An
electronic newsletter No: 2 27 June 1996In this issue: (1) 35th ANNIVERSARY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
(2) UZBEK PRESIDENT IN THE USA.
(3) CELEBRATIONS OF THE 15 TH ANNIVERSARY OF MR. GHENI BATUR'S DEATH WILL TAKE PLACE IN ALMATY, KAZAKSTAN, ON JUNE 29.
(4) THE AUSTRALIAN TURKISTAN ASSOCIATION ORGANIZES A DEMONSTRATION IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, ON JUNE 29, 1996.
(5) UPRISINGS AND PROTESTS IN XUAR.
(6) KAZAKHSTAN PUBLISHES FIRST HISTORY.
(7) KAZAKHSTAN CONSORTIUM REPORTS HUGE OIL, GAS FIND.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* (1) 35th ANNIVERSARY OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
1996 marks the 35th anniversary of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights organization that seeks to free all prisoners of conscience. In Washington, D.C. Harry Wu and other well-known Chinese human rights activists joined with more than a thousand demonstrators in front of the Chinese embassy recently to kick off activities commemorating the anniversary. Amnesty International USA is holding a series of activities to commemorate its 35th anniversary. Last weekend, more than a thousand demonstrators marched along Connecticut avenue and gathered in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. protesting human rights violations in China. Christine Haenn, media spokeswoman for amnesty international USA, told a VOA reporter that the march and the campaign to end human rights abuses in China are the major activities planned to commemorate the anniversary. "Of course there are many countries with human rights violations, but we have serious concerns in China and we are using every opportunity here in Washington to highlight those concerns. We have a very serious concerns in China -- the level of torture, the number of people under arbitrary arrest, the number of executions. We think that the incredible amount of violation that's going on in China warrants extra attention. That's why we are having the international campaign and why we go the extra step to have public demonstrations such as this." Amnesty was founded in 1961 by a British lawyer, Peter Benenson, and currently has more than one million members in more than 150 countries. Amnesty International received the Nobel peace prize in 1977. Amnesty International's annual report, released earlier this month, detailed massive and systematic human rights violations in China that continue despite the dramatic economic changes in China in the past decade. In 1994, according to the report, China carried out more executions than the rest of the world put together. Sixty-eight offenses ranging from tax evasion to seriously disrupting public order are punishable by death. Currently, over one million people are incarcerated in "re-education through labor" camps. Dr. William Shaw, executive director of amnesty international USA, called on the Chinese government stop human rights abuses and release Wei Jingsheng and other political prisoners. And he announced at the rally in front of the Chinese embassy that one of the Shanghai dissident leaders was recently released because of the international pressure. Harry Wu, another prominent Chinese human rights activist, appealed to the Chinese government to stop executions. Wu was arrested by the Chinese government last year and charged with stealing government secrets. After an international campaign led by Amnesty International, he was sentenced to 14 years and then expelled from China because he is a naturalized American citizen. "It brings me no pleasure to protest against my native country. Just recently, the Chinese government has waged an anti-crime campaign. The results have been a rise in the numbers and frequency of executions. This is a country that publicly executes prisoners to scare its own people, the practice is known as killing a chicken to scare a monkey, or in Chinese communist meanings, demonstrating the might of the people's democratic dictatorship. " During its year-long campaign to end the
human rights violations in China, Amnesty International is asking its members to sign
petitions, and lobby governments, inter-governmental organizations and the business
community to take concrete action to bring about real changes in the human rights
situation in China. (2) UZBEK PRESIDENT IN THE USA.
Uzbek president Islam Karimov is currently
paying a week-long working visit to the U.S. Karimov was received by President Bill
Clinton at the White House June 25 and held talks June 25 and 26 with Deputy Secretary of
State Strobe Talbott, Defense Secretary William Perry, CIA Director John Deutch, Energy
Secretary Hazel O'Leary, and other senior U.S. officials. The talks covered Uzbekistan's
reforms, Uzbek-U.S. relations, Central Asian security problems, CIS developments, and the
Russian presidential election. According to White House statements, Clinton promised
continued support for Uzbekistan's independence, internal reforms, and links with the
West. (3) CELEBRATIONS OF THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF MR. GHENI BATUR'S DEATH WILL TAKE PLACE IN ALMATY, KAZAKSTAN, ON JUNE 29.
Gheni Batur is considered to be an Uyghur
national hero of the 1944-1949 "Revolution of the Three Districts" in Eastern
Turkistan. Later, he immigrated to the USSR. After his death he was buried in a cemetery
of Almaty. (4) THE AUSTRALIAN TURKISTAN ASSOCIATION ORGANIZES A DEMONSTRATION IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, ON JUNE 29, 1996.
The demonstration against the planned on
08/06/1996 nuclear test in Lopnor, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the current
brutal campaign by the Chinese government against the so-called "Muslim separatists
in Xinjiang" will be held in Adelaide, Australia on the 29th of June 1996
. (5) UPRISINGS AND PROTESTS IN XUAR.
The newspaper reports that in the period from the middle of April to May 20 in 15 districts of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 45 uprisings and protests by the local Uyghur population had taken place. The protesters demanded the Chinese to leave Xinjiang and to establish an independent state, Eastern
Turkistan, on its territory. Around 65 thousand people participated in the uprisings.
Casualties: among the protesters - 630 people wounded and some reported killed; among the
Chinese military, police and administration - 430 wounded, some reported killed. (6) KAZAKHSTAN PUBLISHES FIRST HISTORY.
Kazakhstan's first post-Soviet treatise on national history was released yesterday. The four-volume History of Kazakhstan was produced by the country's historical, ethnological, and archaeological institutes. Before independence, Kazakhs were taught mostly Soviet and Russian history in schools and knew very little about their own people's history. (7) KAZAKHSTAN CONSORTIUM REPORTS HUGE OIL, GAS FIND. 26 June 1996, Reuters A seismic survey of Kazakhstan's portion of the Caspian continental shelf has discovered immense oil and gas deposits, representatives of the Caspian Sea Consortium which carried out the survey announced yesterday. According to Western and Kazakh representatives, the estimated reserves are in the range of 4 billion to 10 billion tons of oil and 2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Drilling by the consortium is expected to begin in 1997, with commercial production expected by 2003. Kazakhstan estimates that $20 billion in investments will be needed to develop the fields. Formed in 1993, the consortium consists of the state company KazakhstanCaspiShelf as operator and British Petroleum, British Gas, Mobil, Shell, Norway's Statoil, Total of France, and Italy's Agip. The consortium members are currently negotiating production-sharing agreements. The companies reportedly have a combined stake of 6,000 square kilometers of offshore territory out of the 100,00 square kilometers surveyed, leaving ample space for additional investors in the fields' development. Russia claims that the Caspian is indivisible, and has challenged Kazakhstan's right to a sector of its own in the that sea. Moscow contests the legal validity of mineral deals between Caspian and foreign countries. But Russia has not attempted to prevent the activities of international oil companies. Instead, it will probably seek a stake for Russian companies in this project and, more importantly, control over the oil's transportation to international markets. Prepared by:
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