Muslim Uighurs are known to be religious and mosques like this one can be found throughout the villages surrounding Tulufan.
Twomajor human rights groups accused China of directing a crushingcampaign of religious repression against its Muslim Uighurs minority,in the name of anti-separatism and counter-terrorism.
The accusation was made in a joint report by two human rights organisations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Human Rights in China.
The 114-page report, Devastating Blows: Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang,is based on previously undisclosed Communist Party and governmentdocuments, as well as local regulations, official newspaper accounts,and interviews conducted in Xinjiang, according to the Web site ofHuman Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday, 12 April.
Accordingto the report, peaceful Uighur activists are being arrested, torturedand at times executed, while harsher punishments are given forso-called separatist activity, which Chinese officials term “terrorism”.
“Atits most extreme, peaceful activists practicing their religion in waysthat the Party and government deem unacceptable are arrested, tortured,and at times executed,” said the report.
Itadded that half of the inmates in Xinjiang labor camps have been jailedwithout our trial or judicial review, for allegedly engaging inseparatist activities.
“Theharshest punishments are saved for those accused of involvement inso-called separatist activity, which officials increasingly term’terrorism’ for domestic and external consumption.”
Thereport also accuses China of “opportunistically using the post-11September environment to make the outrageous claim that individualsdisseminating peaceful religious and cultural messages in Xinjiang areterrorists who have simply changed tactics”.
TheUighurs are a Turkish-speaking minority of eight million whosetraditional homeland lies in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region innorth-west China.
Perfect Excuse
“I am sure you are aware of the lack of freedom. That’s why no one can speak out, no one is free to say what they want,” Kadeer.
TheAsia director for Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, said the worldwidecampaign against terrorism has given Beijing the “perfect excuse” tocrack down on Xinjiang.
“OtherChinese enjoy a growing freedom to worship, but the Uighurs, like theTibetans, find that their religion is being used as a tool of control.”
TheUighurs, according to HRW, have become increasingly fearful for theircultural survival and traditional way of life in the face of anintensive internal migration drive that has witnessed the arrival ofmore than 1.2 million ethnic Chinese settlers over the past decade.
“Uighursare seen by Beijing as an ethno-nationalist threat to the Chinesestate,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China.
“AsIslam is perceived as underpinning Uighur ethnic identity, China hastaken draconian steps to smother Islam as a means of subordinatingUighur nationalist sentiment.”
Thereport said it unveils for the first time “the complex architecture oflaw, regulation, and policy in Xinjiang that denies Uighurs religiousfreedom, and by extension freedom of association, assembly, andexpression”.
The Chinese government also vets those who can be Islamic scholars and what version of Noble Qur’an is acceptable.
“Chinese policy and law enforcement stifle religious activity and thought even in school and at home,” it said.
“Oneofficial document goes so far as to say that ‘parents and legalguardians may not allow minors to participate in religious activities’.”
Call
HumanRights Watch and Human Rights in China called on the internationalcommunity to “press China to repeal these regulations and end theirpolicies and practices of discrimination against Uighurs.
Theorganizations also stressed the need to challenge Chinese assertionsthat all separatists are criminals or are connected to internationalterror networks.
“Nocountry should return to China any Uighurs claimed by China to beinvolved in terrorism, separatism or other criminal acts,” said Adams.
“GivenChina’s past record, there is every reason to fear they will betortured or even subjected to the death penalty once back in China.”
China has denied that it suppresses Islam in Xinjiang.