held in Bishkek in
1998. He was accused of illegally possessing weapons
and organizing Islamic Wahhabism. For that, he was
sentenced to 14 years in prison. But what is most
surprising about this, is that at the same time he was
also accused of murdering the chairman of the Ittipak
Uighur society (in Kyrgyzstan), Nigmat Bazakov, on 28
March 2000, though he was already serving his term in
prison. What is more, the law-enforcement agencies are
currently rushing to discover "more exciting" aspects
in the case. Let's see what kind of false evidence
they will come up with.
Who is responsible for the Osh and Bishkek explosions?
Now about the tragedy that took place at the Dordoy
trade centre's Oberon market on 27 December 2002.
First, the law-enforcement agencies stated that "a gas
container exploded there" and then "worked out" a
scenario in keeping with which the blame should be put
on "Uighur terrorists". However, the trick did not
work. At that time, following the explosion at the Osh
exchange office, an attempt was made to link it to the
terrible explosion at the Oberon market in Bishkek,
which killed seven people and injured 41.
According to the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry, these are
developments which preceded the tragedy:
A group of members of the (banned) Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (which is currently known as the Islamic
Movement of Turkestan) had been sent to Kyrgyzstan in
2002 in order to "prepare and carry out subversive
activities and acts of terrorism aimed at
destabilizing the public and political situation in
Central Asia". In keeping with that scenario,
preparations had already been under way to blow up the
US embassy in Bishkek by the beginning of 2002, where
IMU members began to arrive from Osh. They failed to
carry out their plan because of good security at the
embassy. After that the IMU members chose the Dordoy
trade centre.
The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry's press secretary, (Dzholdoshbek)
Busurmankulov, told the Kabar agency on 17 May 2003
that Abdulaziz, Asadulla and two more IMU members were
detained and that they had confessed to the crime. Now
a question arises as to who blew up the exchange
office and the bus in Osh in 1998? Were not they the
ones who did that?
In connection with this, the law-enforcement agencies
should thoroughly re-investigate the case in which
Askar Tokhti, Akhmed Gyunan, Bakhromzhan Akhmed and
Nazyr Chotchayev were sentenced to death and Ali Masum
was jailed for 25 years.
"Problem which has been made up"
The Deutsche Welle radio (Yuriy Duleyran) broadcast a
report about "the threats posed by acts of terrorism"
on 8 May 2003. It quoted the US Department of State as
saying a month earlier that the IMU together with the
Al-Qai'dah terrorist network and the Islamic Movement
of East Turkestan were preparing to launch an attack
on the US military bases in Kyrgyzstan and hotels
where Americans stayed.
This does not correspond to reality. There are no
organizations in Kyrgyzstan such as the Sharqiy (Turkistan)
Azatliq Tashkilati (Eastern Turkestan Liberation
Organization) Islamic Movement of East Turkestan. We
have said that the crime at the Dordoy market was not
committed by "Uighur terrorists", though the
law-enforcement agencies claimed so before. It has
become clear that those were IMU members who committed
that crime.
** The leader of the Islamic Movement of East
Turkestan, Khosan Makhsul, said in an interview with
the US Radio Free Asia in 2002 that his organization
had nothing against any country but China. (He said
that) his only goal was to struggle for the rights of
the Uighur people in East Turkestan (the Xinjiang
Uighur Autonomous Region).
It should be noted that in 2001, at China's insistence,
the USA put the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan on
the list of terrorist organizations by mistake. And
China is making use of that and is actively carrying
out the policy of genocide against Uighurs. This is a
trait in the subject "Uighur terrorism", which, in
fact, is a problem which has been made up and which
the Chinese authorities need quite badly in order to
suppress any manifestations of dissatisfaction among
the residents of Uighurstan (East Turkestan).
British newspaper Gordon (untraced; presumably The
Guardian) has reported that "the Uighur people's
struggle for independence is a peaceful political
struggle, which is supported by the EU member
countries. Unfortunately, the Chinese special services
are expanding their network of secret agents in
Central Asian states in order to undermine and provoke
the Uighur public-political organization."
"The Uighur Card"
Some Kyrgyz politicians and the law-enforcement
agencies are actively pla ying "the Uighur card". In
close interaction with the Chinese special services,
they are trying to label Uighurs with "terrorism and
religious extremism". Special services publish special
articles and other information in media outlets
confirming their scenarios with the help of their
secret agents-journalists.
"Uighur extremism" is a myth created by those who have
a monopoly on power and the right to decide who should
be executed or pardoned. This is precisely the
combination of "totalitarianism" and "extremism" in
the policies of those who rule in Chinese regions and
in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region that explains
the nature of the myth clearer than anything else. The
true tyranny is behind the slogans of fighting against
"Uighur extremism". Based on the above, one may draw
the conclusion that the information about the Islamic
Movement of East Turkestan allegedly preparing an act
of terrorism against the US embassy and the Gansi air
base is an outright lie and provocation by China and
its accomplices. There is no "extremist Uighur
organization" in Kyrgyzstan at all, subsequently,
there are no grounds to speak of any planned act of
terrorism.
The Democracy (the non-governmental organization
Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society) human
rights organization and the Uighur society of
Kyrgyzstan have always supported and will support the
USA's interests in Kyrgyzstan.
Source: Res Publika web site, Bishkek, in Russian 27
May 03
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