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Congressional Human Rights Caucus Briefing
 

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Briefing Crackdown on Human Rights in China: The "War on Terrorism Excuse."

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building

Please join the Congressional Human Rights Caucus at a briefing on the human rights situation of the Uighur minority in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The briefing will take place on Wednesday, October 16, 2002, at 11:00 a.m. in room 2200 Rayburn HOB.

The Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang (XUAR) has a long history of ethnic struggle for cultural recognition and independence from Chinese rule.

During the 1930s and 1940s, two independent Republics of Eastern Turkestan were formed to resist Chinese rule, but were short-lived. Only in 1949 --with the creation of the PRC -- did the central Chinese government establish full control over the region. Much like the Tibetans, the turkic Uighurs in Xinjiang have struggled for cultural survival in the face of a government-supported migration of Hun Chinese. Xinjiang has a population of
18 million and is home to several Muslim ethnic groups, of which the eight million Uighurs are the largest. The percentage of ethnic Han Chinese has grown from 6 percent in 1949 to 40 percent at present, now reaching some 7.5 million people.

Several short-lived groups sprang up in Xinjiang to protect its cultural identity, sometime resorting to violence. Once a hint of a political independence movement was displayed by the XUAR, the PRC government pursuit a policy of harsh repression, torture, arbitrary arrests and executions. Amnesty International reports the use of extremely brutal methods of torture in the XUAR, which it could not identify anywhere else in the PRC.

After the attacks on September 11th, the PRC has used the pretext of the War on Terrorism to further increase their crackdown on the Uighurs. On December 29, 2001, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, giving authorities even wider powers. Indeed, extremists of an "Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)," which also has a chapter in Xinjiang, have fought in Afghanistan, resulting in the U.S. and U.N. designation as a terrorists group. However, according to human rights groups, the PRC reportedly detained several thousand people under the new legal authority, and scores were charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law. At the same time, the government has further restricted the religious rights of the Muslim
population in the XUAR, closing mosques, increasing official controls over the Islamic clergy in the region, and detaining or arresting religious leaders deemed to be ''unpatriotic'' or subversive.

In addition, the PRC continues to detain Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent Uighur business woman, who was sentenced in March 2000 to eight years in prison for allegedly leaking "state secrets." She was on her way to meet with a delegation of staff from congressional offices and the Congressional Research Service to provide them with public information when she was arrested.

To discuss these important issues, we will welcome to the Caucus:

T. Kumar, Amnesty International

Four Uighur activists**

We look forward to seeing you at this important briefing. For further information, please contact Maryamu Aminu (Rep. Lantos) at x5-3531, or David

Dettoni (Rep. Wolf) at x5-5136.

Tom Lantos, M.C. Frank R. Wolf, M.C.
Co-Chair, CHRC Co-Chair, CHRC

______________________________________
Hans Hogrefe
Senior Legislative Assistant
Director, Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Rep. Tom Lantos
2217 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel.: 202-225-3531
http://www.house.gov/lantos/caucus/caucuswebpage.htm
 

© Uygur.Org  16/10/2002 18:35  A.Karakas