HONG KONG—Authorities in the restive northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi have ordered an overnight traffic ban and posted armed police on public buses, after a bizarre series of syringe stabbings that prompted a large-scale public outcry.

The city government banned traffic in the municipal center from 9 p.m. Monday until 9 a.m. Tuesday, with police guarding every intersection, the official news agency Xinhua said.

Mass protests were sparked in the regional capital last week after reports that hundreds of people had been stabbed with syringes in the city, with a demonstration Thursday leaving at least four dead.

Beijing blames Muslim separatist groups among ethnic Uyghurs for the syringe attacks in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) capital, Urumqi, which was riven by deadly ethnic strife in July that claimed nearly 200 lives, according to the government’s tally.

More than 500 people have sought treatment for syringe stabbings in recent days, though only about 100 showed signs of having been pricked, official media said.

Witnesses meanwhile reported blockades outside predominantly Uyghur neighborhoods and armed police aboard pubic buses.

“All buses now have armed police aboard, and usually there are two of them sitting at the rear,” one young woman said in an interview.

“The city is currently halfway to qualify a status of martial law. Some roads have only one lane open to traffic while cars are less than before,” she said.

“There were occasional attacks [today]. Despite the large number of armed police presence, however, they might be able to control a large group but not every individual,” she added.

Rumors spread

Uyghurs abroad reported that they were largely unable to contact friends and family in the Xinjiang region by telephone.

Rumors meanwhile circulated unconfirmed of syringe attacks in other parts of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including Shihezi, the second largest city, and Changji, in the central north.

An employee at the Changji City People’s Hospital, contacted Monday by telephone, said staff had received warnings but seen no syringe-attack cases.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, cited reports that some 100 Han Chinese had attacked a Uyghur residential area near Urumqi’s Xingfu Road and Jiefang South Road late Sunday, killing three and wounding more than 20.”

The dead included two men and a woman in her 40s.

He called for a United Nations inquiry and for Beijing to hold talks with exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, whom Chinese authorities have blamed for instigating deadly ethnic clashes in July.

Urumqi Communist Party chief Li Zhi was sacked over the weekend and replaced by Zhu Hailun, the head of Xinjiang region’s law-and-order committee.

Liu Yaohua, director of the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Public Security Department, was also dismissed, according to official media.

Tens of thousands of angry Han Chinese took to the streets Thursday and Friday calling for the ouster of Wang Lequan, Xinjiang’s Communist Party secretary, blaming him for failing to ensure their security.

Radio Free Asia

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According to Xinhua, the state news agency, Mr. Hu visited rural areas and factories; a major oil center; and the regional capital, Urumqi, where the rioting occurred.

On Tuesday, he told government officials and security forces that stability was a top priority in the region. “The key to our work in Xinjiang is to properly handle the relation between development and stability in the region,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Reporters gathered in Xinjiang this week in anticipation of the start of trials related to the riots. But an official with the news media office of the local Communist Party headquarters said that he had no information that any such trials would take place this week.

The official, Li Hua, said Tuesday by telephone that a report on Monday in China Daily, a state-run English-language newspaper, had incorrect information on the timeline for the trials. Some Chinese Web sites and foreign news organizations, including The New York Times, ran articles based on the China Daily report.

“Of course they have to be tried, just not according to the timeline of the China Daily story,” Mr. Li said, referring to the scores of men, mostly ethnic Uighurs, charged with taking part in the riots. Mr. Li said he had no information on exactly when the trials would start.

The China Daily article, published on the front page, said that more than 200 suspects had been formally charged with an array of crimes related to the rioting that began on July 5, and that trials were expected to start this week in Urumqi. The article cited an unnamed court official.

It also said the local police had gathered 3,318 pieces of evidence, including bricks and clubs stained with blood.

Some Chinese and foreign reporters have waited in Urumqi for the trials to start. In late July, China Daily had reported that the trials would start in August.

On Tuesday, Global Times, a newspaper published by the Communist Party’s main news organization, reported that the government had not yet set a date for the trial and that the number of suspects remained at 83. Global Times quoted Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for the Xinjiang regional government, saying that the China Daily report was “totally untrue.”

The announcement of a trial date on a matter as delicate as the ethnic riots would usually be reported first through Xinhua. But Xinhua had yet to report on any fixed date as of late Tuesday.

The conflicting reports appeared to be an indication of growing competition among official news organizations in China as senior officials encourage more aggressive reporting on topics of international interest.

On July 5, mobs of Uighurs, Turkic-speaking people who make up the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, stormed through the streets of Urumqi after clashes between Uighur protesters and riot police officers. The initial protesters had been holding a rally over the killing of Uighurs in an earlier ethnic brawl at a factory in southeastern China.

In the violence in Urumqi, at least 197 people were killed and 1,721 injured, most of them Han civilians, according to state news organizations. It was the deadliest ethnic riot in China in decades. The Han are the dominant ethnic group in China.

In the days afterward, Han vigilantes armed with sticks and knives went into Uighur neighborhoods to exact revenge.

Uighurs in Urumqi say the government has not given an accurate count of Uighur casualties.

source: www.nytimes.com

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Chinese Government and Chinese Media Accounts of the Project–50,000 Households To Be Resettled

Under a 30 billion yuan (US$4.39 billion) project launched in late February with funds from the central and XUAR governments, authorities will “reconstruct” the Old City of Kashgar within a five-year period and resettle roughly 50,000 households, or more than 200,000 people, according to reports from Chinese government and media sources. Based on the reports, the number of people affected approaches half of the Kashgar city population. (For information on the planning stages of the project, see an August 13, 2008, report from the Kashgar district government Web site describing a meeting of government and Communist Party officials to address construction plans. For reports from the initial stages of construction and resettlement in February, see February 27 reports from Xinjiang Daily and Xinjiang News Net (1, 2), and a February 28 report from China News Net. For subsequent reporting, see a March 27 article from the Kashgar district government Web site, detailed report from Yaxin dated March 23, May 27 report from Xinhua Xinjiang, and June 8 Yaxin report. Figures on the exact number of people and households affected, as reported in these articles, varies.) According to the August report from the Kashgar district government, the project to “reconstruct” the Old City has received longstanding central government attention, and the impetus to implement it came after the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. The Yaxin article reported that nearly 60% of the Old City houses, made of clay and wood, date from the 1950s and 1960s, and that poor construction has impeded infrastructure improvements and made the area vulnerable to earthquake damage. The information in the Yaxin report conflicts with earlier government reporting on the age of the buildings in the Old City. A 2007 report on the Kashgar district government Web site describes many of the buildings as older than 400 years old and describes most individual residences as more than 50 to 80 years old, with some as old as 150 years old.

Demolition and Resettlement Plans Linked to Ethnic Issues

In addition to stated concerns about earthquakes, the first February 27 Xinjiang News Net report said the dangers posed by the buildings also affected factors including “economic development, ethnic unity, and the reinforcement of Xinjiang’s borders.” In the August article, a government official also raised political concerns, describing Kashgar as an area where Uyghurs are most heavily concentrated and an area in the “front ranks” in the XUAR’s fight against separatism, terrorism, and infiltration.

According to the February articles and March Yaxin article, the first group of residents affected by the initial stages of the project have been resettled in earthquake-proof high-rises in a suburb of the city. The Yaxin article reported that all the Old City families resettled as a result of the project will receive monetary compensation or replacement housing. Authorities will also take measures to establish businesses to help sustain the livelihoods of relocated populations, according to the report. The August 2008 article reported that some 23,000 subsistence-level and lower-income households affected by the project would “mainly be provided with low-cost rental housing or affordable housing to facilitate relocation,” while residents “with resources but unwilling to leave” would receive subsidies for building new earthquake-proof housing on site or elsewhere. According to the August report, as of that date, the XUAR government already had re-designated townships in the Kashgar suburbs as towns and begun converting farmland in preparation for resettling affected populations. The report described efforts to distribute propaganda materials and launch “ideological mobilization” to garner support for the project. See also the March 23 Yaxin report for additional information on mobilizing support for the project by broadcasting images of the Sichuan earthquake. Overseas media reports, citing local residents, have challenged the adequacy of compensation and scope of local support for the project. See below for details.

Earlier plans to address infrastructure in the Old City date to a 2001 “Implementing Project for Safeguarding the Famous Historical and Cultural City of Kashgar and Taking Precautions to Quake-Proof the Old City” according to the Yaxin report. (See the 2007 Kashgar government report for additional information on earlier efforts to address the issue starting in 1999.) The 2001 project planned to invest 600 million yuan (US$87.8 million) into reinforcing and safeguarding key residences and relics, but came to a halt due to various factors including funding, according to the Yaxin report. Under existing efforts launched since 2001 to earthquake-proof the area, 2,500 households already have moved to earthquake-resistant housing, according to the second Xinjiang News Net report and a February 2 report from the Kashgar district government Web site. Authorities also have carried out other efforts to demolish and reconstruct parts of Kashgar. See, e.g., a July 16, 2005, Telegraph article on demolitions near the Id Kah mosque.

Preservation Efforts Minimal–Most Buildings To Be Demolished

Details of the Kashgar demolition project indicate shortcomings in both the project’s capacity to protect the cultural heritage of the Old City as well as in the Chinese government’s overall framework for cultural heritage protection, including as it relates to ethnic minorities’ right to preserve their culture. At the August 2008 meeting to discuss the “reconstruction” of the Old City, as reported in the August 2008 article, officials indicated that efforts to preserve existing structures would be minimal. While authorities from various government agencies took part in the meeting, no officials from cultural heritage offices were reported to attend. Speaking at the event, the Kashgar district Communist Party secretary described the “reconstruction” of the Old City as a “human-centered” project and stressed that “what [the project] will protect is a construction style with ethnic features, and what it won’t protect is dangerous old raw earth houses that endanger the people’s safety.” Noting that the Old City contained the world’s largest complex of raw earth structures, a government official spoke of the importance of preserving the “historical style and regional features” of the Old City, but cautioned against wide-scale preservation:

The reconstruction of the Old City must take place under the premise of protecting historical and regional features, but some experts and scholars propose retaining the original appearance of Kashgar’s Old City, and we think that [view] is out of touch with reality. Preservation of the people’s lives, property, and safety must be placed first. Otherwise, if a fairly large earthquake strikes, not only will the people’s lives and property receive damage, but the historic area will similarly be destroyed in a flash. Moreover, according to general surveys, buildings in the Old City with real historic preservation value are very few. We’ll resolutely protect the buildings with historic preservation value, but we can’t take every old and shabby building and keep them all. The facts will inevitably show that the Old City after its reconstruction not only will not have destroyed the Uyghurs’ history and culture but will have inherited and developed the Uyghurs’ history and culture. Using the excuse of protecting the history and culture of a famous old city to impede the Old City’s restructuring shows extreme irresponsibility toward the safety of the lives of the 220,000 Old City residents of all ethnicities.

The official added that recently constructed buildings would be renovated to make them earthquake-proof, while the “few” buildings with preservation value would be repaired and reinforced. The official did not provide details on the process of determining which buildings have preservation value. According to a May 27 New York Times article, officials report that at least 85 percent of the area will be demolished. Authorities cited in the article said they would rebuild some parts of the Old City using a “Uyghur style” of architecture, in line with the Kashgar district Communist Party secretary’s statement on using “a construction style with ethnic features.” The statements did not provide additional information on how such “ethnic features” or “Uyghur styles” are defined. (For an example of interpretations of “Islamic-style” architecture and “ethnic character” within a reconstruction project in a Hui Muslim neighborhood in Beijing, see pp. 146-148 within Daniel B. Abramson, “The Aesthetics of City-scale Preservation Policy in Beijing,” Planning Perspectives, Vol. 22, No. 2 (April 2007): 129-166.) According to a book cited in the New York Times article, describing Kashgar before the Old City demolition, “Kashgar is the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia” (George Michell, Kashgar: Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road, Frances Lincoln, 2008, p. 79). The 2007 report from the Kashgar government Web site also stressed the historic character of the Old City and expressed support for preservation principles.

The government official did not address how the determination that few buildings hold preservation value relates to Kashgar’s designation as a national-level historic and cultural city with historic districts within the Old City. Kashgar received the designation in 1986, as recorded in a government notice from that year. (See also the 2007 Kashgar government report for information on historic districts within the city.) The 1986 designation adheres to a 1982 notice on preserving cities with historic value or significance to China’s modern revolutionary history. Since then, the Chinese government has codified its process for designating and protecting historic cities into a Regulation on the Protection of Famous Historic and Cultural Cities, Towns, and Villages (Historic Cities Regulation). Both the Historic Cities Regulation and article 14 of the broader Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage call for preservation efforts for designated historic areas, and article 28 of the Historic Cities Regulation specifically forbids new construction or expansion in the centers of historic districts, with the exception of infrastructure installation. The article also details the procedures for gaining permission to carry out construction. Despite stipulating protections for historic areas, some provisions within the regulation are poorly defined, thus appearing to permit wide latitude in determining what kind of structures qualify for legal protections. For example, article 47(1) of the Historic Cities Regulation defines historic architecture (which is protected under the regulation) to mean certain structures designated by the government that “have definite preservation value and can reflect historical styles and regional features.” The regulation does not detail how or by whom “preservation value” and ethnic and local “features” are defined, calling into question the capacity of Chinese law for effective cultural heritage preservation, including as it accords with ethnic minorities’ right to define and protect their culture, and the state’s obligation to secure this right.

In the case of the Kashgar project, ambiguities in the framework for heritage protection contribute to the formal leeway for authorities to take a narrow view of which structures have historic value and qualify for protection, thus removing most of the buildings in the Old City from the formal protections of the Historic Cities Regulation. Authorities also have excluded possible international mechanisms to preserve the Old City that would have come with its inclusion on a list of proposed Silk Road locations for entry in the UNESCO World Heritage List. (The Silk Road list’s proposed sites include cities, but exclude locations within Kashgar except for the tomb of Mehmud Qeshqeri.) See the New York Times article for additional information. The Chinese government has formally committed itself to preserve its cultural heritage not only through its domestic legislation but also through its ratification of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Details of the project also suggest that authorities have bypassed ways to protect Old City residents’ safety while preserving existing buildings. Standards set by professionals in the field of cultural heritage preservation indicate compatibility between historic preservation and measures to guard against natural disaster. Articles 10 and 14 of the Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas, adopted by the non-governmental International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and available on its Web site, recognize the importance of introducing “contemporary elements” and preventative measures against natural disasters while ensuring they are “adapted to the specific character of the properties concerned.” Scholar Ronald Knapp, cited in a May 3 National report, said that in the case of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province, problems came about “more from very poor ‘modern’ construction rather than the shortcomings of traditional practices.”

XUAR Residents, NGO, Overseas Observers Object to Project

Reports from overseas media have indicated opposition to the project from local residents and some local officials, as well as concerns from local residents and outside observers about housing resettlement and historic preservation. A report from a Beijing-based NGO also has expressed concern about historic preservation and raised questions about procedural aspects of the project. (See the May 27 New York Times article, May 3 National report, March 25 and April 2 reports from Radio Free Asia (RFA), a March 24 Washington Post article, March 24 Uyghur American Association (UAA) press release, March 26 South China Morning Post article (subscription required), April 3 article from openDemocracy, and undated report from the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center.) An official from the Kashgar cultural relics management office, cited in the April 2 RFA report, said that the project was being implemented without adequate attention to historic preservation, and another official expressed concern about resettled residents’ ability to sustain their livelihoods, many of which were tied to workshops within the Old City. The UAA press release raised concerns that the population resettlement would increase government capacity to “control and monitor Uyghur activity” and pressure Uyghurs to assimilate. The openDemocracy article questioned the nature of future reconstruction in the city given a track record of co-opting cultural practices and redeveloping ethnic minority areas elsewhere in China to boost tourism. Kashgar was designated one of “China’s superior tourist cities” in 2004, according to a report that year from Tianshan Net. Authorities plan to rebuild part of the Old City as an “international heritage scenery” site to attract tourism, according to the National article.

Information from overseas reports also raise questions about the process of consulting with residents on the project and on adequate compensation. Two men cited in the National report said they had received no information about compensation and did not know where they would be relocated to, while other sources said that the government had not consulted with them about the demolition. Some Kashgar residents cited in the New York Times article said that compensation amounts were inadequate. Sources cited in both the Washington Post article and March 25 RFA report indicated dissatisfaction with the project but said they lacked the means to challenge the government. A source cited in the RFA article noted that people felt scared to voice their opinions. China’s Historic Cities Regulation specifies that authorities must solicit opinions from the public for restructuring projects (article 29). International standards also carve out a role for public input in preservation projects. Article 17(c) of UNESCO’s Recommendation Concerning the Safeguarding and Contemporary Role of Historic Areas calls for authorities to include the opinions and participation of the public. Article 3 of the ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Historic Towns and Urban Areas states, “The participation and the involvement of the residents are essential for the success of the conservation programme and should be encouraged. The conservation of historic towns and urban areas concerns their residents first of all.” Article 5 states, “The conservation plan should be supported by the residents of the historic area.”

The report from the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, a Beijing-based Chinese NGO, emphasized the preservation value of the Old City and expressed concern about procedural aspects of the project. The report noted the lack of detailed information on preservation efforts, including the full text of the city’s preservation plan. Chapter 3 of the Historic Cities Regulation stipulates that the governments of areas designated as historic cities must prepare and implement a preservation plan. The regulation also details other procedural steps necessary to alter designated historic areas. See, for example, articles 28 – 32 on provisions regarding infrastructure construction in designated historic areas. A December 12, 2008, article from the Kashgar government reports that officials submitted plans for the current reconstruction project to examination by scholars, which adheres to article 29 of the regulation.

Shortcomings in Property Protection

The complaints by residents affected by the project reflect continuing problems with property seizure and resettlement in China. China’s 2007 Property Law, which protects private property rights, addresses expropriation of and compensation for property (article 42). As noted in a recent examination of the law by legal scholar Mo Zhang, however, “the Property Law sets no standard or requirement to guarantee a fair and just process for the taking.” (Mo Zhang, “From Public to Private: The Newly Enacted Chinese Property Law and the Protection of Property Rights in China,” Berkeley Business Law Journal, Vol. 5, 2008, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-39, p. 360, available through the Social Science Research Network Web site.) The Property Law also lacks a clear standard for “what constitutes the public interest to justify a taking” (p. 361). Among existing regulations that address takings, Zhang notes that the Urban Housing Demolition and Relocation Management Regulation “has a focus on the advancement of urban development, and as such it does not make the fair process for takings a priority. On the contrary, it has a bias against owners of households.” (p. 360.)

Curbs Over Uyghurs’ Rights

While underscoring shortcomings in cultural heritage preservation and continuing problems with property seizure and resettlement in China, the Kashgar demolition project also draws attention to broader problems in China’s policies in ethnic minority areas and in the XUAR in particular. Although the XUAR is an officially designated ethnic minority autonomous region with legally stipulated guarantees for “ethnic minorities’ right to administer their internal affairs” (Preamble, Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law) and measures to protect ethnic minority culture and cultural heritage, the Kashgar project highlights the failure of the government to protect such rights in practice. (For specific Chinese legal provisions on ethnic minorities that focus on cultural heritage protection, see, e.g., article 38 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law and article 25 of Provisions on Implementing the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law.) The project, noted by a source in the New York Times article to have “unusually strong backing high in the government,” accompanies longstanding policies of control over the Uyghur population, including harsh security measures and steps to dilute ethnic identity and promote assimilation, as noted in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2008 Annual Report and recent CECC analyses (1, 2, 3). The level of repression in the region undermines residents’ ability to protect their rights, even as more space for challenging government abuses has opened up in China.

Additional Resources

• For more information on responses within China to the project, see a survey posted on the Bulletin Board Service (BBS) of the Uyghur-language Web site Xabnam.com (also available in Latin script on the Uyghur American Association Web site’s discussion forum). See also a discussion on the BBS of the Uyghur-language Web site Diyarim.
• For more information on China’s framework for historic preservation and an examination of preservation projects in Beijing, see Daniel B. Abramson, “The Aesthetics of City-scale Preservation Policy in Beijing,” Planning Perspectives, Vol. 22, No. 2 (April 2007): 129-166 and Daniel B. Abramson, “Beijing’s Preservation Policy and the Fate of the Siheyuan,” Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Fall 2001): 7-22.
• For more information on property rights, see the CECC Virtual Academy page on Property Rights Resources.
• For more information on China’s legal framework for ethnic minority rights, see the “Special Focus” section within the CECC 2005 Annual Report and Section II–Ethnic Minority Rights in the CECC 2007 and 2008 Annual Reports.
• For information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV–Xinjiang, in the CECC 2008 Annual Report.

www.cecc.gov

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HONG KONG and WASHINGTON—The family home of prominent Uyghur exile leader Rebiya Kadeer in northwestern China has been slated for demolition and her family has been served with an eviction notice, according to residents.

Two businessmen, members of China’s mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority, said officials in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) plan to raze the Akida Trade Center, the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center, and a third smaller building.

The three buildings, located in the regional capital Urumqi, were formerly fully owned by the Kadeer family and are now managed by government authorities. The exiled Rebiya Kadeer currently lives in Washington.

One Uyghur businessman from Gulja (in Chinese, Yining), capital of the Ili Kazakh Prefecture, traveling in Kazakhstan said Urumqi authorities also gave notice of eviction to Uyghur merchants who owned stores in the building.

“Now, Uyghur merchants are forced to rent stores in other buildings owned by Han Chinese. The new buildings offered by the government are more expensive then Rebiya’s buildings, and the buildings are located in an area populated by Han Chinese,” he said.

The businessman said Uyghur merchants are either unable or unwilling to rent space in those areas because of higher tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese after violent riots erupted in Urumqi on July 5.

“It is difficult for Rebiya Kadeer’s relatives to find a place to rent in the current situation because Han Chinese hate them and Uyghurs are scared of [renting to] them,” he said.

Ahmetjan, a Uyghur merchant from Atush city in the far West of the remote Tarim Basin, said he had heard that merchants in Kadeer’s buildings were scrambling to prepare for the eviction.

“My uncle had to travel to Urumqi from Atush to find a new location for his business. He had a wholesale store in one of Rebiya’s buildings,” he said in a phone call from Kyrgyzstan, where he was traveling on business.

Thriving business community

Rebiya Kadeer speaking at the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center, Dec. 15, 1997. Courtesy of the Kadeer family

The Akida Trade Center, which comprises 15 floors and 20,000 square meters of living space, also serves as a residence for Kadeer’s relatives, who draw an income by running a restaurant on the building’s first floor.

A total of 37 family members, including Kadeer’s sister, brothers, and grandchildren, live in the building.

The Kadeer Trade Center has served as the main wholesale center in the XUAR since it was established by Kadeer in 1990.

Several thousand Uyghur merchants have set up shop in both the Rebiya Kadeer Trade Center and the Akida Trade Center.

Both buildings are to be demolished for the construction of a public park, according to the eviction notice.

Local authorities were unavailable for comment.

‘Act of revenge’

Rebiya Kadeer condemned the move by Urumqi authorities as an “act of revenge against me and against Uyghurs over July 5.”

The official Chinese media has branded Kadeer the “mastermind” behind the ethnic riots and regularly accuses her of sponsoring separatist terrorism in the region.

She also voiced concern for her family members, who she said would face difficulty in finding a new source of income and place to live because they have been blacklisted by the government.

“I cannot believe this kind of retaliation—punishing the family members of a political dissident—can still occur in the 21st century. I had thought it was the last act of retaliation when the authorities forced my family to speak out against me on state-owned TV,” Kadeer said.

On Aug. 4, state-controlled television broadcast interviews with Kadeer’s son Kahar, daughter Rushangul and imprisoned son Alim, as well as with Kadeer’s younger brother Mehmet.

Kadeer maintains that her children and brother were compelled to make false accusations about her alleged role in the July 5 unrest.

The day before the interviews aired on television, official news media published a letter that accused Kadeer of having broken her promises not to participate in “ethnic splittism” when she left China.

The letter was signed by her children, their spouses, and five of her grandchildren.

Following her release from prison in 2005, and before her exile to the U.S., Chinese officials warned Kadeer against speaking out on behalf of Uyghurs in China, saying that if she continued to do so her children and businesses would be targeted.

When she later engaged in human rights advocacy in the United States, Chinese officials shut down her businesses and harassed her family members.

Following Kadeer’s election as president of the Uyghur American Association and the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, her sons Alim and Ablikim were detained and imprisoned for seven and nine years respectively.

“The Chinese will do whatever they can to stop my activities. Making my family homeless is probably just one of the measures they have planned,” she said.

Uyghur buildings razed

Kadeer said the buildings are two of the few remaining in Urumqi that were designed in Uyghur-style architecture.

Buildings with Chinese architecture have taken over the city in recent years.

“The authorities don’t want to see Uyghur-style buildings in the [Xinjiang] capital, and they don’t want to see my name anywhere in the city,” Kadeer said.

Officials began demolishing Uyghur-style buildings in the ancient city of Kashgar, in southwestern Xinjiang, a few months before the July 5 incident in Urumqi.

“They can erase my name from the building by demolishing it, but they cannot erase it from the hearts of my people,” she said.

Kadeer, 60, was a self-made millionaire in China and a favorite of the authorities until she spoke out about Beijing’s heavy-handed treatment of her people, who frequently complain of harassment and discrimination and suffer high unemployment.

She later spent six years in prison for opposing the government and was released into U.S. exile in 2005.

Since the Urumqi unrest, the Chinese government has harshly criticized the governments of Japan and Australia for granting Kadeer visas to travel to their countries on unofficial visits.

It has also attempted to prevent an independent Australian film festival from screening a documentary about Kadeer’s life.

source: www.rfa.org

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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