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CHINA RELEASES 'TERROR'
BLACKLIST OF UYGHURS
RFA 2003-12-15
Call for cooperation coincides with Saddam Hussein
capture
China has released a list of individuals and groups
campaigning for independence for the northwestern
Muslim region of the country which it designates as
terrorist organizations, calling on the international
community for cooperation against them, RFA reports.
Beijing's announcement came just one day after the
United States announced the capture of the ousted
Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
China's Ministry of Public Security named four groups
campaigning for self-rule in the northwestern region
of Xinjiang, which Uyghur activists refer to as East
Turkestan.
"They have planned, organized, and carried out a
series of violent terrorist activities such as
bombings, assassinations, arsons, poisonings, and
attacks," Zhao Yongchen, deputy chief of the
ministry's anti-terror bureau, said in a statement
Monday.
He called on the international community to ban the
groups, stop them from getting support or asylum,
freeze their accounts, and prosecute wanted
individuals and extradite them to China.
One of the organizations was the East Turkestan
Information Center (ETIC), which runs a prominent news
Web site on Uyghur affairs. The other three were named
as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), East
Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), and World
Uyghur Youth Congress (WUYC).
The bureau also named: Hasan Mahsum; Muhanmetemin
Hazret; Dolqun Isa; Abudujelili Kalakash; Abudukadir
Yapuquan; Abudumijit Muhammatkelim; Abudula Kariaji;
Abulimit Turxun; Huadaberdi Haxerbik; Yasen Muhammat;
and Atahan Abuduhani.
It accused ETIC of secretly sending information on how
to conduct violent terrorist activities back to a
network within the Chinese border, and claimed it was
using its information role as a facade for these
activities.
"The ETIC openly advertises religious extremist ideas
in articles it published, including 'Is There Hope for
Our Independence' and 'To Win Independence or to
Die'," Zhao said, adding that the organization had
called on Muslims in Chinese territory to employ
explosives and poisons in terrorist attacks on
kindergartens and schools of the ethnic Han population
and government establishments, and to attack Chinese
armed forces.
The Germany-based ETIC English-language Web site
carried reports of China's announcement, including a
reaction from its own spokesman quoted by the
Associated Press. Dilxat Raxit denied any involvement
in violence.
"China's anti-terrorism activities cannot be believed,"
Raxit was quoted as saying. "We hope that Western
countries don't fall into the trap set by the Chinese
government."
Raxit said ETIC was being targeted "because we have
been exposing the negative side of the Chinese
government." He said China often blames unsolved
crimes on the Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang. Chinese
officials offer little evidence of an organized
campaign or of foreign links. Authorities in Xinjiang
have told foreign reporters the territory has little
separatist violence.
"A lot of people sort of feel that they are using the
threat of terrorism to strengthen their control of the
region," said Dru Gladney, a specialist on Xinjiang at
the University of Hawaii, quoted by AP.
Much of the evidence cited by China was obtained in
confessions from suspected operatives, and "we know
that China can be very harsh in its treatment of
prisoners," Gladney said.
In a recent testimony aired by RFA's Uyghur service
after his execution in China, Uyghur independence
activist Shirali detailed a litany of torture and
abuse at the hands of Chinese prison guards and
interrogators. Shirali was accused of membership of
ETIM, which was blacklisted by the United States and
the United Nations as a terrorist organization after
the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Uyghurs constitute a distinct, Turkic-speaking, Muslim
minority in northwestern China and Central Asia. They
declared a short-lived East Turkestan Republic in
Xinjiang in the late 1940s but have remained under
Beijing's control since 1949.
According to a Chinese Government white paper, in 1998
Xinjiang comprised 8 million Uyghurs, 2.5 million
other ethnic minorities, and 6.4 million Han
Chinese‹up from 300,000 Han in 1949. Most Uyghurs are
poor farmers, and at least 25 percent are illiterate.#####
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