New report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project analyses political violence from 2013-14<\/p>\n
New report<\/a> from the Uyghur Human Rights Project analyses political violence from 2013-14 <\/em><\/p>\n For immediate release According to data assembled by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) from research into Chinese and overseas media, a range of 656 to 715 individuals lost their lives in the violence that engulfed Uyghurs and other ethnicities between 2013-14. The number of fatalities in 2014 is approximately double that of 2013.<\/p>\n Although these numbers should not be considered definitive, as the Chinese government tightly controls information in East Turkestan, they are indicative of deterioration in security conditions since Xi Jinping became Chinese president in early 2013. <\/p>\n Other key findings of the report<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe data collected by UHRP researchers from media reports is alarming in a number of aspects. It tells us that China\u2019s crackdown on Uyghurs is only exacerbating the violence in East Turkestan and killing more Uyghurs. Furthermore, Chinese state media underreporting of violence attempts to maintain the fiction that policies in the region are working,\u201d said UHRP director Alim Seytoff in a statement from Washington, DC. \u201cHowever, China also wants to convince the international community that it faces an \u2018overseas inspired terror threat\u2019 to deflect criticism for its domestic repressive policies, so it is for this reason there is a close relationship with any state media reports on violence and government labels of \u2018terrorism.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The annual plenary session of China\u2019s National People\u2019s Congress (NPC), which will be held from March 5-13, is expected to adopt a draft counterterrorism law that has been criticized<\/a> as a \u201crecipe for abuses.\u201d Mr. Seytoff added: \u201cInstead of rubberstamping the new anti-terrorism legislation, which falls far short of international standards, to legitimize the heavy-handed repression of the Uyghur people, China\u2019s leaders must seriously review and change their failed repressive policies, which are the root causes of the instability in East Turkestan.\u201d<\/p>\n UHRP urges the Chinese government to end its targeted crackdown on the Uyghur community and seek a genuine and inclusive discussion of the instability in East Turkestan. UHRP also urges China to conform with the standards outlined in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy resolution and Plan of Action (A\/RES\/60\/288) adopted by the Member States on 8 September 2006. The resolution states: \u201c[T]errorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group.\u201d<\/p>\n UHRP condemns terrorism and advocates for a peaceful resolution to the legitimate political grievances of the Uyghur people. UHRP recognizes that some incidents occurring during the 2013-14 period appear to be premeditated attacks and unequivocally condemns these acts. Due to China\u2019s tight control of information, the extreme lack of transparency surrounding incidents of violence should cause alarm among independent observers. Incidents such as the one in Alaqagha merit further investigation, as do credible allegations of state violence in Hanerik and Siriqbuya.<\/p>\n China has not only deliberately obscured incidents of state violence against Uyghurs from outside scrutiny, but also it has not offered a full account of the causes for the violence. UHRP has identified Han Chinese migration, economic discrimination, restrictions on Uyghur identity, such as religion, and intensified political repression, including curbs on freedom of speech and information as contributing factors to the growth of tension in East Turkestan, especially in the south of the region.<\/p>\n Chinese officials have not publicly questioned the consequences of repressive policies and provide no forum for Uyghurs to hold policies and officials to account. Through \u201ccounterterror\u201d measures ostensibly aimed at controlling \u201creligious extremists,\u201d China has effectively silenced peaceful Uyghur dissenters to repressive Chinese policies. As a result, Uyghurs have been left with no explicit voice to change policy at a time of inequitable political, economic, social and cultural transformation in the region.<\/p>\n
March 3, 2015 10:30 am EST
Contact: Uyghur Human Rights Project +1 (202) 478 1920<\/p>\n\n