Engnews August 2014

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RFA BREAKING NEWS: Uyghur Linguist, Two Associates Sentenced After One Year Detention

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Uyghur Linguist, Two Associates Sentenced After One Year Detention AUG. 27, 2014 -- A U.S.-educated Uyghur linguist and two others who wanted to set up schools to promote the ethnic minority language in China’s troubled Xinjiang region have been sentenced to up to three years on what their supporters see as trumped-up charges of “illegal fundraising.” In a case that has received international attention, the Tengritagh (in Chinese, Tianshan) district court in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi imposed an 18-month jail term and a 80,000 yuan (U.S $13,000) fine on Abduweli Ayup after detaining him for about a year, a relative of Ayup’s told RFA’s Uyghur Service. Ayup, who earned a Master’s Degree in Linguistics at the University of Kansas, returned to his homeland in 2011 to pursue his dream of opening Uyghur language schools but was arrested and thrown in jail with two of his business partners – Dilyar Obul and Muhemmet Sidik – on Aug. 20, 2013. Their firm was called Mother Tongue International Co. Sidik, the company’s director, was sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of 130,000 yuan (U.S. $21,130) while Obul, a board member like Ayup, got two years imprisonment and was fined 100,000 yuan (U.S. $16,260), the relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Family notified of court ruling The court arrived at its decision on Aug. 21 after holding a one day-trial on July 11, he said, adding that Ayup’s family has been notified about the ruling. “The ruling states that they committed a crime of abusing public money,” he said, citing a copy of the court’s ruling. “There are no other charges except that.” He said that Ayup and Obul had accepted the verdict and do not wish to lodge an appeal. Sidik’s decision however is not immediately known. The jail sentences would be effective from the date of their detention, according to the court ruling, he said. “If the court ruling is truly enforced, Ayup may be released in six months,” he said. The trio are being held in Liudawan prison in Urumqi. “It has not been stated when the ruling would be enforced and Ayup’s parents have not been allowed to meet with him,” the relative said. An active promoter of the Uyghur language in Xinjiang, where Beijing is strongly pushing the use of Mandarin Chinese in schools, Ayup established a Uyghur-language kindergarten in Kashgar, China’s westernmost city, together with his business associates in the summer of 2012. Authorities said they closed down the school in March 2013 because it was operating “without complete documentation.” They refused the trio’s permission to open another school in Urumqi. Relatives of Ayup were not told of his whereabouts until recently, even though they had pleaded to meet with him after learning that he was in poor health in jail. International petition A group of supporters in the United States lately launched a petition on MoveOn.org to publicize his case, receiving more than 500 backers from across the globe. They also set up a Facebook page “Justice for Uyghur Linguist Abduweli Ayup” to highlight his plight. The petition called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to protect the rights of ethnic minorities, among other requests. The mostly Muslim Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness. The New York-based Committee of Concerned Scientists also wrote a note of concern over Ayup’s plight to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Anwar Memet, a childhood friend and middle school classmate who now lives in the U.S., told RFA in an earlier report that Ayup’s supervisor at the University of Kansas had offered him a three-year scholarship if he agreed to pursue his doctorate in linguistics following the completion of his graduate degree. “[B]ut he chose to return to his homeland to realize his dream ... of opening Uyghur-language kindergartens and schools.” He said that he and other friends had tried to persuade Ayup—whose wife and daughter were also with him in the U.S. at the time—to stay to pursue his studies, but he could not be swayed. Reported by Eset Sulaiman for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Eset Sulaiman. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language-08262014235118.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.

10 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Three More Detained Tibetan Protesters Die From Gunshot Wounds

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Three More Detained Tibetan Protesters Die From Gunshot Wounds AUG. 19, 2014 -- Three more Tibetans have died of untreated gunshot wounds after Chinese authorities fired on peaceful protesters last week in Sichuan Province and refused to treat the dozens who were injured and detained, according to sources Tuesday. The bodies of the three, all members of the same household, were returned to their families on Monday after they succumbed to their injuries at the detention center in Loshu township in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Two protesters had previously died at the detention center on Sunday, one committing suicide in protest against "torture" at the hands of Chinese authorities and another dying of untreated wounds, exile sources had said. The five who died were among dozens detained after Chinese police fired into a protest by hundreds in Shukpa village in Sershul (Shiqu) county on Aug. 12. Many of those detained who had gunshot wounds were left untreated for a week with bullets still embedded in their bodies. It was not clear when the three Tibetans died at the detention center, but their bodies were returned on Monday, exile sources said, They were identified as Tsewang Gonpo, 60; Yeshe, 42; and Jinpa Tharchin, 18. “They were refused medical care and had been tortured by the Chinese authorities,” Demay Gyaltsen, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Tuesday, citing local sources. “They succumbed to their injuries in custody, and their bodies were returned to their families on Aug. 18,” Gyaltsen said. Gonpo, the elder of the three who died, was the uncle of Dema Wangdak, a local village leader, whose detention by police on Aug. 11 sparked the mass protest the next day. 'Acting with impunity' Tibet advocacy groups have slammed the Chinese authorities, who have been accused of blatant rights abuses in Tibet, for acting with impunity. “This alarming news indicates that the authorities in this area are apparently acting with complete and dangerous impunity,” Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, said in a statement on Monday. “As a matter of urgency, the international community must express its abhorrence of these acts by officials and paramilitary police in Kardze and call upon the central leadership in Beijing to ensure that the wounded are allowed medical treatment and released from custody, and that the detentions of Tibetans following the protest must end.” Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Deputy Speaker of the exile Tibetan Parliament in India, urged the Chinese government to release the “innocent” Tibetans and allow a fact-finding team and the international media to enter the area to investigate the deadly shooting incident. A group of Tibetans in New York protested outside the United Nations headquarters since Monday, asking the world body to help stop what they called Chinese atrocities on Tibetans. Meanwhile Chinese authorities summoned Tibetan residents of Loshu township to a meeting Monday to accuse the detained village leader of embezzlement, Gyaltsen said. “On Aug. 18, the people of Denkor district in Loshu were summoned to a public meeting in which authorities urged people to spread the word that Wangdak’s detention was not related to horse racing or making incense offerings, but rather was due to his embezzlement of public funds.” Only a few people attended the meeting, though, Gyaltsen said. “Because of this, the authorities have scheduled a further meeting for Aug. 19 to repeat their baseless accusations,” Gyaltsen said. National identity Tibetans in Kardze prefecture are known for their strong sense of Tibetan identity and nationalism, and “the political climate in the region has been deeply oppressive,” the ICT said in a report last week. Last year, at least eight Tibetans were injured when Chinese police fired gunshots and used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 monks and nuns who had gathered in a restive county in Kardze in July to mark the birthday of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Reported by Pema Ngodup, Sonam Wangdue and Rigdhen Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/wounds-08192014131944.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.

10 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Chinese Authorities Refuse to Treat Detained Tibetans With Gunshot Wounds

by Param

Chinese Authorities Refuse to Treat Detained Tibetans With Gunshot Wounds AUG. 18, 2014 -- Six days after nearly a dozen Tibetan peaceful protesters were shot and detained by Chinese police in Sichuan province, some of them have bullets still embedded in their bodies as they are denied medical care while in custody, according to exile sources. The situation has become so acute that one of the wounded Tibetan detainees committed suicide Sunday in protest against the "torture" committed by Chinese authorities while another died of untreated wounds at the detention center in Loshu (in Chinese, Luoxu) township in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. On Aug. 12, Chinese police opened fire and detained scores of Tibetans as they broke up a mass protest against the arrest a day earlier of a respected leader in Kardze's Shopa village in Sershul ( Shiqu) county. Village leader Dema Wangdak was held after he complained to the authorities over the harassment of Tibetan women by senior Chinese officials at a cultural performance during their visit to the county, according to sources. “On Sunday, one of the detainees, Lo Palsang [from Shupa village] killed himself in detention in protest against the torture by the Chinese authorities," Demay Gyaltsen, a Tibetan living in exile in India, told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing local contacts. "On the same day, another detainee, a 22-year-old man, died from injuries,” he said. Concerns Gyaltsen said he was informed that the gunshot wounds of several detainees, including the son of Wangdak, have been left unattended six days after the shooting, raising concerns about their medical condition while under custody. “Several of the wounded, including Kunga Sherab, the son of the village leader Wangdak, have been left without the bullets removed from their bodies," he said. Sherab is in "critical condition," he said. A meditation instructor, Karma Rinchen, of the local Miru monastery is also among the detainees but his condition is not immediately known. Capacity Sources said that initially, the detention center in Loshu had reached full capacity and several of the detainees had to be kept at a hospital. "Some of them were given medical treatment when they were at the hospital but now all of them have been brought back to the detention center while being denied any further medical attention," Gyaltsen said. The detainees had their heads shaved and were not allowed visitors, he said. Tibetans in Kardze prefecture are known for their strong sense of Tibetan identity and nationalism, and “the political climate in the region has been deeply oppressive,” the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an advocacy group, said in a report last week. Last year, at least eight Tibetans were injured when Chinese police fired gunshots and used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 monks and nuns who had gathered in a restive county in Kardze in July to mark the birthday of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Some 131 Tibetans to date have set themselves ablaze in self-immolation protests to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Reported by Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/gunshot-08182014014610.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.

10 years, 4 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: Chinese Police Open Fire at Tibetan Protest, Nearly A Dozen Wounded

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

Chinese Police Open Fire at Tibetan Protest, Nearly A Dozen Wounded AUG. 13, 2014 -- Chinese police opened fire to disperse hundreds of Tibetans protesting the detention of a respected village leader in Sichuan province, seriously wounding nearly a dozen people, exile sources said Wednesday, quoting local contacts. Many Tibetans were also detained and beaten in the violent crackdown in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Tuesday, a day after police whisked away village leader Dema Wangdak from his home at midnight, the sources said. Wangdak, 45, was detained after he complained to the authorities over the harassment of Tibetan women by senior Chinese officials at a cultural performance the local community was forced to host during their visit to the county, the source said. “Hundreds gathered to call for Wangdak’s release because he is innocent, but the Chinese authorities sent in security forces to crack down on the protesters,” Demay Gyaltsen, a Tibetan living in exile in India, told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “The security forces used tear gas and fired live ammunition indiscriminately to disperse the crowd during the protest in Loshu township,” he said, adding that about “10 Tibetans were seriously wounded” by the gunshots. Communication links cut off Among the injured were Wangdak’s son and brother, both of whom suffered two gunshot wounds each, said Gyaltsen, who heads an organization in India for Tibetans from Sershul’s neighboring Dege county. After dispersing the protesters, he said, the authorities sought reinforcements and stepped up security late Tuesday, when many Tibetans were detained and communication lines were cut off. “The village is now entirely surrounded by security forces and many of the adults in the village have gone to the hills to hide,” Jampa Youten, a monk in South India told RFA. “Those who remained were the younger Tibetans and women, who have been interrogated and tortured by the Chinese security forces,” he said, also citing local contacts. Illegal ceremony Youten said that when Wangdak, who is a leader of Shopa village, criticized the Chinese officials for harassing the Tibetan women, the authorities accused him of holding an illegal ceremony at the beginning of a local horse festival in which Tibetans burned incense and made prayer offerings. “Wangdak voiced strong opposition to the treatment of the women, which led to a verbal altercation with the officials, who then accused the village leader of holding the ceremony and horse racing without the authorities’ permission,” Youten said. “Under these circumstances, he was taken away secretly at midnight on Aug. 11.” The Chinese authorities did not cite any reasons for Wangdak’s arrest. “The Tibetans do not believe he was held for allowing horse racing, as this is a traditional activity and is a very normal thing,” said Tenpa, another exile source in India with contacts in the region. “His arrest is arbitrary and he didn’t violate any pertinent laws,” he said. 'Speaking up for the poor' Wangdak has a reputation for “standing up for the weak and speaking up for the poor as well as victims of harassment.” Tibetans in Kardze prefecture are known for their strong sense of Tibetan identity and nationalism, and “the political climate in the region has been deeply oppressive,” the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an advocacy group, said in a report. Last year, at least eight Tibetans were injured when Chinese police fired gunshots and used tear gas to disperse about 1,000 monks and nuns who had gathered in a restive county in Kardze in July to mark the birthday of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008. Some 131 Tibetans to date have set themselves ablaze in self-immolation protests to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Reported by Sonam Wangdue for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/shooting-08132014220307.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.

10 years, 5 months

RFA BREAKING NEWS: ‘At Least 2,000 Uyghurs Killed’ in Yarkand Violence: Exile Leader

by Parameswaran Ponnudurai

‘At Least 2,000 Uyghurs Killed’ in Yarkand Violence: Exile Leader AUG. 5, 2014 -- An exile Uyghur leader has claimed that at least 2,000 ethnic minority Uyghurs may have been killed by Chinese security forces following riots last week in a restive county in China’s western Xinjiang region, far more than reported by the state media. Citing “evidence” from the ground, Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), accused the Chinese authorities of a cover up of what she called a “massacre” of Uyghurs in Yarkand (in Chinese, Shache) county in Xinjiang’s Kashgar prefecture on July 28. Chinese state media had at first said “dozens” of people were killed but revised upwards the death toll to 96 this week, saying the riots erupted after a “gang” of Uyghurs attacked a police station and government offices in Yarkand’s Elishku township and that the authorities reacted with “a resolute crackdown to eradicate terrorists.” But Kadeer told RFA’s Uyghur Service that information the WUC received from the area was “absolutely different than the accounts provided by Chinese official narrative.” “We have evidence in hand that at least 2,000 Uyghurs in the neighborhood of Elishku township have been killed by Chinese security forces on the first day [of the incident] and they ‘cleaned up’ the dead bodies on the second and third day during a curfew that was imposed,” she said. “We have recorded voice messages from the people in the neighborhood and written testimonies on exactly what had taken place in Elishku township of Yarkand county during this massacre,” she said, adding that the victims were mainly from villages No. 14, 15 and 16 in the township. “We can share these facts without releasing the source of the information as their security and safety is at risk,” said Kadeer, who has been in exile in Washington since being released from a Chinese prison in 2005. Highest death toll in Xinjiang Kadeer said the death toll in Yarkand was the highest reported in Xinjiang violence, surpassing the 200 killed in rioting in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009 involving the mostly Muslim Uyghurs and members of China's Han majority. “It is clearly state terrorism and a crime against humanity by any standard committed by Chinese security forces against the unarmed Uyghur population,” she charged. Kadeer’s claim could not be independently verified but interviews with Uyghur and Han residents in Yarkand and the Silk Road city of Kashgar by RFA’s Uyghur and Mandarin Services indicated that the death toll was much higher than that reported by the state media, with one Han Chinese resident saying it could be “more than 1,000.” Kadeer said that the riots were triggered by a march by a group of Uyghurs to the police station and government offices to seek justice “for the killing of innocent villagers,” including the shooting death of a family of five by police over a dispute about wearing traditional headscarves. She claimed the police gunned down nearly all the protesters and went on to kill others in a house-to-house search. “As usual Chinese security forces have regarded this mass gathering of Uyghurs as a crime and that they should be silenced, and started to shoot at them without even listening to their concerns,” Kadeer said. Uyghurs attacked with sticks She said that some Uyghurs, armed with sticks, attacked government vehicles and government employees in protest against the violence by the security forces. “Chinese military forces immediately called for [reinforcements] and started to shoot and kill all the participants of the march and other villagers during house-to-house searches.” The authorities had sealed off the affected area, which has been surrounded by heavily armed security forces, she said, adding that the July 28 bloody incident had been overshadowed by the Israeli military offensive in Gaza which had grabbed headlines in recent weeks. “At least 2,000 innocent Uyghurs in three villages of Yarkand county have been brutally killed by Chinese security forces without even condemnation from the outside world,” Kadeer said. In the violence-hit Elishku township, a Uyghur shop owner told RFA that “some streets have been almost deserted because many people have died,” citing accounts by his customers who had heard “continuous gunfire and cries for help.” Ambulance sirens A resident of one of the three villages gripped by the violence in Elishku township said she heard ambulance sirens sounding throughout the day on Aug. 2, five days after the riots. When asked about casualties, a doctor at Yarkand People’s Hospital, Mihrigul Awut, said, “Sorry, I cannot answer any questions about the injuries from the incident.” However, local Han Chinese residents of Yarkand county and the Silk Road city of Kashgar said the ruling Chinese Communist Party was trying to "cover up" the extent of the violence, and had greatly underreported the number of deaths. A Han Chinese businesswoman from Kashgar, which administers Yarkand, said that more than 1,000 people, including Hans and Uyghurs, could have died from the violence which she charged was caused by armed Uyghurs. "If you add up our own [Han casualties] with the gangsters, including those of us who died for no reason, it's more than 1,000," she told RFA’s Mandarin Service. "It’s because a lot of the East Turkestanis … attacked people with great, big chopping knives," she said, referring to the Uyghurs. “It's a bit like Iraq over here.” "Some of them were local Uyghurs from around here, while some were from overseas," the businesswoman said, adding, "We have five border crossings to Pakistan around here." Many Uyghurs refer to Xinjiang as East Turkestan, as the region had come under Chinese control following two short-lived East Turkestan republics in the 1930s and 1940s. 'Premeditated' attack The official Xinhua news agency had said that of the official death toll of 96, 35 of the dead civilians were Han Chinese, while two were Uyghurs and others were “terrorists.” The news agency cited the government as saying investigations showed the attack was "organized and premeditated,” and "in connection with the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).” Chinese authorities have blamed ETIM and “separatists” from Xinjiang for a series of attacks which have expanded in scale and sophistication over the last year, including a May 22 bombing in Urumqi, which killed 39 people and injured 90, and which prompted the launch of an anti-terror campaign across the region. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service and Qiao Long for the Mandarin Service. Translated by Mehmet Tohti, Jennifer Chou and Luisetta Mudie. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai and Luisetta Mudie. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/yarkand-08052014150547.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.

10 years, 5 months

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Engnews August 2014