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China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update
New Information Released on Uyghur Political Prisoners Mehbube Ablesh and Omer Akchi
October 20, 2010
New information is now available on the cases of two Uyghur political prisoners serving prison sentences in the far western region of Xinjiang. According to information from the Dui Hua Foundation, Mehbube Ablesh, a radio station employee detained in 2008 in apparent connection to her criticism of Chinese government policies, is now known to be serving a three-year sentence for "splittism" (separatism). The date she was sentenced is not known. Omer Akchi, a farmer sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1997 for a "counterrevolutionary" crime in connection to an organization he allegedly led, is now known to have had his sentence extended in December 2006 to life in prison for a "splittist" crime. The details of this crime are not known. As of October 2010, he is the only known living prisoner in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's Political Prisoner Database who has had his sentence extended to life imprisonment.
Mehbube Ablesh
According to a report from the Dui Hua Foundation, based on responses to a request for information from Chinese authorities, former Uyghur radio station employee Mehbube Ablesh is serving a three-year prison sentence in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) for "splittism" (separatism), a crime under Article 103 of China's Criminal Law, in apparent connection to her criticism of Chinese government policies. (See the Dui Hua Foundation's summer 2010 Dialogue Newsletter and article on Uyghur cases.) Given the length of the sentence and circumstances of the case, Dui Hua conjectures that the full charge could be "inciting splittism."
Authorities detained Mehbube Ablesh (identified as Mehbube Abrak in information provided to Dui Hua) in August 2008, but at that time, charges against her and subsequent information on the case remained unknown. As reported in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Political Prisoner Database, Mehbube Ablesh was fired from her job in the advertising department at the Xinjiang People's Radio Station in Urumqi in August 2008 and placed in detention. A co-worker connected the detention to articles she wrote for the Internet. An overseas source said that in her communications with him, she had been critical of political leaders in the XUAR and had criticized Mandarin-focused language policies in the region. (See Radio Free Asia reports from August 8 (1, 2) and August 9, 2008, for initial reports on the case.) She is serving her sentence in the Xinjiang Women's Prison (Xinjiang Number 2 Prison) in Urumqi.
The date of Mehbube Ablesh's sentencing is not known. News of her sentence, however, follows the detention and trials of several other Uyghurs in connection to other articles critical of government policy or in connection to their involvement with Uyghur Web sites. See a related CECC analysis on the cases of Gheyret Niyaz, Dilshat Perhat, Nijaz Azat, and Nureli. The detentions come during a year of tightened controls over the free flow of information in the XUAR following demonstrations and rioting in the region in July 2009.
Omer Akchi
According to Dui Hua information from official Chinese sources, also reported in Dui Hua's summer 2010 Dialogue newsletter, Uyghur farmer Omer (Emer) Akchi's prison sentence was extended in December 2006 from 14 years (a sentence handed down in 1997 for a "counterrevolutionary" crime) to life imprisonment for an alleged "splittist" (separatist) crime. Details of the alleged splittist crime are not available. Dui Hua describes the extension as "presumably for acts committed during his imprisonment." Article 71 of China's Criminal Law provides that if a "criminal again commits a crime" before a punishment is complete, "another judgment shall be rendered for the newly committed crime."
As reported in the CECC Political Prisoner Database, drawing on Dui Hua information based on official Chinese sources, public security officials in Awat county, Aksu district, XUAR, detained nine Uyghur farmers, including Omer Akchi, in or about December 1996. Authorities alleged the men joined the "Islamic Party of Allah" earlier in the year, and that Omer Akchi attended a party meeting in Hotan in November, returning home with drafts of the party's "Basic Program" and constitution. On September 1, 1997, the Aksu Intermediate People's Court sentenced five of the men to prison terms for "organizing and leading a counterrevolutionary group" (a crime since removed from China's Criminal Law), including Omer Akchi, who received the longest sentence, 14 years.
Based on CECC analysis of the 75 cases in its Political Prisoner Database known to involve sentence extensions as of October 2010, Omer Akchi is the only known living political prisoner whose sentence has been extended to life imprisonment. The only other known political prisoner in the Political Prisoner Database to have a sentence extended to life imprisonment, Rigzin Wanggyal, died in 2003. He had been sentenced to 16 years for splittism in late 1995, and his sentence was extended in May 1997 to life imprisonment for "espionage" allegedly committed in prison.
For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV！Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-17 / English) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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Authorities Continue to Restrict Ramadan Observance in Xinjiang
October 20, 2010
Authorities in the far western region of Xinjiang exert tight control over religious practice in the region, in a number of cases imposing limits on religious activities that are harsher than restrictions imposed elsewhere in China. Authorities single out Islam in some instances, as illustrated by a series of recent reports illustrating continued controls over Muslims' observance of the holiday of Ramadan. During the month-long period of daily fasting, which ended in mid-September, some local governments described steps to curb observance of the holiday, including barring some people from fasting, ordering restaurants to stay open, and increasing oversight of religious venues.
Local governments in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) continued in 2010 to impose restrictions on Muslims' observance of Ramadan. The curbs in 2010 follow restrictions on the month-long holiday of daily fasting as documented by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in previous years (1, 2). An official from the XUAR Ethnic Affairs Commission and Religious Affairs Bureau said in an August 12 China Network TV (CNTV) article that Muslims have the "right to choose whether to fast during Ramadan or not," but reports from the past year indicate local officials have interfered with Muslims' right to observe the holiday. Examples include:
- Officials, Students Forbidden From Observing Ramadan. Some local governments have forbidden broad categories of people from observing Ramadan. The head of Ha'erbake township in Luntai (Bugur) county, Bayangol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, said at a meeting of cadres and religious figures that groups such as Communist Party members, cadres, and students "resolutely must not go in and out of mosques and participate in fasting activities," according to an August 11 report on the Luntai county government Web site. The Artush Agricultural and Machinery Bureau adopted six measures during the holiday for its staff, forbidding people from going to sites of Ramadan-related activities, participating in religious activities, and fasting, or else face being "dealt with severely," according to an August 13 report from the Bureau's Web site. Party members in the Artush City Radio and Television Office, along with their family members, were forbidden from fasting during Ramadan and going to mosques and praying, according to an August 19 Radio Free Asia article.
Ramadan restrictions reported in Shache (Yarkand, Yeken) county, Kashgar district, focused on preventing students from observing the holiday. Education officials in Shache reported taking steps to ensure "stability" and prevent religion from "infiltrating" schools during Ramadan, according to an August 6 report on the Shache government Web site. Measures included visiting students' households to convey Party policy, to grasp students' "ideological posture and acts" and "to conscientiously ensure students don't fast, don't believe in religion, and don't participate in religious activities," according to the report. Schools, teachers, and parents were also to sign a series of "stability responsibility forms" to clarify each party's duties in "ideology work" and ensure "safety and stability" during Ramadan. "Indulging" or "letting students alone" to fast during Ramadan is among 23 acts defined as "illegal religious activities" in the XUAR. (See Item 5 in a copy of the "Autonomous Region Definitions of 23 Types of Illegal Religious Activities" posted February 25, 2008, on the Chinggil (Qinghe) county, Altay district, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, government Web site.)
- Forcing Restaurants To Operate. The CNTV article reported, "At the beginning of Ramadan, some Muslim restaurants and stores are closed during the daytime, as most of their customers are fasting." In practice, however, some local governments in the XUAR have ordered restaurants to stay open during the holiday. Trade and commerce officials met with private business association members in Jeminay county, Altay district, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in advance of Ramadan to ensure "normal" operations in the restaurant industry during the holiday, according to an August 10 article from Xinjiang News Net. Officials conveyed Communist Party policy on ethnic and religious issues, and businesspeople in attendance "made clear" that they would not suspend their "duty" to engage in business operations during Ramadan, according to the report. The news follows a report of restrictions on the restaurant industry in another part of the XUAR in August 2009. During that time, the Aksu Municipal Construction Bureau issued a notice forbidding Halal restaurants from shutting down during Ramadan on the "pretext" of making repairs or renovations, according to an August 25, 2009, report on the Aksu Municipal Construction Bureau Web site.
- Increased Monitoring of People and Religious Venues. In Ta'erlake township, also in Luntai county, a local Party official called for measures including increasing "education and management" of "key persons," strengthening oversight of mosques, having leading cadres "understand and grasp at all times conditions in mosques and among religious personages," and heightening patrols in the township during Ramadan, according to an August 12 report from the Luntai county government Web site. Officials in Keping (Kalpin) county, Aksu district, called for government organizations to raise their sense of "political responsibility and acumen" during Ramadan, to inspect "hot spots" and "troublesome problems" in the area of religion, and increase oversight of religious venues, activities, and religious figures, according to an undated 2010 report on the Aksu Party Committee Organization Department Web site. Education officials in Shache county, cited above, also called for increased monitoring of schools during Ramadan.
For more information on religion in the XUAR, see a related CECC analysis and Section IV！Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-23 ) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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Discriminatory Job Hiring Practices Continue in Xinjiang
October 20, 2010
Job recruitment in the far western region of Xinjiang continues to discriminate against Uyghurs and other groups by reserving positions exclusively for Han Chinese. The job recruitment practices, including in a number of government positions, contravene provisions in Chinese law that forbid discrimination. Examples from recent months include one civil servant recruitment drive that reserved 78 percent of available positions for Han. The remainder of the positions was either reserved for ethnic minorities or available to all candidates. The groups the Chinese government defines as "ethnic minorities" comprise roughly 60 percent of Xinjiang's population.
Hiring practices that discriminate against groups the Chinese government designates as ethnic minorities have continued in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in the past year. As documented in past Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)analyses (1, 2), job recruitment announcements from the region have reserved positions exclusively for Han Chinese in civil servant posts and state-owned enterprises, as well as in private job announcements posted on both government and non-government Web sites. Such discriminatory practices have continued in the past year, even as at least one announcement reports an increase in positions available to ethnic minorities. The restrictions accompany other discriminatory requirements, also present in some job recruitment programs elsewhere in China, based on factors such as sex and age. (See Section II-Status of Women and Section II-Public Health in the CECC 2009 Annual Report for additional information.)
Job announcements that reserve positions exclusively for Han contravene provisions in China's Constitution and in Chinese laws that forbid discrimination. See, for example, Article 4 of the Constitution and Article 9 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (REAL), both of which forbid discrimination based on ethnicity. Article 12 of the Labor Law and Article 3 of the Employment Promotion Law state that job applicants shall not face discrimination in job hiring based on factors including ethnicity, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law states that all ethnicities enjoy equal labor rights. Within this framework of non-discrimination, several provisions in Chinese law permit separate measures to promote the hiring of groups designated as ethnic minorities. Article 14 of the Labor Law allows for separate legal stipulations to govern the hiring of ethnic minorities, and Article 28 of the Employment Promotion Law says that employing units shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minority workers in job hiring. In addition, Article 22 of the REAL provides that ethnic autonomous government agencies shall give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in job hiring. Article 28 of the Implementing Provisions for the REAL also provides that ethnic autonomous areas give appropriate consideration to ethnic minorities in the job hiring process for government positions and includes provisions for their participation in higher levels of government. See a previous CECC analysis for additional detailed information.
The recent job hiring announcements follow an Opinion on employment promotion, implemented by the XUAR government and Party Committee in October 2009, that calls for enterprises registered in the XUAR and other enterprises contracted to work there to recruit no fewer than 50 percent of workers from among the local population (Part 2.2). The opinion also promotes "recruiting more ethnic minorities to the extent possible" (Part 2.2) and providing equal opportunities for employment (Part 3). In addition, employers are instructed to guarantee a fixed proportion of positions for ethnic minorities as part of work to increase recruitment of college graduates and prioritize graduates from the XUAR (Part 1.5). The opinion does not specify whether the guidance applies to civil servant positions.
While some recruitment programs from the past year have not restricted positions by ethnicity and reserved positions for Han (see, e.g., a roster of available positions in Urumqi municipal institutions in an August 8 announcement on Xinjiang Education Net), others continued to do so, including in the following examples:- Discriminatory Bingtuan Hiring Continues. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC or "Bingtuan") announced in May that it would hire 1,131 civil servants, consisting of 53 positions in the XPCC, 497 in several agricultural divisions, 177 public security positions, and 404 positions in the prison system, according to a May 14 announcement on the Bingtuan Personnel Testing Authority Web site (also available via Huatu Education Web site). The announcement reported that 472 jobs were designated for Han, 51 for ethnic minorities, and 204 without restrictions, leaving them open to all candidates including Han. The announcement also noted in parentheses that all 404 positions in the prison system were for Han. According to the announcement, members of the Hui and Manchu ethnic groups could apply for jobs designated for Han, but other groups could not. Based on CECC analysis of the roster of open positions, 882 positions total were reserved for Han (78 percent of open positions), 1 for a Uyghur or Kazakh, 45 for Uyghurs (4 percent, including the position also open to a Kazakh), 2 for Kazakhs (0.27 percent, including the position also available to a Uyghur), 1 for an unspecified "ethnic minority" (0.09 percent) and 200 were unrestricted by ethnicity (18 percent), leaving them open to all groups including Han. Adding in positions unrestricted by ethnicity or open to an unspecified "ethnic minority," 96 percent of the positions were available to Han, 22 percent to Uyghurs, and 18 percent to Kazakhs, while 18 percent remained open to other ethnic minorities. (Analysis based on roster of open positions available via Excel sheet download on the Tengxun Education Web site and RAR file from the Qinghe (Chinggil) county government Web site. Numbers rounded to the nearest one except where less than 1 percent.)
The 2010 announcement follows past XPCC recruiting cycles that also reserved the vast majority of positions for Han. (See CECC analyses 1, 2.) In 2009, for example, the XPCC recruited for 894 positions, of which 744 were reserved for Han, 11 for Uyghurs, 2 for Kazakhs, and 137 designated as unrestricted by ethnicity. The 2010 recruitment announcement said that the 2010 quotas would raise the proportion of jobs designated as "unrestricted by ethnicity" or "ethnic minority" up to 22.6 percent of the total jobs offered, compared with 12.4 percent of all jobs in 2009. The figure of 22.6 percent appears to include all positions designated for one or more non-Han groups or unrestricted by ethnicity. Because Han are also eligible for the unrestricted jobs, the proportion of jobs reserved explicitly for members of specified or unspecified minorities would increase from 1.45 percent in 2009 to 4.2 percent in 2010, according to CECC calculations.
- Teacher Recruiting Restricts Jobs. Also in May, the XUAR Education Department announced a recruitment drive for more than 10,000 elementary and secondary school teachers, according to a May 27 Tianshan Net article. Of the 10,643 jobs listed in a roster of available positions, 3,052 (29 percent) were reserved for Han, 5,665 (53 percent) were unrestricted by ethnicity, 1,767 (17 percent) were reserved specifically for Uyghurs, 130 (1.22 percent) for Kazakhs, 18 (0.17 percent) for Kyrgyz, 5 (.05 percent) for Hui, 1 for a Russian (0.01 percent), and 5 (0.05 percent) for Mongols. (Analysis based on roster of positions available as download from the XUAR Human Resources and Social Security Department.) Many of the positions for non-Han groups require knowledge of Mandarin, suggesting that the ethnicity-based requirements were not used as a proxy to signify the language of instruction in a particular teaching position but rather were used as an independent factor in job recruitment.
- Xinjiang Government Reserves Jobs for Han. During May recruiting for a series of civil servant positions in the XUAR, 28 percent of the positions (2,639 of 9,512 jobs) were exclusively reserved for Han, according to CECC analysis. (Analysis based on roster of positions available as a download from a May 26 Tianshan Net article). A May 20 article on China Xinjiang paraphrased the vice director of the XUAR civil service bureau as saying a set number of positions would be guaranteed for ethnic minorities, while the remainder "to the extent possible" would be unrestricted by ethnicity. Based on CECC analysis of the 9,512 available positions, 72 percent of the positions (6,863 jobs) were available to ethnic minorities, including positions open to all non-Han groups as well as those designated for specific communities, meaning not all 72 percent of the positions were available for all non-Han groups. Roughly 38 percent (3,642) of the positions were unrestricted by ethnicity, 17 percent (1,579) designated for unspecified "ethnic minorities," and 17 percent (1,642) for members of specified ethnic minority groups, including 62 positions available to the member of a specified group or a Han. Some categories of jobs reserved a majority of positions for Han, such as 500 of 698 positions in town and township offices in the four southern districts of the XUAR. In other areas, jobs were split among different groups or a majority of positions was unrestricted.
- As Oil Industry Booms, Industry Jobs Favor Han. In an August announcement for jobs with the Xinjiang PetroChina Pipe Engineering Co., a subsidiary of the state-owned enterprise China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), all 50 open positions were reserved for Han. (See the August 11, 2010, job announcement on the Internet Recruiting Association Web site and company introduction on its Web site for more information about the company's relationship with CNPC.) The CNPC also has recruited for jobs in the XUAR in the past that reserved positions for Han. (See an April 7, 2009, announcement on the Xinjiang University Web site.) The August 2010 job recruiting comes as the CNPC has announced plans to increase oil production in the XUAR. Following a series of initiatives announced at the May 2010 Xinjiang Work Forum to boost economic development in the region, a July 20 People's Daily article reported that the CNPC would "develop Xinjiang as a major oil and gas production and processing base over the next 10 years," in anticipation of the XUAR becoming "the country's most significant base" in oil production and storage, according to a paraphrasing of CNPC's remarks.
For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV！Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-10 / Chinese) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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Xinjiang Authorities Target Beards, Veils in Campaigns To Tighten Control Over Religion
October 18, 2010
Authorities in the far western region of Xinjiang have carried out campaigns in 2010 and previous years targeting Muslim men who wear large beards and women who wear veils (singling out face veiling in a number of cases), tying the practices in the Muslim-majority region to "religious extremism" and "backwardness." The campaigns against beards and veils come as Xinjiang authorities continue to tighten controls over religion in the region. Amid these campaigns, newly available information indicates that authorities imposed prison sentences on two men in 2007 and 2008 in cases that reportedly have connections to the men wearing beards.
Authorities in the XUAR have carried out campaigns in 2010 and previous years to restrict wearing beards, veils, and clothing perceived to carry religious connotations, associating the practices with "religious extremism" and "backwardness." In some cases, authorities have focused their efforts on younger people, in an apparent effort to stem perceived "religious extremism" among segments of the population deemed more likely to challenge official authority. In at least one reported campaign, authorities described using legal punishments to address wearing beards and veils. As part of the work to implement Communist Party directives in Aksu district in 2009, local officials were instructed to discern the thinking, motives, and behavior of people with beards, veils, or "bizarre" clothes and then to deal with them according to these "different situations," through measures including "punishing severely in accordance with law" (yifa yancheng), "handling [matters] through coercion" (qiangzhi chuli), and "helping" to "liberate" (bangzhu jietuo). See a report posted December 11, 2009, on the Shayar county, Aksu, government Web site. In addition, authorities in Shayar county went to people's homes to carry out "face-to-face propaganda and education" and to have them sign pledges that they would no longer wear "bizarre" clothes or beards, according to the report. In Wensu (Onsu) county, Aksu, the propaganda bureau engaged in "propaganda and education activities" resulting in 569 women "voluntarily" removing face coverings, 606 women no longer wearing "bizarre" clothes, and 295 young men shaving their beards, according to the report.
The previous year, officials from the religious affairs bureau in Awat county, Aksu, noted in a summary of accomplishments from 2008 that it carried out work aimed at "big beards" worn by young men and face veiling by women, according to a November 11, 2008, report from the Awat county government Web site. (The document has been removed from the Awat county Web site. A partial excerpt is available from Fast Document Net.) Authorities provided "study and education" to young men with big beards and women with veiled faces, and "in accordance with the principle of channeling responsibility to the proper authorities, each relevant department carried out beard-shaving and unveilings directed at young men with big beards and young women covering their faces." Also in 2008, government and Communist Party officials in the town of Yengi Mehelle, Shayar county, Aksu, called for taking various "effective measures" during the month of Ramadan to have men with big beards shave them off and have women remove face veils, according to an August 28, 2008, report on the Shayar county government Web site (available via Open Source Center, subscription required, CPP20080905072001).
In Chabucha'er (Chapchal) Xibe Autonomous County in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, "abnormal" big beards, veiling one's face, and other forms of expression with a "religious hue" were among 16 situations to be "reported on" and "dealt with," according to the answer sheet for a knowledge contest on "promoting ethnic unity, opposing separatism, and upholding stability" (Item 64) posted August 31, 2009, on the Chapchal Xibe Autonomous County, Ili, government Web site. The answer sheet also connected wearing big beards to a religious organization--called the "faithfulness" organization, or zhongcheng zuzhi in Mandarin, based on the original Uyghur name, ita'et or "obedience"！described as having members with a "Wahhabi" outlook who disregard the laws of the state, refuse to pay taxes, advocate jihad, and prohibit eating food that has "MSG, butter, and seasonings made in factories in [China's] interior" (Item 161).
Authorities have continued campaigns targeting beards and veils in 2010. The XUAR Women's Federation carried out campaigns in the past year to persuade women to stop wearing veils, describing one pilot project as successful in making women "realize that wearing a veil is not a form of expression of ethnic dress but rather of extreme religion, an expression of a type of ignorant and backward way of thinking, and an expression not suited for the developments of the times." See a related CECC analysis for detailed information. In May 2010, authorities in Hanikatamu (Xaniqatam, Xaniqa atam, Hankhatam) township in Kucha, Aksu, assessed a campaign connected to "illegal religious activities" as an effective step in attacking "religious fanaticism" and changing "outmoded thinking" regarding "bizarre" apparel worn by some women in Hanikatamu and "big beards" worn by some young men. See a related CECC analysis for detailed information. A person from the township reported to Radio Free Asia in September that authorities strengthened controls over face coverings, beards, and "religious" clothing during Ramadan, according to September 21 and September 24, 2010, articles from Radio Free Asia. Sources cited in the articles also reported fines for people who didn't remove face veils or beards, as well as restrictions on beards and religious apparel in force elsewhere in the XUAR.
As authorities have politicized beard wearing, newly available information indicates that authorities levied prison sentences on two men in 2007 and 2008 in cases that have reported connections to the men wearing beards. Public security officers in Yining (Ghulja) municipality, Ili, detained a Uyghur laborer, Nurtay Memet, in 2007 on grounds related to "superstition" and to violating the region's social order regulation, according to an August 20, 2010, report from Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service. Nurtay Memet's wife connected the detention to her husband wearing a beard. The Yining (Ghulja) Municipal People's Court tried and sentenced Nurtay Memet in 2007 to five years' imprisonment on the "superstition"-related charge. Under Article 300 of China's Criminal Law (English, Chinese), "using superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State" is punishable by prison sentences between three and seven years or sentences of no less than seven years in serious cases. Nurtay Memet is reportedly held in a prison in Wusu (Shixo) city in Tacheng (Tarbaghatay) district in Ili. His wife said that her husband, now 52 years old, is in poor health. She also reported that authorities forced her to stop covering her face.
In a separate case, the same court sentenced Uyghur trader Ghojaexmet Niyaz to six years in prison in 2008, which a source familiar with the case connected in part to Ghojaexmet Niyaz's refusal to shave his beard, according to a September 13, 2010, report from Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service. Public security officers in Weihai city, Shandong province, initially detained Ghojaexmet Niyaz in May 2008 during a security sweep in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, on the grounds that he did not have an identification card, according to the report. Ghojaexmet Niyaz had just come to the city with his family for work, and authorities returned him to his home in the XUAR. The specific charges against him at trial are not known, but the source familiar with the case said he had committed no other misdeed than not having identification and connected the sentence to Ghojaexmet Niyaz's refusal in court to shave his beard and show remorse. Ghojaexmet Niyaz is currently held at a prison in the Yanqi Hui Autonomous County in the Bayangol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture within the XUAR, according to the report.
For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV！Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-09-17 ) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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