International community must seek answers from China about the events of July 5, 2009 and condemn current crackdown.
For immediate Release
July 1, 2014, 2:35 pm EST
Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 478 1920
The Uyghur American Association (UAA) calls on the international community to join Uyghurs across the world in commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Chinese government’s violent suppression of a peaceful demonstration in Urumchi on July 5, 2009. UAA asks multilateral organizations and concerned governments to publicly express alarm over the lack of transparency surrounding the dispersal of protesters and to ask China to account for the number of dead and disappeared.
“Uyghur families in East Turkestan are still wondering about the fate of their relatives five years after the state violently put down a peaceful demonstration on July 5, 2009. They do not know if their loved ones are dead or alive. It is a psychological torment that punishes innocent Uyghurs, even though the Chinese government could provide a semblance of closure with an open account of the events on July 5 and the ruthless crackdown that followed,” said UAA president, Alim Seytoff in a statement from Washington, DC.
“It is important that the international community maintain pressure on China in order for these families to get answers from Chinese officials, who seem to believe that they are above accountability. As history has taught us, conflict resolution is only possible when state responsibility for human rights violations is acknowledged and the perpetrators brought to justice. However, as China embarks on a new wave of intimidation against the Uyghur people, this prospect looks as far away as ever.”
On July 5, 2009, Uyghur men, women and children peacefully assembled in People’s Square, Urumchi to protest government inaction over a deadly attack on Uyghur factory workers in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. In separate reports published in 2010, the Uyghur Human Rights Project and Amnesty International interviewed eyewitnesses to the demonstration, who described security forces’ use of deadly live fire against Uyghurs. Despite such evidence, Chinese state media called the events of July 5, 2009 a “terrorist” action.
Human Rights Watch documented the disappearance of 43 young Uyghur men and youths after the July 5, 2009 unrest in Urumchi. The report, We Are Afraid to Even Look for Them, describes large-scale sweep operations in the Uyghur neighborhoods of Erdaoqiao and Saimachang in Urumchi and smaller, targeted raids that continued through at least mid-August, 2009. Human Rights Watch highlights the arbitrary nature of the detentions, stating that, in some cases, “the security forces simply went after every young man they could catch and packed them into their trucks by the dozens.”
Further troubling aspects of post-July 5 detentions are reports of minors arbitrarily detained, tortured, sentenced or simply disappeared, which puts the People’s Republic of China in contravention of its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Article 37.
Chinese officials have also taken to harassing Uyghurs who have questioned the authorities as to the whereabouts of their loved ones. Radio Free Asia reported on June 23, 2014 how Patigul Ghulam had been detained in May. Ms. Ghulam has been vocal in discovering the fate of her son, Imammemet Eli, who has not been seen since police seized him on July 14, 2009.
Since July 5, 2009, Chinese officials have spared no effort to silence and intimidate Uyghur voices about the unrest, and have actively sought to suppress information that contradicts the official narrative. Besides an unprecedented 10-month communications blackout, harsh punishment for Uyghur webmasters and journalists aided official efforts to manage and control information emerging from the region on the unrest.
Conditions in East Turkestan have markedly deteriorated since July 5, 2009. Incidents of violence have risen significantly and credible reports have emerged of extrajudicial killings of Uyghur protestors in Hanerik (see The New York Times and Radio Free Asia) and Alaqagha.
On May 23, 2014, the Chinese government announced a one-year “anti-terror” campaign. Overseas media reports cited Xinjiang party chief, Zhang Chunxian as stating the crackdown will employ “unconventional measures,” which UAA fears includes extrajudicial methods.
Since May 23, Chinese authorities have followed through on the crackdown and Chinese and overseas media have reported on a series of region wide “Cultural Revolution-style” mass trials, death sentences, and executions:
All of the above measures were undertaken in less than six weeks and indicate a widespread and possibly arbitrary crackdown is underway in East Turkestan. While UAA is unequivocally opposed to all forms of violence, UAA is concerned that due process of law has not been observed in these cases, given the speed and atmosphere of retribution in the region. Furthermore, China’s lack of transparency in so called terrorism cases and conflation between peaceful dissent and violence is call for concern over the legitimacy of the current crackdown.
UAA believes the ongoing crackdown demonstrates that the Chinese government has not learned from July 5, 2009. Instead of listening to the legitimate grievances of the Uyghur people and resolving inter-ethnic tensions in East Turkestan through dialogue with the Uyghur people, Chinese officials have resorted once more to fear and intimidation.
UAA asks the international community to express concern over the one-year “anti-terror” campaign and seek guarantees that international standards of due process are followed in all criminal and judicial measures.
Bibliography of select news reports & academic works
Compiled by Professor Magnus Fiskesjö
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