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POLICE IN XINJIANG
DETAIN PROTESTERS
2004-06-14
WASHINGTON, June 14, 2004—Police in the Xinjiang
region of northwestern China have detained at least 16
people for protesting what they say is an unfair
relocation package, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.
About 1,000 farmers, forestry workers, and herdsmen
from the Kapchigay forestry farm protested June 11
outside the offices of a reservoir and water power
station project on the Tikas branch of the Ili River,
local sources told RFA's Uyghur service.
Local authorities launched the project—on the border
between Tikas and Tokkuz Tara countries in Ili
Prefecture—in 2000 in a bid to meet China’s
skyrocketing energy demand. Plans call for the
relocation of some 18,000 local farmers, forest
workers, and herdsmen to allow its completion.
"There are 16 people brought to our station—yesterday
there were 10, and today we have 6," a municipal
police officer said on condition of anonymity. "I
don’t know details. I heard it was about a land
dispute."
Other witnesses said in interviews that up to 50
people were detained, many of them members of the
Uyghur ethnic group that forms a tiny minority in
China but a majority in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region.
"Police came in and detained about 50 demonstrators,
accusing them of opposing plans to relocate them to
make way for the water power station," one witness
said. "There is no information on where those 50
people were taken, and we are worried about the
detainees’ safety."
The witness said demonstrators were demanding the
38,000 yuan (U.S. $4,600) they had been promised as
compensation for moving, after they received only 880
yuan (U.S. $106) each.
The June 11 demonstration is the first major protest
reported in Ili Prefecture in seven years.
In February 1997, young Uyghurs marched through Ili to
protest the arrest of a youth leader and demand an end
to rights abuses. Armed police confronted them, and
local people say many were killed and hundreds
detained.
RFA broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners
who lack regular access to full and balanced reporting
in their domestic media. Through its broadcasts and
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the lives of people across Asia. Created by Congress
in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA currently
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Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke,
Amdo, and Kham), and Uyghur. It adheres to the highest
standards of journalism and aims to exemplify accuracy,
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visit www.rfa.org to learn more about RFA or to listen
to RFA broadcasts.#####
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