Engnews October 2017

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RFA Breaking News: Nearly 20 Uyghur Students Unaccounted For Four Months After Egypt Raids

by Paul Eckert

Nearly 20 Uyghur Students Unaccounted For Four Months After Egypt Raids Oct. 30, 2017 - Nearly 20 Uyghur students in Egypt’s capital Cairo are unaccounted for some four months after authorities launched a dragnet targeting members of the ethnic minority at China’s behest, according to two of the young men, who said they endured regular abuse while in detention. More than 200 Uyghurs, many of them religious students at Cairo’s Al-Azhar Islamic University, have been detained since July 4, rounded up in restaurants or at their homes, with others seized at airports as they tried to flee to safer countries, sources told RFA’s Uyghur Service in earlier reports. Dozens of Uyghurs are believed to have already been deported home to northwest China’s Xinjiang region, where rights groups say they face a serious risk of arbitrary detention and torture. Last month, Egyptian authorities began releasing the Uyghur students and their family members detained in July and published their names in reports by local media, but 16 of them remain unaccounted for, two young men who were freed on Sept. 13 and 28 told RFA on condition of anonymity, after recently relocating to Turkey. Among those confirmed missing are Abduweli Hesen, from Korla (in Chinese, Kuerle) city; Muhemmet Ahmet, from Kashgar (Kashi) prefecture; Nurmemet Obul, from Kashgar, Abdureqib, from Aqsu (Akesu) prefecture; and Memet Hajim, from Hotan (Hetian) prefecture, the students said. The two men, who had travelled to Egypt last year when China relaxed requirements for Uyghurs seeking to obtain passports, had ignored pressure from authorities in Xinjiang to return home to “register” earlier this year, following reports that several Uyghurs who complied with the order were taken into custody upon their return. They believed themselves to be safe from China’s reach, but on July 4 were rounded up by Egyptian State Security personnel and soldiers while strolling through a district of Cairo that is home to several Uyghur residents and “handled roughly, as if we were criminals who came to Egypt to destroy the country.” The two men said that they were among 70 Uyghur, Hui, and Salar ethnic minority students from China and their family members who were captured that day and brought to the Qismil Awal district police station for questioning by Bai Kecheng—the Beijing-appointed president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Egypt. After bringing them food and photographing them, Bai and three other Chinese men interrogated the detainees about their Islamic religious activities, such as how often they prayed and how well they knew the Quran. “In the beginning, the Egyptian police questioned us, but later, officials from the Chinese embassy questioned us,” said one of the two students who spoke to RFA. “They asked us questions such as, ‘Where did you come from? What are you doing here in Egypt? and What are you studying?’ And they videotaped [our responses].” The two students said the detainees were sent to prison the following day, where they were “beaten by security guards” and by “cellmates who demanded money” from them, noting that children were among those held. Tora Prison On July 7, the detainees were dispersed to “various police stations in Cairo” by Egyptian authorities who acknowledged that they were “innocent” and told them they would be released, but 11 days later, they were all moved to the capital’s notorious Tora Prison, the students said. A total of 94 Uyghur students and their family members were placed in two cells at Tora Prison on July 18, when they were visited by a Uyghur official from the Chinese embassy in Cairo, the students told RFA. The 16 Uyghur students who remain unaccounted for were blindfolded and brought to the Uyghur official for interrogation at the time, they said, and he questioned them about their finances, connections with Uyghur organizations in exile, and their studies. Throughout their detention, authorities never once explained the accusations against them, the students said, and prison personnel repeatedly told them that they would be freed “once your embassy gives us the order to release you.” “It’s hard to take it, when you are locked up without any reason,” one of the two men told RFA, adding that conditions in prison were difficult and food was sparse. Media reports have quoted officials as denying that Egyptian authorities were targeting Uyghurs and saying that those arrested were brought in for “alleged irregularities in their residency papers,” but Uyghur exile groups and students say the detentions were ordered by China on allegations that they had “joined extremist organizations.” On Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, Egyptian authorities relocated the Uyghur students and their family members from Tora Prison to jail cells in various police stations throughout the capital, and it was at this time that the 16 students went missing, the sources told RFA. Nearly 80 people are believed to still be held at Tora Prison. ‘They were very cruel’ After being transferred to local jails, the students and their families faced regular harassment, robbery and physical assault from local prisoners, according to the sources. “Some students became ill and some developed open sores, but the prison guards didn’t care about their condition,” they said. “Being Muslims, we Uyghurs … thought all other Muslims are like us. However, to our disappointment we didn’t receive kindness from them. They were good at reciting the verses from the Quran, but they were very cruel, and showed no sympathy towards the pain of fellow Muslims.” The ruling Chinese Communist Party blames some Uyghurs for a string of violent attacks and clashes in China in recent years, but critics say the government has exaggerated the threat from the ethnic group, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009. China regularly conducts “strike hard” campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. Reported by Abduweli Ayup for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/students-10302017162612.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 .

6 years, 10 months

RFA Breaking News: Children of Detained Uyghurs Face ‘Terrible’ Conditions in Overcrowded Xinjiang Orphanages

by Paul Eckert

Children of Detained Uyghurs Face ‘Terrible’ Conditions in Overcrowded Xinjiang Orphanages Oct. 18, 2017 - Uyghur children whose parents or guardians have been detained in political re-education camps are being held in ‘terrible’ conditions in orphanages in northwest China’s Xinjiang region, and overcrowding has forced authorities to send them to facilities in the country’s inner provinces, according to sources. Since April, thousands of Uyghurs accused of harboring “extremist” and “politically incorrect” views have been detained in a vast network of re-education camps throughout Xinjiang, where members of the ethnic group complain of pervasive discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule. Sources believe there are virtually no majority ethnic Han Chinese held in the Xinjiang camps, and that the number of detainees in the region’s south—where the highest concentration of Uyghurs are based—far surpasses that in the north. A Uyghur officer at a police station in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) prefecture’s Peyziwat (Jiashi) county recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service that local government officials were deciding the fates of children who had been left behind after their guardians had been sent for re-education. “Children who were left without parents are being cared for by their relatives, and district committees are in charge of those who have no relatives to care for them,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. An official at the Peyziwat county government office refused to answer questions about the children of detained Uyghurs, but a staff member at the Chasa Street neighborhood committee in Kashgar city told RFA that those who have no guardians to care for them are being sent to orphanages. “Those children are being looked after by orphanages through arrangement by the government,” said the staff member, who asked to remain unnamed. “No one has the authority to make a decision about these children except the government,” he added, before hanging up the phone. A Han Chinese staff member at the Central Orphanage of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in the regional capital Urumqi, refused to provide any information about how the government was caring for children of detained Uyghurs, but sources in other parts of the region told RFA of situations similar to that in Kashgar prefecture. A teacher at a primary school in neighboring Aksu (Akesu) prefecture’s Kuchar (Kuche) county said that the headmaster was making arrangements for children there. “If the children were already registered at the school, then the school would accept responsibility for them,” she said, adding that other children in the prefecture were being sent to orphanages, though she did not know how the decisions were being made. Sources in Hotan (Hetian) prefecture’s Qaraqash (Moyu) county—where officials last week said they had been ordered to send 40 percent of area residents to re-education camps—also told RFA that the children of detained parents were being brought to schools or nurseries for care, in addition to orphanages. ‘Terrible’ conditions A Uyghur worker at a regional orphanage in southern Xinjiang, who requested anonymity, said his facility was seriously overcrowded and described the conditions there as “terrible.” “Because there are so many children, they are locked up like farm animals in a shed,” he said. “We receive a lot of cash donations from the public, but only a very little is spent on the children.” The worker said that some of the money is used to decorate a few rooms and “dress up” some of the children for advertising on television. The orphanage also saves money by giving the children meat only once a week, he said, while the rest of the time they are provided with “rice soup.” “In the past we didn’t have so many children, but now there are too many,” he said. According to the worker, “a large number of children” whose parents were sent to re-education camps, had arrived in the last month, including kids aged six months to 12 years old. Authorities in Xinjiang’s northern prefectures, such as Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous prefecture and in Tarbaghatay (Tacheng) prefecture, are “more relaxed” about placing Uyghurs in re-education camps, the worker said, but added that he had heard “their orphanages are overcrowded too.” With all of the overcrowding at orphanages around the region, authorities “are moving children to mainland China,” he said, though he was unsure of where they were being sent. “They are making the excuse that they are providing them with free food, accommodation and schooling,” he added. With security so tight in Xinjiang, “it isn’t possible” for parents who have been released from re-education camps to look for their children in the orphanages, the worker said. “In the current climate, not even a bird can fly in and out freely,” he said. “You’d better not ask any more questions, otherwise you place the person answering them in jeopardy, and other people they come into contact with will also get into trouble.” Camp network Last month, sources told RFA that political re-education camps in Ghulja (Yining) county, in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, and Korla (Kuerle) city, in neighboring Bayin’gholin Mongol (Bayinguoleng Menggu) Autonomous Prefecture, hold at least 3,600 inmates deemed “politically incorrect” by local authorities. The camps are labeled “career development centers” in a bid to mask their true nature, they said, but the detainees held there are rarely freed, despite undergoing months of “training.” Officials told RFA last week that authorities in Korla are also detaining Uyghurs in re-education camps for traveling overseas where they are “influenced by extremism and other things,” and refusing to free them until they admit it was “wrong” to have left the country. New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch has called on the Chinese government to free the thousands of Uyghurs placed in the camps since April and close them down. The camps—where inmates who have not broken any laws are detained extrajudicially, indefinitely and without the knowledge of their families—run contrary to China’s constitution and violate international human rights law, Human Rights Watch noted. China regularly conducts “strike hard” campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/children-10182017144425.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 .

6 years, 10 months

RFA Breaking News: Uyghurs in Xinjiang Re-Education Camps Forced to Express Remorse Over Travel Abroad

by Paul Eckert

Uyghurs in Xinjiang Re-Education Camps Forced to Express Remorse Over Travel Abroad Oct. 13, 2017 - Authorities in Korla (in Chinese, Kuerle) city, in northwest China’s Xinjiang region are detaining ethnic Uyghurs in re-education camps for traveling overseas and refusing to free them until they admit it was “wrong” to have left the country, according to a security official. Last month, sources told RFA’s Uyghur Service that re-education camps in Ghulja (Yining) county, in Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture, and Korla (Kuerle) city, in neighboring Bayin’gholin Mongol (Bayinguoleng Menggu) Autonomous Prefecture, hold at least 3,600 inmates and are labeled “career development centers” in a bid to mask their true nature. Many of those detained are Muslim Uyghurs who have been accused of harboring “extremist” views after returning to the Xinjiang region from government sanctioned visits to family members or religious studies at Islamic universities in countries including Turkey and Egypt. The director of Public Security in Korla’s Qara Yulghun village recently told RFA that while going abroad is a “citizen’s right,” those who travel overseas are “influenced by extremism and other things” and his department is determined to force them to acknowledge it. Anyone who is detained at a re-education camp after having travelled abroad will first be interrogated by instructors about their impressions and how the experience had changed them, said the director, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “For example, we ask whether the lifestyle is the same and what the food is like,” he said. “Then we ask, ‘What is the living standard like and what influenced you? Did you meet people who had [relocated from] China or anyone who cannot return because they have bad intentions?” Specifically, the director said, instructors ask detainees whether there are Uyghurs in the country they visited, and whether they met with them or tried to contact them, but “the majority say that they only travelled with a tour company and that none of what we ask them occurred.” Only after being subjected to “law and regulation education” do the detainees express “remorse” for having left the country and spoken with neighbors about what impressed them about their visit, he said. “During the re-education, they will say … “Yes, it was a mistake to travel abroad, when the [ruling Communist] Party and government have created such a high living standard in our own country—we were ungrateful when we decided to go to elsewhere,’” the director said. “With the understanding of the regulations of our country, they naturally realize that what they have experienced and their reaction [to having travelled] is against the rule of law here. So they, themselves, state that what they have thought and done is inappropriate.” The director told RFA that, in some cases, detainees require coaching until they understand what they have done “wrong.” “When they bring us their letter of remorse, we review it and tell them what is incorrect or missing, and we ask them to correct it,” he said. “If the detainees don’t write a letter of remorse, or if the letter is not comprehensive, they will have to be re-educated [about traveling abroad] until they produce one that is satisfactory.” Only at that point are detainees permitted to return to their “studies” for general re-education, and potentially be granted the right to return to their homes and families. “We tell them that if they achieve a satisfactory result, they can resume their [re-education] sooner,” he said. “If they don’t study hard and cure their disease, we have no choice but to continue giving them medicine. When the disease is cured, they will feel it themselves, and we can also see it from their actions and behavior.” Vast network China regularly conducts “strike hard” campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Earlier this week, sources told RFA that authorities in two villages in Hotan (Hetian) prefecture’s Qaraqash (Moyu) county had been ordered to send 40 percent of area residents to re-education camps, and that they are struggling to meet the quota. Investigations by RFA suggest there is a vast network of re-education camps throughout the Xinjiang region. Sources indicate that there are almost no majority ethnic Han Chinese held in the Xinjiang camps, and that the number of detainees in the region’s south—where the highest concentration of Uyghurs are based—far surpasses that in the north. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camps-10132017150431.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 .

6 years, 10 months

RFA Breaking News: Nearly Half of Uyghurs in Xinjiang’s Hotan Targeted For Re-Education Camps

by Paul Eckert

Nearly Half of Uyghurs in Xinjiang’s Hotan Targeted For Re-Education Camps Oct. 9, 2017 - Authorities in a county of northwest China’s Xinjiang region that is largely populated by Muslim ethnic Uyghurs have been ordered to send almost half of area residents to re-education camps, according to officials, who say they are struggling to meet the number. Officials from two villages in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture’s Qaraqash (Moyu) county recently acknowledged to RFA’s Uyghur Service that they had been given a target percentage for arrests as part of a verbal directive issued by higher-level authorities during an “online conference.” Since Xinjiang Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo was appointed to run the region in August last year, he has initiated several harsh policies targeting the religious freedom of Uyghurs. The new quota for sending residents to re-education camps appears to be Chen’s latest measure aimed at assimilating members of the ethnic minority, who complain of pervasive ethnic discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule in the region. When asked about whether a target percentage of re-education arrests had been ordered by authorities, an official from No. 1 Village, in Qaraqash’s Aqsaray township, confirmed the directive, but referred RFA to the local Communist Party secretary—who had recently been admitted to the hospital and was unreachable—for the exact number. But a police officer from Aqsaray’s No. 2 Village, said he had been informed during an “online conference” in mid-June that his department was to detain 40 percent of the local population for exhibiting signs of “religious extremism.” No deadline was set for the initiative, he added. “We were told to target people who are religious … for example, those who grow beards despite being young,” said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There are 82 people who have been placed in re-education camps [since the order was given], and 61 [of them were later] imprisoned … This is far from the expectations of village officials, but compared to other districts in the township, we have the best rate in achieving our target.” According to the officer, No. 2 Village is home to 2,060 people, meaning his department had failed to send even four percent of the population for re-education since the order was given. The department had planned to send an additional 85 people for re-education by the end of September, he said. ‘Severely punished’ An officer at the Shaptul township police station in neighboring Kashgar (Kashi) prefecture’s Peyziwat (Jiashi) county told RFA that while he had not been given a target percentage of people to detain for re-education camps, he was informed at an online staff meeting in June that 80 percent of those arrested were to be “severely punished,” including those with “extreme views.” “We were not given exact numbers [to arrest], but we must ensure that we do not miss anyone with extreme views and we must punish 80 percent of all those arrested severely,” said the officer, who also asked to remain unnamed. “We didn’t receive any formal documentation—it was all announced during one of our meetings. These days, we have online conferences, where we meet in the police station and view the monitor to listen to speeches.” According to the officer, 46 people had been detained in Shaptul since the order was given—33 of whom were imprisoned. While the imprisonment rate meant that his department had only “severely punished” nearly 72 percent of detainees, the officer said that the remaining 13 people had been placed in re-education camps, and that they could be sent to jail at a later date. “If we find any evidence against them during re-education, they will be transferred to prison,” he said. Vast network The ruling Chinese Communist Party blames some Uyghurs for a string of violent attacks and clashes in China in recent years, but critics say the government has exaggerated the threat from the ethnic group, and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for violence that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Rights groups accuse Chinese authorities of heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, including violent police raids on Uyghur homes that sources say in some areas have detained one member of every two households. At the end of last month, sources told RFA that re-education camps in Ghulja (Yining) county, in Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture, and Korla (Kuerle) city, in neighboring Bayin’gholin Mongol (Bayinguoleng Menggu) Autonomous Prefecture, hold at least 3,600 inmates and are labeled “career development centers” in a bid to mask their true nature. The thousands of “politically incorrect” inmates are rarely freed despite undergoing months of “training,” the sources said. Investigations by RFA suggest there is a vast network of re-education camps throughout the Xinjiang region. Sources indicate that there are almost no majority ethnic Han Chinese held in the Xinjiang camps, and that the number of detainees in the region’s south—where the highest concentration of Uyghurs are based—far surpasses that in the north. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camps-10092017164000.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 .

6 years, 11 months

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Engnews October 2017