Xinjiang
Since 2006, villages in Hoten district, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), have been regulating village behavior through a system of pledges known as zungui shouyue chengnuoshu (literally, "promises to respect the rules and observe customs," also described in a Uyghur-language source, discussed below, as a mes'uliyetname, or accountability certificate). Under the pledge system, village residents and village officials enter into agreements with the local villagers' committee to abide by the village "code of conduct" (cungui minyue) or face fines for non-compliance. The pledge system has no explicit basis in Chinese law, though it builds on legal provisions that allow villages in China to pass village codes of conducts. A Congressional-Executive Commission on China survey of online articles that mention the pledges suggests that this specific type of institutionalized pledge system based on village codes of conduct may be unique to the XUAR, with limited exceptions.
Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) continued to implement work-study programs in 2009 and 2010 that require students to pick cotton and engage in other forms of labor, according to various media and government reports from the region. (Internet access in the region was blocked in late 2009, and during that time, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China did not find any articles about work-study programs in the region that year.) As noted in past CECC analyses (1, 2, 3), the work-study programs have been used since the mid-1990s as a stated means of generating income for local schools and meeting local harvesting quotas.
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At this Roundtable on the release of the Commission's 2010 Annual Report, research specialists on the Commission staff provided an overview of major trends and developments in human rights and the rule of law in China over the past year, with a particular focus on freedom of expression and the Internet, and developments in Tibet, and Xinjiang.
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:
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.
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.
One government commission and two Party offices jointly have issued a new document to further strengthen "ethnic unity" in China. The Central Propaganda Bureau, United Front Work Department, and State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC) adopted the Opinion on Further Launching Activities To Establish Ethnic Unity and Progress (Opinion) on February 1, 2010, but did not appear to release the full text of the document until July 2010.
Urumqi Court Sentences Journalist Gheyret Niyaz
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At this CECC roundtable, panelists examined conditions in the far western region of Xinjiang one year after demonstrations and rioting occurred there. Events in July 2009 exposed longstanding tensions in the region and Uyghurs' grievances toward government policies that threaten basic rights.