|
UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Thursday 29 January 2004
KYRGYZSTAN: Interview with prominent Uighur human
rights activist
© IRIN
Tursun Islam, Uighur community leader in Bishkek,
wants to stop the deportation of his people to China
BISHKEK, 29 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - After the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991, five newly independent
states emerged in Central Asia. The presence of these
states stimulated a separatist movement among the
Uighur minority in neighbouring China's Xinjiang
Uighur Autonomous Region. Uighurs are a Turkic, Sunni
Muslim people, with close cultural and linguistic ties
to other ethnic groups in Central Asia, including
Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Turkmen.
Since 9/11, Chinese officials have portrayed Uighur
radicals in Xinjiang as separatists and terrorists
with links to a range of extremist Islamic groups
throughout Central Asia. In Bishkek, these charges
have found a sympathetic ear. In 2000 and 1999,
Kyrgyzstan struggled to contain armed incursions by
militants affiliated with the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan (IMU). Uighur activists maintain that they
are trying to preserve their cultural identity in the
face of relentless assimilation pressure from Chinese
authorities in Xinjiang.
Some 10 million Uighurs live in China and roughly
50,000 Uighurs are believed to be living in Kyrgyzstan,
though unofficial estimates put the number at twice
that amount.
Tursun Islam, head of 'Democracy' - a local rights
group helping the Uighur minority in Kyrgyzstan, told
IRIN in an interview about his concern for Uighur
asylum seekers, who had been extradited by Kyrgyz
security forces and sent back to China. Many have been
accused of terrorist offences and executed.
QUESTION: When was your organisation established and
what is its main area of activity?
ANSWER: We created the organisation in May 1998. Upon
submitting all necessary documents to the Ministry of
Justice we were registered as Democracy - a human
rights organisation - on 4 April 1998. I have to
mention that this organisation does not only comprise
Uighurs, we have Lithuanians, Russians, Kyrgyz and
other members. The main priority is human rights
advocacy by informing state agencies, NGOs and
international organisations about human rights
violations in the country.
Often people come to us and say police have harshly
violated their rights, or complain about injustice
from law-enforcement agencies. We provide legal advice
to them and defend them in court.
Q: Are the human rights of Uighurs in Kyrgyzstan
respected?
A: Besides local Uighurs in Kyrgyzstan there are
Uighurs from XUAR [China], usually traders, who come
to Bishkek, or other parts of Kyrgyzstan to trade.
Here in Bishkek, the majority of them work at the "Madina"
trade centre. They have a lot of problems with the
police because they are businessmen, so they come to
our office and complain that police openly rob them.
Many of them come and tell me exactly the same story
that a police officer comes up to a person, asks to
show his passport or other documents, then takes the
passport and says:
"You've got problems with your passport. I have a
right to deport you, but we can resolve this problem,
if you pay me some money. Then I will let you go, if
you do not agree I will take your passport, and then I
will inform the Chinese embassy that you are a
terrorist, or a separatist; then you will have more
problems and will never come here."
Concerning the human rights situation of local Uighurs
in Kyrgyzstan, it is obvious that it is bad. Mass
media publications, even the central TV channel,
represents Uighurs negatively. For example, recently
police officers beat young Uighur boys shouting: "You
Uighurs are terrorists, we will give you problems, we
will oppress you". It is the result of continuously
published articles, which insult Uighur people. Last
year, the deputy prime minister, Kurmanbek Osmonov,
told the "Vecherniy Bishkek" newspaper that the
biggest threat in the region was Uighur separatists.
Local Uighurs are also afraid to talk openly about
such problems, as they have already have difficulty to
get a job and education. However, there is a paragraph
in the Kyrgyz Constitution, which says that all people
in Kyrgyzstan, including Uighurs, are protected by law.
Q: What is your organisation doing to address these
issues?
A: The problem is that we cannot do much because those
who complain do not want to write official complaints,
or to start legal proceedings because they are afraid
of the consequences. They are afraid they may lose
their jobs, or visas or they might face other problems.
Therefore, we cannot do anything, we meet many
government officials, but they ask for evidence, which
is difficult to provide.
Q: You have been quoted as saying you are concerned
about the deportation of Chinese Uighurs back to
China. What are these people doing in Kyrgyzstan?
A: Usually Chinese Uighurs who come to Kyrgyzstan are
seeking political asylum, but I don't know any case,
in which such a person received asylum in Kyrgyzstan.
On the contrary, Kyrgyzstan illegally extradites
Uighurs. Jalal Kasarji, a Uighur who was imprisoned
for "illegal storage of the weapons", got 14 years
imprisonment, and later he got 10 years more (in total
24 years). Now China urgently demands his deportation,
which is a real threat to his life. The government has
already extradited Mamat Yasin, Mamat Sadyk, Jalil
Turdi, and Bajvachcha. I know that these people were
executed in China.
Q: What's the Kyrgyz government's reaction to your
work?
A: Ministry of Internal Affairs officers came to the
office of the Uighur Society in Kyrgyzstan and asked
about me, and we met with them there. They were very
brutal and impolite. I have also been threatened on
the phone several times. I had such calls in 2002 when
I published my paper about human rights in XUAR in a
local newspaper "Respublika". Recently somebody called
me again and said that my life depended on my future
activity. The last threat was more of an order - to
halt the activities of the organisation.
Q: Why the official hostility?
A: It is because I speak the truth and say that there
are human rights problems in Kyrgyzstan and that
Kyrgyzstan doesn't act in accordance with
international law by illegally extraditing Uighurs.
Moreover, I publish information about genocide by the
Chinese government in XUAR. In all papers, petitions,
appeals and articles I use only facts with names,
dates of execution, the number of people executed, and
the place where these people where executed. I work
also with Amnesty international [AI], and we exchange
information that we have.
Q: Why do you continue with this work?
A: The answer is if I were afraid of these things, I
would not have worked, if someone is afraid he or she
will not work, who will work then? Then Uighurs will
disappear. I say only facts, and I want to show only
the truth about Uighurs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The material contained on this Web site comes to you
via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may
not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy,
archive or re-post any item on this site, please
retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or
extracts should include attribution to the original
sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not
be re-produced without the express permission of the
original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
|
