In recent days renewed violence has flared again in the regional capital Urumchi.

MEPs in the outgoing Parliament debated the rioting in July and Monday’s hearing was a follow up meeting.

Ms Kadeer denounced the Chinese version of events of the riots in and around Urumchi in July. She said that Beijing’s line that it was Uyghur “plotters” who went on an orgy of plunder was, “as is so often the case with Chinese reporting” – simply untrue.

“Demonization of Uyghurs protestors”

The Uyghur leader – who has twice been nominated for the Nobel peace prize – told MEPs: “The Chinese government, through its proxies in the official media, is obscuring the truth in order to conceal a mass killing of Uyghurs by Chinese security forces. Furthermore, through its demonization of Uyghurs protestors in the official media, it is attempting to justify the impending mass executions of Uyghurs as promised by Chinese officials.”

Ms Kadeer condemned the use of violence of both sides. “I feel pained by the loss of so many lives, Han Chinese and Uyghur, and condemn the violence which took place in Urumchi.”

She went on to explain: “The real context for the unrest is six decades of repressive policies by a Chinese Communist administration which has long sought to dilute Uyghur (Turkic ethnic Muslim minority) identity”.

Parallels with Tibet

Drawing parallels between the plight of the Uyghurs (what she termed “cultural genocide policy”) and Tibetans, the 62-year-old Uyghur leader and businesswoman said: “It is time for the Chinese government to sit and talk with me, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and all those leaders of non-Han Chinese communities who have been vilified, imprisoned and slandered just because we happen to disagree with a bankrupt official policy”.

Concluding, Ms Kadeer demanded the EU put pressure on the Chinese authorities in order to allow an independent and true investigation that will state the correct figures regarding the number of arrested, detained and killed persons.

She stressed the need for a peaceful path, hoping that the Chinese government would under pressure from international, European and Islamic world respect the rights of her people.

Ms Kadeer’s call for an independent inquiry of the July events was supported by committee members, including Chairwoman Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland), who believed “there’s a case for an independent international investigation”. Speaking later at a press conference with the Uyghur leader, Hautala confirmed that China and human rights will be an issue that remains high on the EP agenda.

www.europarl.europa.eu

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Kazakhstan is home to the largest Uighur community outside China. About 500 people, many wearing the blue badges with white crescents of the Uighur independence movement, gathered at a mosque for a traditional ceremony.

In Xinjiang’s worst ethnic unrest in decades, Uighurs staged protests in the regional capital Urumqi on July 5 following a clash among migrant workers at a factory in south China that had led to two Uighur deaths.

The Urumqi violence left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 wounded, mostly members of the China’s ethnic Han majority, according to Chinese authorities.

Han Chinese launched revenge attacks on Uighurs in Urumqi days later. About 1,000 people, mostly Uighurs, have been detained in an ensuing crackdown by security forces.

Han migration into Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs who speak a Turkic language and whose culture has strong links to Central Asia, has helped fuel the conflict.

“What is our goal? We want an independent state,” Kakhraman Khodzhaberdiyev, a vice president of the U.S.-based World Uyghur Congress, told the Almaty meeting.

“The current autonomy (of Xinjiang) is not real and we demand that its status be changed as a first step.”

Another Uighur community leader, Abdulla Ushurov, attacked what he said were Chinese attempts to portray Uighur protests as purely criminal riots.

“You cannot say that a group of people just started crushing everything,” he said.

“These are being described as criminal acts but it is a century-long fight for independence.”

Police in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, also home to a significant Uighur minority, detained two Uighur leaders after a similar rally this week, saying it had not been given official permission.

The Almaty city government had permitted the Thursday meeting.

source: www.reuters.com

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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