Engnews December 2013

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba

by Rachel Vandenbrink

Tibetan Father of Two Self-Immolates in Ngaba December 4, 2013 — A Tibetan father of two self-immolated in protest against Chinese rule in a restive Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan province, triggering clashes and a security crackdown in the area, according to sources. Konchok Tseten, aged 30, torched himself late Tuesday at the Ngaba county's Meruma township center in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, shouting slogans against Beijing's rule in Tibet and calling for the return of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, said the sources, speaking from inside Tibet. With his body engulfed in flames, Tseten managed to run for a distance along the main street before he collapsed, the sources said. Local residents clashed with police as they tried but failed to stop security forces from taking the severely injured Tseten away, they said. "While his body was on fire, he called for the long life of the Dalai Lama and appealed for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet," a Tibetan with contacts in the area told RFA's Tibetan Service. "He also called for the reunion of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet." "Even after he collapsed on the ground, he was seen by local witnesses folding his hands together in prayer and uttering some words that were not audible," the Tibetan said. Eyewitnesses also said that local residents resisted police attempts to take away Tseten, who had suffered severe burns, resulting in a scuffle and the detention of several Tibetans. "The police arrived at the scene and tried to take him away as he was burning, but the local Tibetans who had gathered at the township resisted and tried to stop the police. This lasted for about one hour before the security forces took him away," another Tibetan said. Relatives detained Police detained Tseten's wife and several of his relatives, among others. "All the Tibetan stores and restaurants in Meruma town were ordered to be closed and many mobile phones were confiscated from the locals." Details of Tseten's condition were not immediately available amid a clampdown on information in Ngaba county following the self-immolation, the 124th since Tibetans launched burning protests in 2009 calling for Tibetan freedom and for the return to Tibet of the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 following a failed national uprising against Chinese rule. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Chinese authorities have tightened controls in a bid to check self-immolation protests, arresting and jailing Tibetans whom they accuse of being linked to the burnings. Some have been jailed for up to 15 years. The authorities have also attempted to pressure local Tibetans to sign an official order that forbids any kind of activities to support or sympathize with self-immolation protests, residents said. Reported by Lumbum Tashi and Lobe Socktsang for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-03042012113258.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

11 years

Season's Greetings from Radio Free Asia

by Rohit Mahajan

>From All of Us at Radio Free Asia, Season's Greetings! Watch our year-end video, marking a few of the year's most important stories RFA covered in 2013. Click here to view <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSnHr870BY&feature=share&list=UUirnBv9qGKCJ YZSaWmYGFaQ&index=1> . KHM7 Wishing each and every person a safe and peaceful New Year. LogoText

11 years, 2 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Tiananmen Crash Linked to Xinjiang Mosque Raid

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Tiananmen Crash Linked to Xinjiang Mosque Raid NOV. 6, 2013— An ethnic Muslim Uyghur who plowed his car into a crowded part of Tiananmen Square last week in what the Chinese authorities called a deadly terrorist act may have been angered by a police raid on a mosque in the troubled Xinjiang region, a former official from his home village said Wednesday. Usmen Hesen, who was killed in the crash together with his wife and mother who were also in the vehicle, had publicly vowed to avenge the police raid on the mosque in his Yengi Aymaq village in Xinjiang’s Akto county, former village chief Hamut Turdi said. “I think it is highly possible that Usmen Hesen did this to take revenge for our villagers,” Turdi told RFA’s Uyghur Service. He said that Hesen, aged 33, was furious when Chinese police entered the Pilal mosque compound and tore down the courtyard, which the authorities had termed as an illegal extension of the prayer house built on funds collected from the village community. According to Turdi, Hesen had donated a significant portion of the donated funds. “This is one reason that he might have carried out the Tiananmen attack,” which had also left two tourists dead and injured dozens at the popular site and symbolic heart of the Chinese state, Turdi said. He pointed out that the Pilal mosque raid took place exactly a year before the crash in Tiananmen Square on Oct. 28—“which also leads me to believe this” motive behind the alleged attack. The Yengi Aymaq village is situated in Ujme town under the jurisdiction of the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uyghurs who say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies. Turdi, 55, who had worked as Yengi Aymaq village chief for 22 years before he was ousted by authorities over the Pilal mosque incident, recollected Hesen making an emotional speech soon after some 100 police officers surrounded the mosque as workers demolished the courtyard. Hesen made the speech as he told the mosque community to stand down after they argued with the armed police. “At that time, Usmen Hesen jumped in and persuaded the community to disperse by saying, ‘Today they have won and we have lost because they are carrying guns and we have nothing—but don’t worry, one day we will do something ourselves’,” Turdi said. “As Usmen Hesen finished his emotional speech, [his mother] Kuwanhan Reyim went to him crying, and hugged and kissed his forehead because of her pride in him. The crowd was also moved to tears and retreated.” When the mosque community backed down, the demolition team bulldozed the mosque’s courtyard and destroyed part of the walls, Turdi said, adding that they also removed 12 carpets from the mosque and disconnected the building’s water supply and heating system. Hesen left Yengi Aymaq village the next day and never returned, he said. Tiananmen incident The Chinese authorities have blamed the little-known East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) militant group for the Tiananmen raid. Many Uygurs refer to Xinjiang, which borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the former Soviet Central Asian republics, as East Turkestan. Last week, a source who claims to know Hesen’s family, suggested that he may have been on a deadly revenge attack after losing a family member during the 2009 bloody riots between Han Chinese and Uyghurs in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. Another source—Hesen's school classmate—claimed his younger brother had died in a mysterious traffic accident several years ago that had been blamed on the majority Han Chinese or the Chinese authorities. Thousands of Uyghurs had gone missing since they were arrested in large sweep operations following the Urumqi riots, Uyghur groups have claimed. Pilal mosque Turdi said Hesen’s village community had collected around 200,000 yuan (U.S. $32,800) over three years to build the Pilal mosque and successfully applied for a permit to construct it in 2011. After the mosque was built in mid-2012, he said, the community raised another 30,000 yuan (U.S. $4,900) in August that year to lay a concrete floor in the courtyard and build a wall around it to keep the area clean for performing burial rituals. But when the courtyard project was completed, local authorities ordered it torn down because the mosque community had not applied for a new permit to build it. Xinjiang has seen a string of violent incidents in recent years as Beijing tightens security measures and extends house-to-house raids targeting Uyghur families. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/demolition-11062013163042.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

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Engnews December 2013