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China 'crushing
Muslim Uighurs'
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BBC - China has been accused by
two US-based human rights groups of conducting a "crushing
campaign of religious repression" against Muslim
Uighurs.
It is being done in the name of
anti-separatism and counter-terrorism, says a
joint report by Human Rights Watch and Human
Rights in China. |
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The crackdown is done in the
name of counter-terrorism, the report says |
It is being done in the
name of anti-separatism and counter-terrorism, says a
joint report by Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in
China.
It is said to be taking place in the western Xinjiang
region, where more than half the population is Uighur.
China has denied that it suppresses Islam in Xinjiang.
It says it only wants to stop the forces of separatism,
terrorism and religious extremism in the region, which
Uighur separatists call East Turkestan.
Detentions and executions
The report accuses China of "opportunistically using
the post-11 September environment to make the
outrageous claim that individuals disseminating
peaceful religious and cultural messages in Xinjiang
are terrorists who have simply changed tactics".
The authors of the report say it is based on
previously undisclosed Communist Party and Chinese
government documents, local regulations, press reports
and local interviews.
The report says the systematic repression of religion
in Xinjiang was continuing as "a matter of considered
state policy".
Such repression ranges from vetting imams and closing
mosques to executions and the detention of thousands
of people every year, it claims.
"Religious regulation in Xinjiang is so pervasive that
it creates a legal net that can catch just about
anyone the authorities want to target," said Sharon
Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China.
The report also reveals that almost half the detainees
in Xinjiang's re-education camps are there for
engaging in illegal religious activities.
Uighurs make up about eight million of the 19 million
people in Xinjiang.
Many of them favour greater autonomy, and China views
separatist sentiments as a threat to the state.
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