Amnesty International Urges China to Conduct a Fair and Impartial
Investigation in Urumqi
WASHINGTON, July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amnesty International today
called on the authorities in Urumqi to immediately launch an independent and
impartial investigation into reports that 140 people were killed when a
protest turned violent late on Sunday.
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"The Chinese authorities must fully account for all those who died and have
been detained. Those who were detained solely for peacefully expressing their
views and exercising their freedom of expression, association and assembly
must be released immediately. A fair and thorough investigation must be
launched resulting in fair trials that are in accordance with international
standards without recourse to the death penalty," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty
International's Deputy Director Asia-Pacific.
"There has been a tragic loss of life and it is essential that an urgent
independent investigation takes place to bring all those responsible for the
deaths to justice," said Rife. "Violence and abuses from either the
authorities or protestors is in no way justified."
Amnesty International urged the authorities to respect their obligations under
domestic and international law which protect peaceful freedom of expression
and assembly, prohibit arbitrary arrest and torture or ill-treatment in
custody. The organization also called on the authorities to allow free access
for domestic and foreign journalists and independent observers to report on
the incident.
Xinhua, an official state news agency, reported that police in Urumqi, capital
of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and home to more than 8
million Uighurs, have arrested several hundred participants, including more
than ten key figures that were accused of instigating the unrest, and are
still searching for approximately 90 more.
The protests are reported to have begun with non-violent demonstrations
against government inaction after a violent riot at a factory in Shaoguan,
Guangdong province, resulted in two deaths. On June 26, hundreds of Uighur
workers clashed with thousands of Han Chinese workers at a factory where
Uighurs had been recruited from the XUAR. Police have reportedly detained the
man, a laid-off employee from the same factory, who circulated rumors which
provoked the deadly clash. The official response to the violence in Guangdong
was to impose an information black-out on the incident, with websites and
online discussion boards instructed to delete posts related to the clash.
Beyond responding to the immediate outbreak of violence, authorities need to
address issues that have given rise to tensions. Since the 1980s, the Uighurs
have been the target of systematic and extensive human rights violations.
These include arbitrary detention and imprisonment, incommunicado detention,
and serious restrictions on religious freedom as well as cultural and social
rights.
Chinese government policies, including those that limit use of the Uighur
language, severe restrictions on freedom of religion, and a sustained influx
of Han Chinese migrants into the region, are destroying customs and, together
with employment discrimination, fuelling discontent and ethnic tensions. The
Chinese government has mounted an aggressive campaign that has led to the
arrest and arbitrary detention of thousands of Uighurs on charges of
"terrorism, separatism and religious extremism" for peacefully exercising
their human rights.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist
organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers
in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The
organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the
public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and
dignity are denied.
For more information, please go to www.amnestyusa.org.
SOURCE Amnesty International
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