Xinjiang's First Large-Scale Training Class for Ethnic Minority Lawyers Stresses Meeting Political Goals

January 19, 2011

Authorities in the far western region of Xinjiang convened a large-scale training session in December for ethnic minority lawyers in the region. The first of its scope in China, officials at the training session stressed the lawyers' roles in carrying out government and Communist Party policy, including contributing to the region's "battle" against the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism. Authorities have used the fight against the "three forces" to target peaceful human rights advocacy, political dissent, and religious activities outside of government-approved parameters; the attention to lawyers' roles in this "battle" continues a practice of using the legal profession to enforce this political agenda in the region. The training session also touched on the language capabilities of ethnic minority lawyers and total number of ethnic minority lawyers in the region, issues that draw attention to longstanding problems in meeting the legal needs of ethnic minority residents in Xinjiang.

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) presided over the area's first large-scale training class for ethnic minority lawyers from December 4 to December 6, 2010, stressing the lawyers' roles in meeting the region's political objectives, according to several reports. The event, convened by the Xinjiang Lawyers Association (XLA), marks the largest training class for ethnic minority lawyers in China, according to a December 10 report on the XLA Web site. Speaking in advance of the training class, XLA secretary-general Mao Li said the training would aim to strengthen "ideological and political construction," professional ethics, and professional work quality, according to a December 1, 2010, XLA report. Mao also stressed building a contingent of ethnic minority lawyers who are "politically steadfast and legally conversant, uphold justice, and abide by honesty," in serving the cause of the XUAR's "leapfrog" development and long-term stability. XLA head Jin Shan reported that lawyers studied professional content such as the newly promulgated tort law, as well as content connected to "economic and social development conditions" in the region, according to the December 10 XLA report. Mao noted the training took place at year's end, "a period when many social contradictions of all kinds erupt," and called for trainees to abide by class rules and set schedules outside of class time and for organizers to ensure no "blind spots" or "fault lines" existed in carrying out the training class.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, XUAR Justice Department head Abliz Hoshur said that ethnic minority lawyers played a "special role" in dealing with "major, sensitive cases," including the "July 5 incident" (demonstrations and riots in the XUAR in July 2009), according to a December 5 XLA report. He called on the lawyers to give priority to "ideological and political construction" and to increase their "political quality." Abliz Hoshur also added that "as ethnic minority lawyers, it is necessary to soberly realize the protracted and complex nature of our region's battle between separatism and anti-separatism," and he called on them to "fully utilize the weapon of the law" to battle the "three forces" (terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism). As noted in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2010 Annual Report (see, e.g., pp. 201, 205–206), authorities have used the campaign against the "three forces" to target peaceful human rights advocacy, political dissent, and religious activities outside of government-approved parameters.

Articles on the training session also addressed the language capabilities of the lawyers and number of ethnic minority lawyers in the region, issues that draw attention to longstanding problems in meeting the legal needs of ethnic minority residents. Abliz Hoshur called on ethnic minority lawyers to "fully bring into play" their knowledge of ethnic minority languages, customs, and proximity to the "ethnic minority masses." Jin Shan reported that the course "boldly attempted" bilingual instruction, with some classes taught in Mandarin and some in ethnic minority languages, according to the December 10 XLA report. The reports did not provide detailed information, however, on the language capabilities of the ethnic minority lawyers in attendance. (Among the groups designated as ethnic minorities in China, some people speak only Mandarin or use it as their main language of communication, and it is not clear how many ethnic minority lawyers in the XUAR training class speak ethnic minority languages. While a limited number of Han Chinese in the XUAR may know ethnic minority languages, it appears likely that the bulk of legal workers who speak ethnic minority languages would come from the region's pool of ethnic minority lawyers.)

Ethnic minority lawyers as a whole continue to comprise a small number of lawyers in the region compared to the total number of ethnic minorities in the XUAR. In 2010, "over 370" of "more than 2,200 lawyers" in the region, or roughly 17 percent of all lawyers, were ethnic minorities, based on information in a December 7, 2010, Tianshan Net report on the training session, while ethnic minorities overall comprise about 60 percent of the XUAR's total population, according to official statistics. The number of lawyers in the region appears to represent a slight decrease from 2007, when 380 lawyers, or more than 17 percent of a total of 2,184 lawyers in the region, were ethnic minorities, according to an October 18, 2007, Xinhua report. Most ethnic minority lawyers appeared to be in attendance at the 2010 training class. Participants included 346 ethnic minority lawyers of over 10 ethnicities, as well as 1 Han lawyer who attended at the lawyer's own expense, according to a December 4, 2010, Legal Daily report and the December 5 XLA report. The XLA covered expenses for the event to "guarantee all ethnic minority lawyers in the region can attend," according to the December 1 XLA report.

Against this backdrop, and along with disproportionately low numbers of ethnic minority judges and other judicial staff, officials have noted broader problems in securing citizens' right to use their own language in court proceedings. (See, e.g., Article 9 of the Criminal Procedure Law and Article 47 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law for legal provisions on this right. See the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2008 Annual Report, pp. 180–181, for detailed discussion of the numbers of ethnic minority judges in the region.) According to a February 7, 2006, report from Tianshan Net, personnel shortcomings in XUAR courts have meant that "there is no way to guarantee the use of ethnic minority languages to carry out litigation."

The low number of ethnic minority lawyers and judicial staff in the region, languages to be used in trial, and politicization of lawyers came into question in trials connected to events in July 2009, the judicial proceedings for which Abliz Hoshur commended ethnic minority lawyers for playing a "special role." In advance of the trials, the XLA reported that the XUAR Justice Department would arrange criminal defense for suspects who go to trial, selecting Uyghur lawyers and giving them training in criminal law, raising questions about the lawyers' existing expertise in criminal law and whether the training would be used to enforce political agendas. Media reported that trials were carried out in defendants' languages, but provided no additional details on how authorities guaranteed this right. Reports on the December 2010 training session did not indicate if trials continue to be held in connection to the July 2009 events.

For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV—Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.