Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Clashes between Uighurs and ethnic Han in China this year led to heightened security

German police have raided the homes of four Chinese nationals alleged to have spied on Muslim Uighurs living in Munich. Authorities accuse the Chinese consulate of controlling the operation.

The four men are suspected of spying on the Muslim Uighur community in the southern German city of Munich, one of the largest Uighur communities outside China and the home of the World Uighur Congress.

Authorities said the apartments of the four men were searched but no arrests were made. They did not provide further details.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the men took direction from the Chinese consulate in Munich and that information was intended for use by authorities in Beijing.

The magazine said the Chinese government had a number of informants in Munich who had not only been observed meeting with the four men under investigation but also with Chinese diplomats. However, the diplomats are apparently not under investigation because they have diplomatic immunity. The four suspects do not.

“We know where your office is”

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Uighurs have staged protests in many world cities, this one in Stockholm in July

The Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that when violent clashes broke out between Uighurs and Han Chinese in China’s north-western Xinjiang province earlier this year, Uighurs in Munich received threats from anonymous callers, saying “we know where your office is.”

Asgar Can, the vice president of the World Uighur Congress, said the callers told workers at the organization that they would suffer the same fate as the Uighurs in China.

Can said that many of the 500 Uighur immigrants in Munich still have relatives in China, which means they can easily be put under pressure by Chinese authorities.

Beijing has accused the World Uighur Congress of harboring separatist tendencies and of orchestrating July’s riots between Uighurs and Han Chinese from afar. The violence left almost 200 people dead.

Relations will not be damaged

The German Foreign Ministry said it was in contact with prosecutors and denied that the incident would cause tensions with China.

“Our relations with China are good and will not be damaged by this incident,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The police raids are not the first time that German authorities have suspected the Chinese consulate of involvement in spying on Munich’s Uighur community.

Two years ago, a Chinese diplomat left Germany of his own accord after he was alleged to have met with informants on Uighur issues.

www.dw-world.de

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RFA

A map of China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

HONG KONG—Police in China’s remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region surrounded the home of an ethnic Uyghur man who died in police custody and forced the family to bury him without an inquiry into how he died, the man’s father said.

The burial on Sunday ended a tense standoff between police in remote Lengger [in Chinese, Langan] village and the family of Shohret Tursun, 31, whose badly bruised and disfigured body was released to his relatives on Saturday.

On Saturday, one villager said eight trucks of soldiers and two other armed vehicles had surrounded Tursun’s family home in Lengger [in Chinese, Langan] village in Qorghas [in Chinese, Huocheng] county, Ili prefecture—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’s father, Tursun Ishan, said in an interview. “There were too many…”

“There were police officers waiting in front of our door. From the cemetery to the house, it was full of police officers on the street. Since yesterday, there were police officers on each and every corner of the city. They wouldn’t let people from other neighborhoods join the funeral.”

“My two daughters were trying to prevent the police officers from entering, but the police were very harsh with them. We were forced to bury [the body],” Ishan said.

“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.”

Police continued to surround the family home and the cemetery shortly after midnight Tuesday, he said.

Ethnic rioting

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, he father said.

“If I had bribed the police officers, my son would probably be released,” he said. “I considered selling my land to save my child, but his wife and mother were afraid a bribe would make him look guilty.”

“Another boy in the same prison cell with my son was released after his family paid 30,000″ yuan, or about U.S. $4,400, he said.

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.

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

ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN EAST TURKISTAN Uyghur Foundation Stichting Oeigoeren Nederland Stichting Uighur Jurat Barat  Stichting Uyghur Oost-Turkestan Uyghur Logo Nederlanders Holland Europe HUMAN RIGHTS  Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Erkin Alptekin Rebiya Kadeer

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