PRC using Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a tool of intimidation against Uyghurs
For immediate release
August 9, 2007, 5:45 PM EST
Contact: Uyghur Human Rights Project +1 (202) 349 1496
From August 9th to 17th, more than 6,500 troops from member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will participate in 揳nti-terrorism?exercises in Urumchi, the capital of East Turkistan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or XUAR) and Chelyabinsk, Russia. Sixteen hundred Chinese troops will join the armed forces of the five other SCO members- Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan- in the joint military exercises, billed as 揚eace Mission 2007??This is the first time that the SCO has conducted military exercises inside East Turkistan. The scale of the exercises suggests that they are aimed at controlling local populations and not just combating 搕errorism?
The military exercises are a stark reminder of the Chinese government抯 domestic and international campaign of intimidation against the Uyghur people and the deteriorating human rights conditions in East Turkistan. The SCO has become another instrument by which the PRC seeks to suppress the basic human rights and democratic aspirations of the Uyghur people. By holding the final stage of the 揳nti-terrorism?exercises in Urumchi, the Chinese government is signaling its resolve to use the SCO as a tool of repression against Uyghurs.燭he presence of the SCO heads of state in Urumchi is meant to demonstrate that Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan stand behind the PRC in its treatment of East Turkistan抯 Uyghur population.?/font>
Beijing has extended its campaign of intimidation into neighboring countries by using bilateral agreements with SCO member and observer states to force the return of Uyghurs suspected of involvement in any kind of political activity disliked by the Chinese government. Uyghurs extradited to the PRC face serious human rights violations, including torture, unfair trials, and execution. In all of these cases, SCO governments are in clear violation of the principal of non-refoulement, which protects refugees from being returned to places where their lives or freedoms could be threatened.?/font>
Recent examples of Uyghurs who have been extradited to the PRC from SCO member and observer states include Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil, now serving a life term in prison, who was detained in Uzbekistan in March 2006 while visiting relatives; activists Yusuf Kadir and Abdukadir Sidik, now detained or possibly executed, who were extradited from Kazakhstan; Ismail Semed, who was deported from Pakistan in 2003 and executed in China in February, 2007; and Osman Alihan, extradited in July 2007, also from Pakistan.
揥e call on the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to address the human rights violations against Uyghurs at the upcoming SCO Summit in Bishkek,?said prominent Uyghur leader and human rights defender Rebiya Kadeer. 揥e ask the member states to respect the principle of non-refoulement and guarantee the rights of Uyghur political activists and refugees who fled to their respective countries.?/font>
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Chinese authorities have utilized the 搘ar on terror?as a pretext to repress all forms of dissent in East Turkistan, no matter how legitimate and peaceful, by creating an atmosphere of fear in which any Uyghur can be accused of 搕errorism?and subjected to mistreatment in the PRC抯 arbitrary and non-transparent legal system. In the name of 損eace and stability? Chinese authorities have repeatedly used heavy-handed and violent techniques against peaceful dissent and any assertions of a distinct Uyghur identity. If leaders in Beijing genuinely hope to achieve peace and stability, they must address the severe human rights violations that occur within the PRC抯 borders, instead of intensifying intimidation and repression.
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The Uyghur American Association (UAA) works to promote the preservation and flourishing of a rich, humanistic and diverse Uyghur culture, and to support the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, democratic means to determine their own political future.
The UAA has undertaken the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other indigenous groups in East Turkistan, on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community抯 democratic aspirations.
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