Engnews August 2013

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Sam Rainsy Warns of Protests If He's Not Allowed to Contest

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Sam Rainsy Warns of Protests if He's Not Allowed to Contest JULY 19, 2013— Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Friday that if he is continued to be barred from contesting the upcoming national elections, he will not recognize any victory by Prime Minister Hun Sen's party in the polls. This could set the stage for mass protests by his supporters and other Cambodians, Sam Rainsy told RFA's Khmer Service in an interview hours after he returned Friday to Phnom Penh from four years of self-imposed exile. The National Election Committee, which conducts and manages elections in Cambodia, has ruled out Sam Rainsy's participation in the July 28 elections although he has received a royal pardon for offenses which he says are politically motivated. The 64-year-old Sam Rainsy, who heads the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), believes the international community would also not endorse any victory by Hun Sen's dominant Cambodian People's Party (CPP) if the opposition leader's name is not on the ballot. He said it would be unfair if he is barred from contesting the parliamentary elections as he is the head of the main opposition party and a potential prime ministerial candidate. “If I can’t participate, after the elections all the Cambodian people will protest and the whole international community will condemn the result and regard this as a sham election," Sam Rainsy told RFA when asked about his options if he is not allowed to compete in the polls. "Then we will demand a real election to allow Cambodians to decide their true destiny,” said Sam Rainsy, who was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters on his arrival Friday. 'Rescue' He vowed in a speech to his supporters that he would "rescue" the country from corruption and harsh rule if his party wins the elections and ousts the CPP, which has held power for 28 years and at present holds 90 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly, the country's parliament. Sam Rainsy, who had been living in France since 2009 to avoid a 11-year prison term for politicized offenses, was granted a royal pardon by King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen a week ago. However, he cannot contest the elections because the registration of candidates has long been closed and his name has been removed from the electoral register, the NEC said. "In order to value this competition and for the election result to be recognized, there must be two competitors," Sam Rainsy said. "Now without me, Sam Rainsy, who must run as the prime ministerial candidate for the CNRP, the current prime minister [Hun Sen] doesn’t have any rivals and will not be competing with anyone. So even if he announces a victory, it is not a victory,” he said. Sam Rainsy has accused the NEC of being under the control of the CPP, which has won the last two polls by a landslide despite allegations of fraud and election irregularities. Hun Sen has said he will try to stay in office for another decade, until he is 74. Rights groups say his continued rule will only worsen human rights violations and corruption and further suppress political freedoms. Problems in electoral system Rights groups say Cambodia's electoral system is riddled with major problems, including issues over voter registration lists, the use of civil servants and army personnel to campaign for the CPP, government control of mass media to slant the news, and intimidation against opposition figures and civil society monitors. While Sam Rainsy's return has given a shot in the arm to the opposition, rights groups are concerned that Hun Sen's administration may move to thwart the opposition campaign. "The deck is heavily stacked every day in Cambodia against anyone who dares to oppose Hun Sen," Phil Robertson, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, told RFA. He said the CPP has openly said that if it loses the election, there will be civil war, suggesting possible CPP-instigated violence against the opposition and its supporters. Sam Rainsy said he and CNRP Deputy President Kem Sokha were united in their zeal to wrest victory following their decision to merge their parties. The CNRP is a merger between the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and Kem Sokha's Human Rights Party (HRP). “We want the people to win and become the owners of their country,” Sam Rainsy said. “We are uniting the whole nation." Kem Sokha said Hun Sen's party was trying to split the CNRP but their efforts would fail. “We have the same goal, we have a slogan to be united to make changes. We are holding hands to end the people's current plight,” Kem Sokha said. “This is a lesson [that we have already learned]. Nothing will split Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha," he said. The two parties tried to forge a union before the 2008 national election but failed after they openly criticized each other. Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/contest-07192013171936.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 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

11 years, 3 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Death Toll in Xinjiang Police Shootout Climbs; Exile Group Blasts Raid

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Death Toll in Xinjiang Police Shootout Climbs; Exile Group Blasts Raid AUGUST 27, 2013—Authorities in China's Xinjiang region said Tuesday that they had shot dead 22 Uyghurs accused of terrorism last week, revising higher an initial death toll in one of the biggest crackdowns on the ethnic minority Muslim group. They said they have also arrested four Uyghurs in a raid on a house where the 22 were gunned down on Aug. 20 at the edge of a desert area in the Yilkiqi township in Kargilik (in Chinese, Yecheng) county in Xinjiang's southwestern Kashgar prefecture. The death toll was revised upward after police and other sources had said at the weekend that based on initial reports, 15 Uyghurs and one Han Chinese policeman were killed in the "anti-terror" operation. The Yilkiqi shooting follows a spate of violence across Xinjiang in recent months that has led to massive arrests, with hundreds of Uyghurs taken into custody for interrogations by the authorities in the troubled northwestern region of China. "Two days after the incident, the township government informed us at a meeting that 22 people had died and four others were arrested," Mahmut Han, the chief of Islamic Association of Yilkiqi Township, told RFA's Uyghur Service. Helicopter hunt According to officials, he said, the shootout was ordered after police, backed by a helicopter, closely monitored "suspicious activity" for about a week around the house where the Uyghurs had been living. "The township's [ruling Chinese Communist] Party secretary criticized us [the township's officials] for not being alert in detecting such activities," Mahmut Han said. The deputy chief of Yilkiqi township, Alim Hamid, said that he was at the scene of the shootout, following which "22 bodies in black bags were carried out by police to an unknown destination." "Police informed us that those who were killed were terrorists," he told RFA. "But they didn't specify what wrong they did." "Now we have strengthened security in the township in line with orders from the government and we are on the lookout for people from out of town," Alim Hamid said. "They will be identified and their particulars given to the police." Chinese authorities usually blame outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang on "terrorists" among the region's ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs. But rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. Immediate burial Mahmut Han said four of the dead were from Yilkiqi while the rest were believed to be from a neighboring township but their identities had not been revealed. Sources said the 22 were believed to have been buried immediately without their next of kins being informed. "I heard that the bodies were taken and buried together in a hill top in a neighboring township," a Yilkiqi resident told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity. He cited contacts as telling him that the police killed the 22 while they were performing their prayers. Six knives and axes were recovered from the scene, police had said earlier. "When they gathered for prayers, police surrounded them and fired at them," the resident said. He said that he used to pass by the house at which the 22 were gunned down while on his way to work daily. He believed the house owner may have been among those shot dead and the others had been working for him at a nearby farm. "They work in the day and pray at night at the house," the resident said. Condemnation The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a Uyghur exile group, condemned the Yilkiqi killings, saying "the authorities were intent on killing those present rather than allowing them to stand before a court to defend themselves against these allegations on which little has been disclosed." WUC President Rebiya Kadeer said the Chinese authorities "continue to use the same banal rhetoric for such incidents which fails to adequately address the longstanding issues underlying the bubbling tensions in East Turkestan [Xinjiang]." She said the Yilkiqi incident "only serves to exacerbate increasing distrust in the authorities due to the pervasive impunity of their actions.” Rebiya Kadeer called on the international community to "keep a watchful eye upon developments in East Turkestan, and ensure that they do not fall foul to the erroneous and leaky narrative of the Chinese authorities.” The latest violence came nearly two weeks after a Uyghur religious leader was stabbed to death after returning home from leading evening prayers at a mosque in Turpan city in Xinjiang's Turpan prefecture. The imam was targeted by members of his own community for branding Uyghurs as "terrorists" and backing a government crackdown against them, residents and officials said. In early August, police opened fire on a crowd of Uyghurs protesting prayer restrictions in Akyol town in Aksu prefecture ahead of the festival marking the end of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, killing at least three and injuring about 50 others. In June, up to 46 people were killed in Lukchun township of Pichan county in Turpan prefecture after police opened fire on "knife-wielding mobs" who had attacked police stations and other sites in the county, in the bloodiest violence since the July 5, 2009 unrest in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi that triggered a massive crackdown. Also in June, in Hotan prefecture's Hanerik township, police fired on hundreds of Uyghurs protesting the arrest of a young religious leader and closure of a mosque, officials said, acknowledging that up to 15 people may have been killed and 50 others injured. Uyghurs in Xinjiang say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, blaming their hardships partly on a massive influx of Han Chinese into the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Dolkun Kamberi. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/crackdown-08272013212441.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 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

11 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: At Least 15 Uyghurs Killed in Police Shootout in Xinjiang

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

At Least 15 Uyghurs Killed in Police Shootout in Xinjiang AUGUST 25, 2013 — Chinese authorities have shot dead at least 15 ethnic Uyghurs in a desert area in Xinjiang, accusing them of terrorism and illegal religious activity, in the latest violence to rock the troubled northwestern region of China, according to police sources. They were among a group of more than 20 Uyghurs surrounded and fired upon by police in a lightning raid last week in the Yilkiqi township in Kargilik (in Chinese, Yecheng) county in Kashgar prefecture, the sources said. "We conducted an anti-terror operation on August 20th, successfully and completely destroying the terrorists," Yilkiqi township police chief Batur Osman told RFA's Uyghur Service. He refused to give the number of Uyghurs killed in the shootout, saying many of them were from out of town and some were not carrying identification documents. Chinese authorities usually blame outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang on "terrorists" among the region's ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs but rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. One of the police assistants at the Yilkiqi police station told RFA that among those killed were at least 15 Uyghurs and one Han Chinese policeman. "We police assistants were not sent to the scene but I heard from others who were there that 16 people had been killed, among them a Han Chinese policeman," said the police assistant, identifying himself only as Alimjan. He said that six knives and axes had been recovered from the scene. Buried on the spot An RFA listener, citing contacts in Yilkiqi, his hometown, said he was told that police opened fire at a group of 28 Uyghurs they believed were undergoing terrorism training and those killed at the scene were buried on the spot using escavators. A Yilkiqi resident said that police on Saturday searched the house of his neighbor whose brother was implicated in the incident and that he overheard that 26 Uyghurs had been killed. The figure could not be independently confirmed. "From what I heard, those killed were the ones who were renting [my neighbour] Memet Emey's brother's house in Seriq Ata village," the Yilkiqi resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "When they gathered in the desert and were praying together, they were surrounded and fired at. There were 26 people there and all of them were killed. The police, instead of carrying the bodies to the village, buried them all in the desert using a bulldozer," he said. Yilkiqi local government officials said security has been beefed up to prevent what they call retaliatory attacks from Uyghurs angered by the shooting. "Since what happened on August 20th, we have been standing on guard at the government buildings," Ablet Abdulla, a government official told RFA. Akber Imin, another official involved in the additional security measures, said those shot dead were believed to be involved in illegal religious activities and bomb-making in a bid to launch a "terrorist attack." "The police found out and dealt with the situation immediately," he said. "Right now, our police are being deployed to search and capture the other members of the group who were not at the scene." Increasing violence The Yikkiqi incident follows a spate of violence across Xinjiang in recent months that has led to a crackdown with hundreds of Uyghurs detained for questioning by the authorities. Nearly two weeks ago, a Uyghur religious leader was stabbed to death after returning home from leading evening prayers at a mosque in Turpan city in Turpan prefecture. He was targeted by members of his own community for branding Uyghurs as "terrorists" and backing a government crackdown against them, residents and officials said. In early August, police opened fire at a crowd of Uyghurs protesting prayer restrictions in Akyol town in Aksu prefecture ahead of the festival marking the end of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, killing at least three and injuring about 50 others. In June, up to 46 people were killed in Lukchun township of Pichan county in Turpan prefecture after police opened fire at "knife-wielding mobs" who had attacked police stations and other sites in the county, in the bloodiest violence since the July 5, 2009 unrest in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi that triggered a massive crackdown. Also in June, in Hotan prefecture's Hanerik township, police fired at hundreds of Uyghurs protesting the arrest of a young religious leader and closure of a mosque, officials said, acknowledging that up to 15 people may have been killed and 50 others injured. Uyghurs in Xinjiang say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, blaming their hardships partly on a massive influx of Han Chinese into the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Trranslated by Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at : http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/shootout-08252013134303.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, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Chinese Security Forces Crack Down on Tibetan Mine Protesters

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Chinese Security Forces Crack Down on Tibetan Mine Protesters AUGUST 16, 2013 — Several hundred security forces violently dispersed Tibetan protesters blocking mining work in a Tibetan-populated area of China’s Qinghai province on Friday, injuring dozens and detaining eight, local sources said. Among those injured and held in the crackdown in the Gedrong area of Qinghai’s Dzatoe (in Chinese, Zaduo) county in the Yulshul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture was a man who some sources claimed had inflicted injuries upon himself in protest. Police stormed two of the three mining sites in the mountainous area where demonstrators had been in a standoff with Chinese mine workers since early this week, and were expected to target the third site over the weekend, the sources told RFA’s Tibetan Service. One source in Dzatoe said at least 500 armed police had carried out the operation at the Atod Yultso and Dzachen Yultso sites, firing tear gas on protesters and intimidating them with “threats.” “Several army vehicles suddenly arrived at the sites,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another source in the area said one of the protest leaders, identified as Ketso Sodor, had gone missing, while eight others—including men and women—were detained and 15 were taken to the hospital. Sources said dozens were wounded in the crackdown. A Tibetan living in exile, citing local contacts, had said that about 1,000 Tibetans had gathered to protest against the mining activities in each of the three sites since early this week. The numbers could not be independently confirmed. Villagers are concerned that the mining activities are not sanctioned by national authorities and that they could trigger pollution and other problems. Suicide claims In the crackdown Friday, one man, identified as Sogpo Choedrup, was seriously injured after he “tried to kill himself with two knife cuts,” and was taken away by police, the source said. “His present condition, whether he is alive or dead, is not clear,” he said. Another source inside Tibet but outside the Dzatoe area claimed that he had killed himself. “The situation is extremely tense and sad,” another source in Dzatoe said after the crackdown. “Tomorrow [Saturday], the paramilitary and police teams are planning to attack those sitting in protest at the Chidza site.” Security forces had first arrived in the area on Tuesday after the standoff began when large numbers of Chinese mine workers went to the three sites to start excavation. The protesters have rejected assurances given by the mine operators that they have a national permit to begin work at the mines, saying they will only stop if Chinese President Xi Jinping gives a public television address authorizing the work, a local source said earlier this week. Mining operations in Tibetan regions have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms of polluting the environment and disrupting sites of spiritual significance as they extract local wealth. In March, operations at the Gyama mine in Tibet’s Maldro Gongkar (Mozhugongka) county near Lhasa caused a catastrophic landslide that killed 83 miners. And in January, Tibetan sources told RFA that Chinese-operated mines in Lhundrub (Linzhou) county, also near Lhasa, have caused “severe” damage to local forests, grasslands, and drinking water. Reported by Lobsang Choepel, Lumbum Tashi, and Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at : http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/mine-08162013183325.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, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Rohingya Leader Calls for Talks with Myanmar Government, Rakhines

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Rohingya Leader Calls for Talks with Myanmar Government, Rakhines AUGUST 16, 2013— A leader of the minority Rohingya Muslim community in western Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state has called for a meeting between representatives of his group, local ethnic Buddhists and the government to put an end to deadly clashes in the region. Abu Tahay, chairman of the Union Nationals Development Party (UNDP), said the three groups should include an international arbitrator to independently judge on issues that have led to clashes between members of his minority group and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, which last year left nearly 200 dead and 140,000 displaced. “We need a group that can exert influence on both communities, such as an international intermediation group,” Abu Tahay told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview in Washington on Tuesday. “If so, this group could decide on the arguments. It would create a situation in which the two communities can live together if the government, ethnic Rakhine leaders and Rohingya leaders sit together and discuss these issues.” Abu Tahay arrived in the U.S. on Aug. 10 as one of eight religious and civil society leaders selected by the American Embassy in Myanmar to participate in a three-week program to learn about the role that community leaders play in addressing ethnic and religious differences. The program includes stops in Washington, Boston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and visits to the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as institutes that deal with conflict management and human rights. Abu Tahay said that addressing the issues of Rohingya citizenship and identity are essential to ending the violence in Rakhine, where tensions between Buddhists and Muslims remain high. “There are two issues that are not very difficult to solve,” the UNDP chairman said. “One is identity for the Rohingyas and the other is citizenship for the Rohingyas,” he said, referring to a long-held conviction in Myanmar that members of the ethnic minority—commonly referred to as “Bengalis”—have illegally immigrated from neighboring Bangladesh. Around 800,000 Muslim Rohingyas live in Rakhine state but most of them, according to rights groups, have been denied citizenship and the social benefits that go with it. The U.N. considers the Rohingyas to be among the world’s most persecuted minorities. Citizenship law Myanmar’s government has said that it will grant citizenship to any Rohingya “who meets legal requirements according to the 1982 citizenship law,” which only recognizes those families which had settled in the country before independence from Britain in 1948. But Abu Tahay said that the Rohingyas had been officially recognized as a nationality in Myanmar before the law was introduced during the era of the former military junta, which ceded power to reformist President Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government in 2011. “We cannot say that Rohingyas are not citizens because of the 1982 citizenship law. According to the citizenship law before 1982, Rohingyas had lived in Myanmar as citizens,” he said. “We can’t amend this retroactively.” Abu Tahay said that according to previous censuses “there is no proof that Rohingyas came into Myanmar from other countries” and that the government likely assumes that members of the group are from Bangladesh because of cultural similarities that overlap the border region. He also called on the government of Rakhine state to abolish laws that specifically target his minority, including restrictions on the number of children in Rohingya families, required permission for travel, blocks preventing Rohingyas from certain studies and special approval for marriages, which he said were relics of the junta regime. Violence between Myanmar’s Buddhist majority and the country’s Muslim minority, which accounts for some 4 percent of the country's 60-million population, have threatened to derail Thein Sein’s plans for national reconciliation and democracy following nearly five decades of military rule. Earlier this week, ethnic Rakhines protested against a visit by U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana, calling his reports on ethnic violence in the region “one-sided” in favor of Rohingyas. Quintana, who is in the middle of a 10-day trip to Myanmar that includes tours of areas that were among the worst hit by the communal fighting, responded that he remains impartial and that his work was based on a balanced approach. Rights groups maintain that the Rohingyas suffered the brunt of last year’s deadly clashes. Reported by Khin Maung Soe. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/meeeting-08162013182952.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 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

11 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Imam Stabbed to Death After Supporting Crackdown Against Uyghurs

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Imam Stabbed to Death After Supporting Crackdown Against Uyghurs AUGUST 16, 2013— A Uyghur Muslim religious leader in China’s restive western Xinjiang region has been stabbed to death after calling members of his ethnic minority community involved in June violence "terrorists" and backing a government crackdown against them, residents and officials said. Authorities have deployed extra police and security forces following Wednesday night’s attack on the imam in Turpan city, which comes after a slew of deadly clashes in the Muslim Uyghur region in recent months, including deadly June 26 clashes in Lukchun township also in Turpan prefecture. Abdurehim Damaolla, 74, deputy chairman of Turpan city’s government-affiliated Islamic Association and linked to a powerful national political advisory body, was stabbed in front of his home after returning home from leading evening prayers at Kazihan Mosque, according to local residents and officials. Police have apprehended two suspects in the killing and are searching for a third, according to officials at the city’s United Front Work Department, an agency under the command of the Central Committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Police have not issued a report or made any announcement about the assassination of the Abdurehim Damaolla, the officials said, but had told them that three men were involved in the incident. One Turpan resident told RFA’s Uyghur Service that Abdurehim Damaolla had likely been targeted by his attackers because he had helped police apprehend suspects wanted in connection with the Lukchun violence. The imam had given police “key information” about their whereabouts while they were hiding in Turpan that had led to their arrest, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'Pro-state and pro-party' Local officials at the United Front Work Department—which is tasked with guiding religious and ethnic policy—said Abdurehim Damaolla had been targeted because of his support for strict policies in the wake of the Lukchun crackdown. “He was a pro-state and pro-party senior religious figure in our city,” Alim Ablimit, a United Front Work Department official in charge of religious affairs in the district where the Kazihan Mosque is located. “He was targeted simply because of his firm stance against the ‘three forces,’” he said, referring to the “three evils” of separatism, extremism, and terrorism that the Xinjiang government has vowed to crack down on. Chinese authorities blame outbreaks of violence in the region on Uyghur "terrorists," but rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. Local anger Abdurehim Damaolla had angered some members of the local community by referring to those involved in the Lukchun violence as “terrorists,” according to Alim Ablimit. State media have said the Lukchun incident occurred after police opened fire on Uyghurs who had attacked local police stations with knives as part of a planned “terrorist attack.” Chinese authorities said 35 people were killed in the violence in a predominantly Uyghur township but officials and residents said the death toll was at least 46. Uyghurs in Turpan were also angry that the imam had advocated a government-introduced policy discouraging Uyghurs from wearing beards or headscarves as part of curbs on traditional and Islamic dress, Alim Sattar, another United Front Work Department official said. The city had stepped up political education propaganda efforts, including strict enforcement of policies discouraging beards and headscarves in the wake of the Lukchun unrest, he said. Toeing the party line Abdurehim Damaolla had taken on a strong role in such efforts and received warnings from unknown persons and had been involved in disputes with those who disagreed with his toeing the party line. "Just two weeks ago he was in a dispute with some young guys who were disappointed with his praising CPP policies at a funeral ceremony,” Alim Ablimit said. “The youths’ anger was only stopped [from boiling over] that day because of the police’s warnings and intervention in the dispute,” he said. Last month officials had had to cancel one public meeting on the beards and headscarves policy planned at the Kazihan Mosque “out of concern for Abdurehim Damaolla’s safety” after he received warnings from unknown persons not to speak there, Alim Sattar said. Abdurehim Damaolla, who had eight children, was known as an outspoken imam who was experienced in defusing conflicts, according to Alim Sattar. Three years ago, he had prevented a riot in nearby Chatqal village where tensions were running high after 25 people died in a dynamite explosion linked to official negligence, Ablim Sattar said. His death follows a slew of violence across Xinjiang that over the past two months has left about 70 dead, including the Lukchun incident, the worst in the region since July 5, 2009 ethnic unrest in the capital Urumqi triggered a massive crackdown. Last week, at least three Uyghurs were killed in Aksu prefecture’s Aykol town when security forces opened fire at a crowd trying to stop police from arresting suspects outside a mosque on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr festival. Uyghurs in Xinjiang say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, blaming their hardships partly on a massive influx of Han Chinese into the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/imam-08162013200309.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 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

11 years, 5 months

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Engnews August 2013