Condemning Arbitrary Executions, Mass Arrests, and Incommunicado Detentions of Uyghurs after July Violence
 
Current Cosponsors:  Frank R. Wolf, William D. Delahunt,  Christopher H. Smith (NJ)
 
Dear Colleague,

In response to the mass arrests and incommunicado detention of mostly Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and the reported October executions of at least nine individuals after deeply flawed trials following last summer’s violent clashes between Uyghurs, Han Chinese and the PRC authorities, I have introduced H. Res. 953. 
 
I urge you to join us in condemning these executions, mass arrests and the ongoing incommunicado detention of those individuals, by cosponsoring this important resolution.
 
Members of the persecuted Uyghur minority, dissatisfied with the government’s investigation of a reported mob attack by Chinese Han workers on Uyghur workers at a factory in Guandong, took their peaceful protest to the streets in the capital Urumqi on July 5. A harsh police response then escalated tensions and sparked violent clashes between ethnic Uyghurs, Han Chinese and police authorities, causing deaths and significant destruction. 
 
In the aftermath of these events, the Chinese government initially detained around 700 mostly Uyghur individuals, later followed by hundreds of additional detentions. In October 2009, several closed summary trials were carried out in violation of due process procedures. These violations included severe restrictions of the right to free choice of counsel, politically motivated judges, no public observers and no access to the accused by family members.  Following these trials, nine individuals were executed, while others were sentenced to life sentences.
 
H. Res. 953 confirms the right to bring to justice any individual guilty of any crime in a legal framework that upholds internationally recognized human rights and legal norms. It further calls on the Government of China to desist from further executions based on flawed trials, to fully implement habeas corpus protections and to conduct trials in an open and transparent manner. The resolution calls on the PRC to cease all government-sponsored crack downs against the Uyghur people, and to provide the names of individuals arrested or detained in connection with the July events to the ICRC and the public and to grant access to family members. H. Res. 953 also calls for the Obama administration to clearly state the opposition of the United States to those flawed trials, to unequivocally raise human rights concerns both publically and privately with Chinese government officials, and to direct the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to request permission to attend any future trials. 
 
If you have any questions or wish to cosponsor the bill, please contact Thomas Dollar at x5-3599 or via email at Thomas.Dollar@mail.house.gov.
 
Sincerely,
 
James P. McGovern
Member of Congress

H_Res_953_Uyghur_Execution_Resolution.pdf