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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: ASA
17/005/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 027
4 February 2005
China:
Remembering the victims of police brutality in Gulja,
Xinjiang on 5-6 February 1997
Eight years ago on 5 February 1997, dozens of people
were killed or seriously injured when the Chinese
security forces brutally broke up a peaceful
demonstration in the city of Gulja (Yining) in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, more lost their lives or
were seriously injured in the unrest that occurred the
following day. Large numbers of people were arrested
during the demonstration and its aftermath. Many
detainees were beaten or otherwise tortured and at
least two have since died in custody. An unknown
number of people remain in prison in connection with
these events.
To date, there has been no investigation into the
actions of the security forces and no one has been
brought to justice for these abuses. The Chinese
authorities' failure to address the impunity
surrounding this incident facilitates the repetition
of similar abuses in future and raises serious
questions about China's commitment to "respect and
protect human rights" as incorporated into the
Constitution last year.
The victims of this crackdown were members of China's
mainly Muslim Uighur community living in the XUAR.
Over the last eight years, Amnesty International has
obtained numerous eye-witness testimonies of the
demonstration and its aftermath, building a picture
which conflicts with official interpretations of the
incident.
According to local sources, the demonstration was
sparked by growing levels of repression of Uighur
culture and religion in and around Gulja. This
included the banning of traditional Uighur social
gatherings, called meshreps, which were organised from
1994 in an attempt to revive cultural and Islamic
traditions and to counter social ills such as drinking,
smoking and drug-taking. Uighur community leaders in
and around Gulja also organised local Uighur football
teams in an unofficial league, but these were also
closed down by the authorities and sports facilities
were destroyed. Large numbers of Uighurs were arrested
on suspicion of being so-called "separatists,
terrorists or religious extremists", particularly
during a "Strike Hard" campaign against crime in 1996,
including alleged meshrep leaders as well as religious
students and imams.
On the morning of 5 February 1997, several hundred
young Uighurs, including women and children, took to
the streets of Gulja holding banners, shouting
religious slogans and calling for equal treatment for
Uighurs. They were blocked by the security forces,
including units of the People's Armed Police and riot
police. Some sources have testified that a number of
police then opened fire into the crowd causing serious
injuries; others have stated that the police
reportedly shot at the ground in the direction of the
demonstration and that several people were injured -
and some children killed - by ricocheting bullets. The
police then rounded up and detained hundreds of people,
who were loaded into trucks and taken to Yining City
Police Detention Centre, also known as Yengi Hayat
("New Life") Prison. According to one eyewitness, the
trucks were packed so tightly that people had to lie
on top of each other. Police officers reportedly sat
on top of the detainees beating them with sticks. Some
of those lying on the bottom reportedly died of
suffocation.
"When the trucks arrived at the prison, the police
threw the people out causing injuries like broken legs
and hands. I saw one woman with an ear hanging off." (Eyewitness
testimony).
In the afternoon, a second demonstration was started
by friends and relatives of those who had been
detained in the morning. Some of the protesters were
carrying stones and threw them at the police. The
police reportedly beat the protesters with large
wooden clubs over one metre long and used tear gas in
an attempt to break up the protest. Around 100 people
were injured and some children reportedly died from
the effects of the tear gas. Around twenty children
are believed to have died as a result of the actions
of the police in the morning and the afternoon of 5
February 1997 - some on the spot and others some days
or weeks later as a result of injuries sustained.
Hundreds of protesters were again detained and taken
to various detention centres across Ili prefecture,
where Gulja is situated. The numbers were reportedly
so high that all detention facilities across the
district were full. In Yengi Hayat Prison, around
40-50 detainees were reportedly crammed into each cell,
designed to hold no more than 10 people, leaving no
space to sit down. There were not enough police to
conduct interrogations and process the detainees, so
other government officials, including procurators and
court officials, were brought in to assist.
Many detainees were reportedly beaten in detention. In
one incident in Yengi Hayat Prison, around 40 people
were reportedly forced to kneel on the ground and were
beaten from behind by police wielding wooden batons.
On another occasion reported by several eyewitnesses,
a group of between 300 and 400 demonstrators and
residents detained on 5 February were hosed with icy
cold water by some soldiers or riot police in an open
place, possibly a stadium. The group, including
children, were reportedly kept there, wet, for two
hours in the freezing February temperatures. Some
young men and women among the detainees were forced to
run barefoot in the snow. Eventually those among the
detainees who were suffering from severe frostbite
were taken to hospital - some allegedly had to have
their feet, fingers or hands amputated. The rest of
the group were taken to prison.
Disturbances continued the next day, when thousands of
people reportedly took to the streets to protest. By
this time large numbers of extra police had been
brought into the city. They reportedly went through
the streets arresting and beating people, including
children. In some areas, protesters reportedly
attacked police or Chinese residents and shops and set
fire to some vehicles, while the security forces
reportedly opened fire on protesters and bystanders.
The exact number who lost their lives remains unknown.
The Chinese authorities have officially described the
unrest as an act of "terrorism". In a report published
in the People's Daily in January 2002, the authorities
attributed the incident to the "East Turkestan Islamic
Party of Allah" (ETIPA) which was later named as the
"East Turkestan Islamic Movement" (ETIM). At China's
behest, ETIM was listed as a "terrorist organization"
by the United Nations in 2002, although the evidence
that forms the basis for this conclusion remains
unclear. In February 2003, Amnesty International wrote
to the Chair of the XUAR government, Ismail Tiliwaldi,
asking him for further information to substantiate
official claims of the involvement ETIPA/ETIM in the
incident. The letter also requested that the
authorities make public information about those who
remain in detention in connection with the incident
and to conduct an independent inquiry into all reports
of killings, torture and other serious human rights
violations which reportedly took place during the
demonstration and the unrest that followed. To date,
Amnesty International has received no response to this
letter.
On the eighth anniversary of the demonstration and the
brutal crackdown that followed, Amnesty International
once again reiterates its calls for accountability,
transparency and justice on behalf of all those who
lost their lives, sustained injuries or remain behind
bars in connection with these events.
For more information on the human rights situation in
the XUAR, please see the following Amnesty
International reports.
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