Haji Memet and Abdusalam Nasir were detained on 23 September, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China, reportedly on suspicion of leaking “state secrets”. The “state secrets” are believed to be related to allegations of torture that led to the death of Shoret Tursun, Haji Memet’s relative. Both men are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Haji Memet is related to Shohret Tursun, who was detained on 6 July in Urumqi, capital of the XUAR. Shohret Tursun died in custody. On 19 September, the police in Lengger (Chinese: Langan) village in Korgas (Chinese: Huocheng) county, Ili (Chinese: Yili) prefecture gave Shohret Tursun’s body to his family, stating that he had suffered a fatal heart attack. According to the family, his chest was covered in bruises and his legs, stomach and back were scarred and cut.  Shohret Tursun’s family believes he died as a result of torture. They refused to bury the body immediately as requested by the police and called for an investigation. Radio Free Asia, quoting unnamed villagers, reported that the family home was surrounded on 19 September by eight truck loads of soldiers and two armed vehicles, who prevented villagers from visiting the family.

Soldiers forcibly entered the family’s home on 19 September and threatened to bury Shohret Torsun if the family did not do so themselves. The family then buried Shohret Tursun on Sunday 20 September. Abdusalam Nasir was involved in performing the burial rites. According to Radio Free Asia, Shohret Tursun’s father used Abdusalam Nasir mobile phone before the burial to call Radio Free Asia, which then published the allegations of torture on 19 September.

There has been a heavy police presence in the village since the burial of Shohret Tursun as the police have been investigating who is the source for Radio Free Asia, regarding information on Shohret Tursun’s case. They are said to still be searching for a third, unnamed person.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Mandarin, English or your own language;
Demand the authorities immediately and unconditionally release Haji Mamat and Abdusalam Nasir, unless they are charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence;
demand they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated while they remain in custody;
call on the authorities to ensure they have access to their family and legal counsel of their choice;
urge the authorities to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations that Shohret Tursun’s death in custody was as a result of torture, with a view of bringing those guilty to justice.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 16 October TO:
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People’s Government
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu,2 Zhongshanlu, Wulumuqishi, 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People’s Republic of China
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
Chairman of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People’s Republic of China
YANG Jing Zhuren
Guojia Minzu Shiwu Weiyuanhui
252 Taipingqiaodajie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100800
People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency

Director of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security
LIU Yaohua Tingzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gong’anting
58 Huanghelu
Wulumuqishi 830001
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director

Send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION

Two Uighur men at risk of torture

Additional Information

Shohret Tursun was one of some 40 people from Korgas who were detained around at the time of the July riots in Urumqi, the regional capital. According to his father, quoted by Radio Free Asia, he was transferred to Ili on 18 July and further on to Korgas on 23 July.

All over China, tight security measures are in place as the country prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949. These include checkpoints on all roads leading to Beijing and suspension of postal services for liquids. Many human rights activists are being silenced to ensure celebrations proceed according to the authorities plan and thousands of people have been detained in “strike hard” anti-crime campaigns. The authorities have again stopped issuing travel permits to foreigners to the Tibet Autonomous Region, and in the XUAR, the recent riots have only added to the heavy security.

Following the July unrest in the XUAR the authorities have detained thousands, reportedly brought dozens to trial, and threatened those involved in the unrest with harsh sentences. The authorities have interpreted all signs of dissent as stemming from “terrorist” or “separatist” activities, justifying their harsh crackdown while ignoring deep-rooted sources of the discontent. Authorities claim that the July unrest was orchestrated by organizations operating outside China including the World Uyghur Congress whose current president is Rebiya Kadeer, former prisoner of conscience. Eye-witness accounts received by Amnesty International contradict government accounts of the events of July, and suggest excessive use of force on the part of the authorities resulting in injury and deaths.

A recently concluded meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee vowed to “effectively prevent and resolutely crack down on ethnicity-related separatist activities” and to institutionalize measures to combat corruption.

Over recent years the Chinese authorities have increasingly used vaguely-worded provisions in the Criminal Law to curtail freedom of expression. These include “disturbing public order” and “endangering state security”, which includes, among others, “subversion of state power”, “separatism” and “leaking state secrets”. The definition of “state secrets” is very broad and arbitrary, and can be retroactive and hence open to misuse: people charged with these crimes are often deprived of many rights, including access to legal counsel of their choosing, access to family and a public trial. Rebiya Kadeer, for example, was convicted on charges of “leaking state secrets”. The verdict of her trial describes the “secret information” as copies of the publicly available newspapers, Kashgar Daily, Xinjiang Legal News, Yili Daily and Yili Evening News, that she sent to her husband in the USA.

UA: 252/09 Index: ASA 17/053/2009 Issue Date: 24 September 2009

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AFP/Philippe Lopez

Chinese armed police march along a street in Urumqi, Sept. 5, 2009.

HONG KONG—Authorities in China’s remote and restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have detained two ethnic minority Uyghur men and are searching for a third for allegedly leaking information related to the death in police custody of a man from their village, sources said.

Police detained Haji Memet, 35, and Abdusalam Nasir, 33, early Sept. 23 in Lengger [in Chinese, Langan] village, Qorghas county  [in Chinese, Huocheng] county, Ili prefecture, according to two witnesses, who said a third man was also being sought for questioning.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

“Their families are so afraid,” one witness said. “They’re afraid the men will be tortured.”

Local police couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Standoff over burial

Memet is related to Shohret Tursun, whose badly bruised and disfigured body was released to his relatives Saturday—prompting a standoff between authorities who wanted him buried immediately and family members who refused and demanded an inquiry.

Abdusalam Nasir, a villager, helped wash Tursun’s body before the burial, which authorities forced the family to hold on Sunday.

Nasir gave his mobile phone to Tursun’s father, Tursun Ishan, who spoke to Radio Free Asia (RFA) about his son’s death and his family’s demand for an autopsy.

Both Memet and Nasir were arrested on Jan. 25, 1997, on charges of “splittism.” They served eight and six years in jail, respectively.

On Saturday, one villager said, eight trucks of soldiers and two other armed vehicles surrounded Tursun’s family home after the family refused to bury him as instructed without an inquiry.

“We locked the door of the room where we keep the body, but the police officers broke the lock,” Tursun Ishan said in an interview. “There were too many…”

“They told me that he had a heart attack. But it was a lie. It is a lie. My son never had a medical problem in his life,” Ishan said.

“His body was full of wounds and bruises—his legs, belly, and back were covered with wounds and scars. His chest was full of bruises.”

July clashes

Tursun, a member of the Uyghur ethnic minority and the father of a two-year-old, was among some 40 men from Qorghas detained around the time of deadly protests July 5 in the regional capital, Urumqi, villagers said.

The protests by Uyghurs, a largely Muslim Turkic people, followed alleged official mishandling of earlier ethnic clashes in far-away Guangdong province.

The July 5 protest sparked days of deadly rioting in Urumqi, pitting Uyghurs against majority Han Chinese and ending with a death toll of almost 200, by the government’s tally.

Tursun was detained July 6 in Urumqi. He was transferred to Ili on July 18 and Qorghas on July 23, his father said.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China’s ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Xinjiang is a strategically crucial vast desert territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

The region has abundant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas-producing region.

www.rfa.org

The post Two Held for Leaks appeared first on uighur.nl.

HONG KONG—Relatives of a man who died in police custody in China’s remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are in a tense standoff with authorities over their demand for an inquiry into how he died, villagers and the local police chief said.

One villager, contacted by telephone, said eight trucks of soldiers and two other armed vehicles had surrounded the man’s family home in Lengger [in Chinese, Langan] village in Qorghas [in Chinese, Huocheng]county, Ili prefecture.

Surrounding streets were blockaded, and another witness said police told him to remain inside when he tried to walk several blocks to Tursun’s family home.

“The police are asking us to bury the body early in the morning, otherwise they said they will bury him themselves,” Haji Memet, a relative of Shohret Tursun, 31, said. “We want to find out how he was killed.”

“We are asking the authorities to investigate—we want photos taken of his bruised body, we want justice, we want whoever killed our son to be punished,” he said.

Police returned Tursun’s body to his family at 2 p.m. Saturday, relatives said.

Deadly violence

Tursun, a member of the Uyghur ethnic minority, was among some 40 men from Qorghas detained around the time of deadly protests July 5 in the regional capital, Urumqi.

The protests by Uyghurs, a largely Muslim Turkic people, followed alleged official mishandling of earlier ethnic clashes in far-away Guangdong province.

The July 5 protest sparked days of deadly rioting in Urumqi, pitting Uyghurs against majority Han Chinese, and ending with a death toll of almost 200, by the government’s tally.

Badly disfigured

The Langer police chief, who identified himself as Enver, said police were trying to convince the family to bury Tursun early Sunday.

The village imam, Alim Kari, described Tursun’s body as badly disfigured but said he was required to urge the family to bury Tursun.

“I saw the dead body—it was bruised and dark all over,” Kari said. “All the family was crying…his mother was slapping herself. The whole neighborhood is in chaos.”

“I don’t know how the body was injured, how it has so many bruises. The authorities are asking the imam, the elders, relatives, and neighbors to persuade the family to bury him. I am a peasant and I don’t know much about the law.”

“I have to do what the government asks me to do…and I have to believe them. We are working hard to persuade the family to bury Shohret Tursun early Sunday morning,” Kari said.

“After the family’s strong opposition, the authorities agreed to bury him Sunday morning. This has been confirmed and the funeral attendants have been selected and invited,” he said.

Earlier death alleged

About 10 days ago, relatives said, Tursun—along with Pazilat Akbar, Rabigul, Eli Hesenjan, and more than 35 others—were transferred from Urumqi to the Qorghas county jail.

Another villager, also contacted by telephone, said another man, 22-year-old Dilshat Ismayil, was beaten to death by police July 29 after he ran away from police trying to detain him.

That account couldn’t immediately be confirmed.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China’s ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Xinjiang is a strategically crucial vast desert territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

The region has abundant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas-producing region.

www.rfa.org

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