Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN32357 Country: China RRT File No: 071612095 Date: 25 September 2007

Keywords: CHN32357 – China – Uighurs

This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.

Questions

Please provide recent research responses concerning the situation of Uighurs in China.

RESPONSE

Please provide recent research responses concerning the situation of Uighurs in China.

RRT Research Response CHN31854 of 29 May 2007 provides information on the situation of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China (See question one of RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31854, 29 May – Attachment 1). The reports collected there indicate that the authorities target Uighurs if they are perceived to be (a) advocating for greater Uighur autonomy or complete separation from China, (b) connected with religious extremism or non-state sanctioned religious practices seen to encouraging separatism, and (c) especially since 2001, to have connections with terrorism. The US Department of State’s March 2007 report on human rights practices for China describes the situation of Uyghurs under its examination of minorities in the country. It refers to four prominent incidents against Uyghur individuals by the Chinese authorities during 2005:

A campaign in Xinjiang targeting the “three evils” of religious extremism, splittism, and terrorism continued. Authorities in Xinjiang regularly grouped together individuals or organizations involved in the three evils, making it difficult to determine whether particular raids, detentions, or judicial punishments were targeted at those peacefully seeking to express their political and religious views or those who engaged in violence (see section 2.c.). The government’s war on terror continued to be used as a pretext for cracking down harshly on Uighurs expressing peaceful political dissent and on independent Muslim religious leaders. In December 2003 the government published an “East Turkestan Terrorist List,” which labeled organizations such as the World Uighur Youth Congress and the East Turkestan Information Center as terrorist entities. These groups openly advocated East Turkestan independence, but only one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was designated by the UN as a terrorist organization.

Uighurs were sentenced to long prison terms and many were executed on charges of separatism. During a previous “strike hard” campaign, which officially concluded in 2003, authorities stated they prosecuted more than 3,000 cases in Xinjiang and held mass sentencing rallies attended by more than 300,000 persons. By its own account, from January to August 2004 the government broke up 22 groups engaged in what it claimed were separatist and terrorist activities and meted out 50 death sentences to those charged with separatist acts. In February 2005 Uighur writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin was sentenced to 10 years in prison after publishing a short story which authorities claimed advocated separatism. In April 2005 writer Abdulla Jamal was detained in Xinjiang, reportedly for writings that promoted Uighur independence. In August 2005 10 individuals reportedly were arrested for possession of pamphlets and audiotapes that called for an independent state. Later in the year, editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal Korash Huseyin was sentenced to three years in prison. In October 2005 Ismail Semed, an ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang, was reportedly convicted and sentenced to death on charges of “attempting to split the motherland” and other counts related to possession of firearms and explosives. In 2003 Uighur Shaheer Ali was executed after being convicted of terrorism.

In June authorities charged Alim, Ablikim, and Qahar Abdurehim, three of Uighur activist and businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer’s sons, with state security and economic crimes. Authorities reportedly beat and tortured Alim and Ablikim, and Alim reportedly confessed to the charges. On July 10, officials indicted Alim and Qahar and placed other family members under house arrest and surveillance (US Department of State 2007, ‘National/Racial/Ethnic/Minorities’ in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 – China, 6 March – Attachment 2).

August 2006 advice provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade indicated that the “Chinese authorities are particularly concerned about politically active Uighurs because they view Uighur political activity as having separatist objectives” (DIAC Country Information Service 2006, Country Information Report No. 06/42 – China: Failed asylum seeker return decision (CISQUEST ref 8639), (sourced from DFAT advice of 7 August 2006), 25 August – Attachment 3). Amnesty International’s Annual Report for 2007 refers to the “severe repression” currently faced by Uighurs and to the extradition of Uighurs from neighbouring states in Central Asia:

Severe repression of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region continued …Government authorities in Xinjiang continued to severely repress the Uighur community and to deny their human rights, including freedom of religion and access to education. An increased number of Uighurs were extradited to China from Central Asia, reflecting growing pressure by China on governments in the region (Amnesty International 2007, Amnesty International Annual Report 2007 – China – Attachment 4)

Questions two and three of Research Response CHN31854 also provide information respectively on (a) the Uighur associations in Australia, and (b) the likelihood of participants in these associations being monitored by the Chinese authorities. Details on the Australian Uyghur Association, including its national president Husan Hassan and contact details, are provided in the response. No information relating to the Uyghur Association of NSW, the Sydney Uighur Mashrap, or Uighur Language School in Sydney is provided; an additional search conducted for this research response could find no details on these organizations. June 2006 DFAT advice on monitoring by Chinese authorities states that it is “likely” that they seek to monitor Uighur groups in Australia and obtain information on their membership and supporters (RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31854, 29 May – Attachment 1).

A second RRT Research Response, Research Response CHN31450 of March 2007, provides details on those demonstrations between 1989 and 2006 involving Uighurs in Xinjiang. The response quotes extensively from a 1999 Amnesty International report which investigated the events leading up to and resulting from the February 1997 demonstration in Gulja (see questions seven and eight of RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31450, 14 March – Attachment 5). The 1999 Amnesty Report, titled Gross Violations of Human Rights in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, stated that:

On 5 February 1997, a demonstration was held in the city, followed by sporadic protests and rioting for two days. According to unofficial sources, the 5 February demonstration was provoked by a series of incidents during the Holy month of Ramadan, marked that year by a heavy police presence in the city. Shortly before 5 February, an incident reportedly occurred at a mosque when police came to arrest two Uighur “talibs” (religious students). According to reports, people at the mosque tried to intervene, a violent fight ensued and both civilians and police were killed or injured in the clash. Dozens of civilians were then reportedly arrested.

Demonstrations:

On 5 February 1997, at 9 o’clock in the morning, several hundred young Uighurs started demonstrating through the streets of Gulja, holding banners, shouting religious slogans and calling for equal treatment for Uighurs. Unofficial sources say that the demonstration lasted for about two hours and was peaceful. At around 11.00 am the demonstrators were stopped by armed police units escorted by trained dogs. Arrests started soon after. According to some sources, between 300 and 500 demonstrators and bystanders were arrested on 5 February. The protests continued sporadically for two days, spreading to the suburbs, and rioting broke out in some areas.

… Amnesty International has received many reports alleging that the security forces carried out arrests and treated people detained in Gulja during and after the protests with extreme brutality.

… Unofficial estimates of the number of arrests during these two weeks vary from 3000 to over 5,000. Many sources have reported that all the places of detention in Gulja city were full and some of those arrested were held in improvised places of detention or taken to jails outside the city. A large number of the Uighur traders in the city were reportedly detained during the week after 5 February and many of them allegedly robbed by police or soldiers of their money and other valuables. Those held included relatives and friends of people arrested during the protests and anyone suspected of being a nationalist sympathiser. Most of those detained were held for several weeks or months, without charge and incommunicado, and many were reportedly tortured. Their relatives reportedly had to give money to police officers in order to secure their release. Several hundred people are believed to have remained in detention. Some of them have been sentenced during “public sentencing rallies” held in Ili since then. Arbitrary arrests continued throughout Ili Prefecture during the following months and people who had formed or taken part in religious classes were particularly targeted (Amnesty International 1999, ‘People’s Republic of China – Gross Violations of Human Rights in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region’, 21 April, pp.17-21 – Accessed 12 March 2007 – Attachment 6).

In February 2007, Research Response CHN31261 provided reports on the forced return of Uighurs from Kazakhstan to China who were suspected of being “separatists, terrorists or religious extremists”; as well as on the increased surveillance and border control by Chinese authorities of Uighurs travelling to Kazakhstan (RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31261, 9 February – Attachment 7).

An Amnesty International report, Death Penalty log: January to December 2000, for the People’s Republic of China provides some information on two brothers executed for separatist activities. Citing Agence France Presse and the Eastern Turkistan Information Centre (ETIC) as sources, the report states that:

Alleged Crime: Assisting separatists/terrorists

Zulikar Memet (Zulpikar or Zulfikar) was sentenced by Ili City Intermediate Court on 25 July 1999, and executed on 14 June 2000. Reported that following sentencing he was held in incommunicado detention and that he was severely tortured during interrogation and his conviction and sentence were based on a forced confession. He stated in court that he was tortured but the court ignored his statement and sentenced him to death. Zulikar Memet, an Uighur from Gulja, was detained in 1998, originally on charges of “helping separatists” – including his brother Hemit Memet – to hide or escape abroad. According to information received there was no retrial or judicial review of his case. (Hemit Memet, Ilyas Zordun and Kasim Mapir were deported from Kazakstan to China in February 1999 and subsequently imprisoned in Xinjiang Uighar AR. It was reported that Hemit Memet was sentenced to death at a secret trial in June in July 1999. The three men were reported in late August 1999 to have been executed (Amnesty International 2002, Death Penalty log: January to December 2000, http://web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/ASA170312002ENGLISH/$File/ASA1703102.pdf – Accessed 25 September 2007 – Attachment 8).

Two recent reports on the situation of Uighurs in China published after the Research Responses referred to above are the US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report, released on 14 September 2007; and a report by the Human Rights in China (HRIC) organisation, commissioned by Minority Rights Group International, and titled China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions. The US Department of State provides the following specific examples of abuses of religious freedom of members of the Uighur minority by the Chinese authorities:

…officials in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) tighly controlled religious activity… Xinjiang authorities continued using combating terrorism to justify placing restrictions on peaceful religious practices of Uighur Muslims, according to human rights NGOs.

…In April 2007, Ablikim Kadeer, a son of Uighur Muslim activist, Rebiya Kadeer, was sentenced to 9 years in prison and 3 years deprivation of political rights, reportedly after confessing to charges of “instigating and engaging in secessionist activities.” In November 2006 Alim Kadeer, another son of Rebiya Kadeer, was sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined $62,500. Qahar Abdurehim, a third son of Rebiya Kadeer, was fined $12,500 for tax evasion but not jailed. Authorities reportedly beat and tortured Alim and Ablikim. In June 2006 Xinjiang officials charged Alim, Ablikim, and Qahar with state security and economic crimes just days after Rebiya Kadeer was elected president of the Uighur American Association, an NGO that advocates for the human rights, including religious freedom, of the Uighur people.

In August 2006 the Government sentenced Huseyin Celil to life imprisonment for “separatist activities.” Celil was a popular Uighur Muslim imam in Kashgar before emigrating to Canada in 2001. Celil reportedly spoke about religious freedom and nonviolent struggle against human rights violations during his sermons and used a megaphone to amplify his call to prayers from the mosque, which attracted government scrutiny. Celil left China in 1995 and continued to preach at a local mosque in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Celil then emigrated to Canada in 2001. In May 2006 Celil was arrested by Uzbek authorities while visiting Tashkent and deported to China. Chinese authorities claimed that he was involved in the assassination of a Uighur leader in Kyrgyzstan, despite Celil’s denials that he was Guler Dilaver, a suspect in the assassination. Celil’s family claims he was being punished for his political and religious activism. NGOs claimed that the Government also committed numerous other violations of Celil’s right to due process.

The Government tightly monitored the publication of Islamic religious materials. In July 2005 several Uighur Muslims were reportedly detained for possession of an illegal religious book called the Mishkat-ul Misabih and other illegal religious activities in Xinjiang.

Uighur Muslim Aminan Momixi was detained in August 2005 after teaching the Qur’an to more than 30 students in her home. Provincial officials stated that she was released after a period of education and training, but did not respond to requests to clarify her whereabouts (US Department’s of State 2007, International Religious Freedom Report – China, 14 September – Attachment 9).

The Human Rights in China (HRIC) 40-page report, China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions, examines the broad issues of political exclusion, unequal access to the benefits of development, and the lack of protection of cultural identity, with regard to three minority communities in China, including the Uighurs in Xinjiang. The report also includes a recent October 2006 quote from the XUAR Communist Party Secretary, Wang Lequan, defending the government’s crackdown on Uyghur activists by saying that “separatists always use religion as an excuse to pursue damaging activities”:

Violations of civil and political rights

…Current instances of rights violations

Minority activities in China are closely monitored by the public security and the state security bureaux….Uyghur activists in the XUAR have also experienced a crackdown. In March 2000, a prominent Uyghur businesswomen, Rebiya Kadeer, who was active in organizing grassroots campaigns to address Uyghurs’ social concerns, was sentenced to eight years by the Urumchi Intermediate People’s Court of the XUAR for ‘divulging state secrets to foreigners’. Although she now has asylum in the USA, her family in China is under constant harassment and in 2006, several of her children were tried on various charges. (p.16)

…Uyghurs interviewed for this report indicate that many Uyghurs in the XUAR are unable to obtain jobs because of the bias of government- and privately-owned businesses, ‘who basically say, “we don’t want you, Urghurs”…they say, Chinese…so basically, even a Urghur college graduate cannot find a job’.” (p.21)

Additionally, open discrimination further limits minorities’ opportunities…For example in XUAR, many local people complain that most jobs in oil and gas extraction got to Chinese settlers as soon as they arrive in the region. One Uyghur complained to HRIC, ‘The [Han] immigrants, they come, basically everything [employment] is prearranged, almost everything (p.23).

Assimilation through population transfers

While …the XUAR maintain majority …Uyghur populations …there have recently been significant changes in the ratios. Population transfers have an adverse effect on minority groups’ opportunities to benefit from economic development, and are a major source of cultural integration and assimilation in these regions. …In XUAR, Han and Uyghurs make up 41 per cent and 44 per cent of the provincial population respectively. (p.24)

…Decreased use of local languages in the pubic sphere

Given the growth of Mandarin use in schools, businesses and public forums, minority children have limited opportunities to become fluent in their own language. …Uyghur languages are increasingly restricted to home use, given their decreasing use in the public domain….In XUAR, a Uyghur activist reported that the Uyghur language had been banned in schools throughout the region… (p.27)

Quoted in an interview with Radio Free Asia on the prevalence of the Chinese language in Uyghur schools, a US-based scholar said (p.28):

‘It is a well-planned and systematic direct attack on Uyghur culture…[to] eradicate Uyghur culture, and close the cultural differences between the Uyghur nation and the Chinese nation’

…Patriotic and nationalistic education campaigns

Minority issues are rarely incorporated in the school curricula of either regular or minority schools in autonomous areas, although such provisions are enshrined in law. In their place, however, ‘patriotic education classes’ are inserted at all levels of school. This is promoted in ethnic autonomous areas by the central government with the aim of strengthening minorities’ loyalty to the Party and central governments. These efforts have been significant in Tibetan and Uyghur areas, which the central government perceives to be major sources of ethnic discontent. (p.30)

…Patriotic education and tensions

…In October 2006, the Communist Party Secretary Wang Lequan of XUAR defended the government’s crackdown on Uyghur activists by stating that Uyghurs were using religion to foment separatist sentiments and that ‘separatists always use religion as an excuse to pursue damaging activities’ (pp. 30-31) (Human Rights in China 2007, China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tension, Human Rights in China (HRIC) website, http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/MRG-HRIC.China.Report.pdf – Accessed 25 September 2007 – Attachment 10).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Non-Government Organisations Amnesty International http://web.amnesty.org/ Region Specific Links Human Rights in China (HRIC) website, http://hrichina.org/ Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/

Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31854, 29 May.

2. US Department of State 2007, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 – China, 6 March.

3. DIAC Country Information Service 2006, Country Information Report No. 06/42 – China: Failed asylum seeker return decision (CISQUEST ref 8639), (sourced from DFAT advice of 7 August 2006), 25 August. (CISNET China CX160293)

4. Amnesty International 2007, Amnesty International Annual Report 2007 – China.

5. RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31450, 14 March.

6. Amnesty International 1999, ‘People’s Republic of China – Gross Violations of Human Rights in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region’, 21 April, \\ntssyd\refer\research\amnesty\asia\1999\170181999.asa.pdf – Accessed 12 March 2007.

7. RRT Country Research 2007, Research Response CHN31261, 9 February.

8. Amnesty International 2002, Death Penalty log: January to December 2000, http://web.amnesty.org/library/pdf/ASA170312002ENGLISH/$File/ASA1703102.pdf – Accessed 25 September 2007).

9. US Department’s of State 2007, International Religious Freedom Report – China, 14 September.

10. Human Rights in China 2007, China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tension, Human Rights in China (HRIC) website, http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/MRG-HRIC.China.Report.pdf – Accessed 25 September 2007 – Attachment 10).