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China Convicts and Sentences 20 Accused of Militant Separatism in Restive Region
By CHRIS BUCKLEY
Published: March 27, 2013
HONG KONG Two courts in Chinas far northwestern Xinjiang region have convicted and sentenced 20 people accused of militant separatism in this area where members of the Uighur ethnic minority bridle at Chinese rule and restrictions on their Islamic beliefs.
The sentences, ranging from five years in jail up to life in prison, were given Tuesday in five separate cases by courts in Kashgar and Bayingol Prefectures, Xinjiangs official Tianshan news Web site said on Tuesday.
The Chinese-language report did not describe the ethnicity of the people convicted or their genders. But their distinctive names and the separatist accusations left little doubt that they are Uighur, a mainly Muslim ethnic group with a Turkic language and culture that sets them apart from Chinas Han majority. And details in the report offered a picture of volatile resentment among Uighur men drawn to militancy spread over the Internet.
The accused were seduced by ideas of religious extremism and terrorist violence and used the Internet, mobile phones and digital storage devices to organize, lead and participate in terror organizations, provoke incidents, and incite separatism, the Chinese report said.
Its not clear what is being alleged against these people beyond being members of a clandestine organization, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher based in Hong Kong for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group with headquarters in New York.
China has for a long time conflated religious activities taking place outside of state control with extremism, said Mr. Bequelin, who closely follows developments in Xinjiang.
Theres been so many unsupported accusations by the Chinese government about extremist Islamic activities and terrorist activities in Xinjiang that it makes its difficult to have faith in these kinds of announcements, he said.
Uighurs once formed the vast majority of people in Xinjiang, which came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949. Over the last few decades, however, the number of Han Chinese residents has multiplied, aided by migration. Recent Chinese government estimates say Uighurs make up about 46 percent of Xinjiangs civilian population of 22 million, while Han Chinese account for 40 percent, and the remainder belong to other ethnic groups.
Chinese government controls on the region and Islam have become a source of persistent tensions. Experts also say some Uighurs have been drawn to stricter currents of Islam, including among some the ideal of an independent homeland based on strict Muslim precepts.
Xinjiang has come under increasingly pervasive security in recent years, especially since July 2009, when the regional capital, Urumqi, suffered the worst ethnic violence in China in many years as Uighurs attacked Han Chinese residents after a protest by Uighurs that was broken up by the police then spiraled into bloodshed. At least 197 people were killed, most of them Han, according to the Chinese government, and Uighur neighborhoods became the target of violent demonstrations and trashing by Han Chinese, as well as sweeping arrests by the police.
Since then, Xinjiang has experienced sporadic flare-ups of protest and violence. But advocates of Uighur self-rule and human rights groups say the Chinese government has exaggerated the level of organization behind these incidents in an effort to discredit legitimate Uighur grievances.
In Beijing this month, Zhang Chunxian, the Communist Party head of Xinjiang, told reporters at the annual meeting of the national Parliament that although the situation remains tough, the overall stability in Xinjiang is improving and under control.
The latest report said that some of the people convicted in Kashgar, in southwestern Xinjiang, used cellphones and videos to spread the militant ideas of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan two groups accused by China and its Central Asian neighbors of fomenting separatism. Parts of Xinjiang border Pakistan, and a small and isolated patch adjoins Afghanistan.
In one case in Kashgar, eight people formed a group that organized training in terrorist capabilities, bought weapons, and planned to assassinate local law enforcement officers and police, engaged in illegal religious proselytizing, and collected money to send supporters abroad, the report said. It did not say how far advanced the plots were, or which country the followers intended to travel to. Two of the accused ringleaders were sentenced to life in prison.
In another case in Kashgar, three people were accused of forming a group that committed similar crimes, and of beating people and smashing vehicles. The court in Bayingol, in northern Xinjiang, convicted one person of setting up an Internet chat room to promote ethnic separatism, terrorist violence and religious extremism.
Several government offices contacted in Xinjiang could not give the Uighur rendering of the names of the accused or other details, and nor did the offices or the report say whether they pleaded innocent or guilty or intended to appeal the sentences.
Chinas party-run courts rarely find in favor of defendants, especially in politically sensitive cases.
Patrick Zuo contributed research from Beijing.
By CHRIS BUCKLEY
Published: March 27, 2013
HONG KONG Two courts in Chinas far northwestern Xinjiang region have convicted and sentenced 20 people accused of militant separatism in this area where members of the Uighur ethnic minority bridle at Chinese rule and restrictions on their Islamic beliefs.
The sentences, ranging from five years in jail up to life in prison, were given Tuesday in five separate cases by courts in Kashgar and Bayingol Prefectures, Xinjiangs official Tianshan news Web site said on Tuesday.
The Chinese-language report did not describe the ethnicity of the people convicted or their genders. But their distinctive names and the separatist accusations left little doubt that they are Uighur, a mainly Muslim ethnic group with a Turkic language and culture that sets them apart from Chinas Han majority. And details in the report offered a picture of volatile resentment among Uighur men drawn to militancy spread over the Internet.
The accused were seduced by ideas of religious extremism and terrorist violence and used the Internet, mobile phones and digital storage devices to organize, lead and participate in terror organizations, provoke incidents, and incite separatism, the Chinese report said.
Its not clear what is being alleged against these people beyond being members of a clandestine organization, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher based in Hong Kong for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group with headquarters in New York.
China has for a long time conflated religious activities taking place outside of state control with extremism, said Mr. Bequelin, who closely follows developments in Xinjiang.
Theres been so many unsupported accusations by the Chinese government about extremist Islamic activities and terrorist activities in Xinjiang that it makes its difficult to have faith in these kinds of announcements, he said.
Uighurs once formed the vast majority of people in Xinjiang, which came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949. Over the last few decades, however, the number of Han Chinese residents has multiplied, aided by migration. Recent Chinese government estimates say Uighurs make up about 46 percent of Xinjiangs civilian population of 22 million, while Han Chinese account for 40 percent, and the remainder belong to other ethnic groups.
Chinese government controls on the region and Islam have become a source of persistent tensions. Experts also say some Uighurs have been drawn to stricter currents of Islam, including among some the ideal of an independent homeland based on strict Muslim precepts.
Xinjiang has come under increasingly pervasive security in recent years, especially since July 2009, when the regional capital, Urumqi, suffered the worst ethnic violence in China in many years as Uighurs attacked Han Chinese residents after a protest by Uighurs that was broken up by the police then spiraled into bloodshed. At least 197 people were killed, most of them Han, according to the Chinese government, and Uighur neighborhoods became the target of violent demonstrations and trashing by Han Chinese, as well as sweeping arrests by the police.
Since then, Xinjiang has experienced sporadic flare-ups of protest and violence. But advocates of Uighur self-rule and human rights groups say the Chinese government has exaggerated the level of organization behind these incidents in an effort to discredit legitimate Uighur grievances.
In Beijing this month, Zhang Chunxian, the Communist Party head of Xinjiang, told reporters at the annual meeting of the national Parliament that although the situation remains tough, the overall stability in Xinjiang is improving and under control.
The latest report said that some of the people convicted in Kashgar, in southwestern Xinjiang, used cellphones and videos to spread the militant ideas of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan two groups accused by China and its Central Asian neighbors of fomenting separatism. Parts of Xinjiang border Pakistan, and a small and isolated patch adjoins Afghanistan.
In one case in Kashgar, eight people formed a group that organized training in terrorist capabilities, bought weapons, and planned to assassinate local law enforcement officers and police, engaged in illegal religious proselytizing, and collected money to send supporters abroad, the report said. It did not say how far advanced the plots were, or which country the followers intended to travel to. Two of the accused ringleaders were sentenced to life in prison.
In another case in Kashgar, three people were accused of forming a group that committed similar crimes, and of beating people and smashing vehicles. The court in Bayingol, in northern Xinjiang, convicted one person of setting up an Internet chat room to promote ethnic separatism, terrorist violence and religious extremism.
Several government offices contacted in Xinjiang could not give the Uighur rendering of the names of the accused or other details, and nor did the offices or the report say whether they pleaded innocent or guilty or intended to appeal the sentences.
Chinas party-run courts rarely find in favor of defendants, especially in politically sensitive cases.
Patrick Zuo contributed research from Beijing.
