Authorities Increase Repression in Xinjiang in Lead-up to and During Olympics

November 25, 2008

Officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) called again in August for the use of harsh security measures to crack down against the government-designated "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, according to reports from Chinese media. On August 13, Wang Lequan, XUAR Communist Party Chair, described the battle against the "three forces" as a "life or death struggle" and pledged to "strike hard" against their activities, according to an August 14 report from the Xinjiang Daily.

Officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) called again in August for the use of harsh security measures to crack down against the government-designated "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, according to reports from Chinese media. On August 13, Wang Lequan, XUAR Communist Party Chair, described the battle against the "three forces" as a "life or death struggle" and pledged to "strike hard" against their activities, according to an August 14 report from the Xinjiang Daily. XUAR Party Committee Standing Committee member Zhu Hailun reiterated the pledge to "strike hard" at an August 18 meeting, according to an August 19 report from the Xinjiang Daily. The announcements followed the release of limited information on terrorist and criminal activity in the region (see, e.g., Xinhua reports from August 4, 6, 10, and 12) and came amid a series of measures that increased repression in the region, including:

  • Wide-scale Detentions. Authorities have carried out wide-scale detentions as part of security campaigns in cities throughout the XUAR, according to a September 4 report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). Reported measures include "security sweeps" resulting in mass detentions in the Kashgar area and Kucha county, including blanket detentions in Kucha of young people who have been abroad; the detention of non-resident Uyghurs in Korla city; the forced return of Uyghur children studying religion in another province and their detention in the XUAR for engaging in "illegal religious activities;" and the detention of family members or associates of people suspected to be involved in terrorist activity.
  • Restrictions on Uyghurs' Domestic and International Travel. Authorities reportedly continued to hold Uyghurs' passports over the summer, building off of a campaign in 2007 to confiscate Muslims' passports and prevent them from making overseas pilgrimages. Authorities also have coupled restrictions on overseas travel with reported measures to limit Uyghurs' travel within China. For more information on restrictions reported in recent months, see the UHRP report, a July 31 Agence France-Presse report (via Open Source Center, subscription required) and an August 8 report from the Telegraph. For more information on 2007 measures to confiscate passports, see the section on Religious Freedom for China's Muslims in the 2007 Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report (via the Government Printing Office Web site).
  • Controls Over Religion. XUAR officials have enforced a series of measures that ratchet up control over religious practice in the region. Authorities in Yéngisheher county in Kashgar district issued accountability measures on August 5 to hold local officials responsible for high-level surveillance of religious activity in the region, according to an August 14 report from Radio Free Asia (RFA). Authorities in Peyziwat county, Kashgar district, called for "enhancing management" of groups including religious figures as part of broader government and Party measures of "prevention" and "attack," according to an August 8 report on the Kashgar district government Web site. The previous month, authorities in Mongghulküre county, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, called for strengthening management of religious affairs; inspecting all mosques and venues for religious activity; curbing "illegal" recitations of scripture and non-government-approved pilgrimages; and "penetrating" groups of religious believers to understand their ways of thinking, according to July 16 reports (1, 2 (cached page)) on the Xinjiang Peace Net Web site. Authorities in Lop county, Hoten district, have been forcing women to remove head coverings in a stated effort to promote "women for the new era" according to the World Uyghur Congress, as cited in an August 27 report from RFA.
  • Controls Over Free Expression. Authorities in the XUAR ordered some Uyghur Web sites to shut down their bulletin board services (BBS) during the Olympics, according to an August 14 RFA report. In a review of Uyghur Web sites carried out on August 18 and 19, Congressional-Executive Commission on China staff found that BBSs on the Web sites Diyarim, Orkhun, and Alkuyi had been suspended. The BBS Web page on Diyarim contained the message, "[L]et's protect stability with full strength and create a peaceful environment for the Olympic Games[!] Please visit other Diyarim pages[.]" The message on the BBS Web page on Orkhun stated, "Based on the requirements of the work units concerned, the Orkhun Uyghur history Web site has been closed until August 25 because of the Olympic Games."
  • Inspections of Households in Ghulja. According to July 17 and July 23 reports from RFA, authorities in the predominantly ethnic minority city of Ghulja searched homes in the area in a campaign described by a Chinese official as aimed at rooting out "illegal activities" and finding residents living without proper documentation.
  • Controls Over Uyghurs Outside the XUAR. Authorities in cities outside of the XUAR also increased controls over Uyghur residents and some other ethnic minority communities leading up to and during the Olympic Games, according to an August 13 report from the New York Times, an August 5 report from South China Morning Post (subscription required), and July 30 and July 27 reports from RFA. According to an August 18 report from Bloomberg, authorities pressed Uyghurs to leave Beijing.

The measures implemented in the run-up to and during the Olympics build off of earlier campaigns to tighten repression in the region, including measures to tighten control as the Olympic torch passed through the region in June.

For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section II--Ethnic Minority Rights, subsection on Rights Abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in the 2007 CECC Annual Report.