Xinjiang
As President Obama prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24-25, 2015, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) will hold a hearing to examine the critical human rights and rule of law issues that deserve frank and robust discussions during the planned state visit.
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
October 1, 2014
(Washington DC)—The Chairman and Cochairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) condemn the September 23 conviction and life imprisonment of Uyghur scholar and rights advocate Ilham Tohti and call for his unconditional release.
Congressional-Executive Commission on China | www.cecc.gov
August 1, 2014
(Washington, DC)—Uyghur scholar and rights advocate Ilham Tohti was indicted recently on charges of “separatism,” which can carry the death penalty in China. The Chairman and Cochairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today commend Ilham Tohti’s efforts to build understanding and dialogue between ethnic minority groups and urge the Chinese government to drop all charges against him.
Chinese officials have cracked down on independent rights advocacy, detaining large numbers of individuals for peacefully advocating on issues ranging from combating official corruption and protecting the rights of ethnic minorities to ensuring educational equality for migrant children and seeking greater freedom of the press. Those detained include Ilham Tohti, a scholar and an advocate for the Uyghur ethnic minority, who sought to build bridges between Uyghurs and the majority Han population. They also include individuals from the New Citizens’ Movement, who have called for social justice, rule of law, and citizen rights.
On February 20, 2014, the Urumqi Municipal Public Security Bureau formally arrested Minzu University professor Ilham Tohti on charges of separatism.[1] The arrest notice indicated authorities were detaining Tohti in a detention center in Urumqi, the regional capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).[2] Authorities reportedly only informed Tohti’s wife about her husband’s arrest on February 25.[3] Prosecutors formally approved Tohti’s arrest just short of the 37-day limit mandated by Article 69 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law.
Foreign Reporters Curbed; Social Media Comments Censored
The legal status and health condition of a group of Uyghur children in detention remain unknown, following a reported clash in Pishan (Guma) county, Hoten district, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, at which the children were present, according to a series of reports from Radio Free Asia (RFA) based on interviews with residents and local officials. Sources cited by RFA described the incident as a clash between public security officials and a group of Uyghurs attempting to flee China due to religious repression. Official Chinese media sources reported the incident as police intervention, after members of a terrorist group took two people hostage.
Chinese Media Reports "Terrorist" Group Takes Hostages