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RFA Breaking News: Uyghur Inmates in Xinjiang’s Korla City Endure Overcrowded Re-Education Camps

by Paul Eckert

Uyghur Inmates in Xinjiang’s Korla City Endure Overcrowded Re-Education Camps Jan. 3, 2018 - Political re-education camp inmates in Korla (in Chinese, Kuerle) city, in northwest China’s Xinjiang region, endure cramped and squalid conditions in facilities where as many as 1,000 detainees are admitted every few days, according to a former official. Since April last year, ethnic Uyghurs accused of harboring “extremist” and “politically incorrect” views have been detained in re-education camps throughout Xinjiang, where members of the ethnic group have long complained of pervasive discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule. Sources recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service that detention centers in Korla, the seat of central Xinjiang’s Bayin’gholin Mongol (Bayinguoleng Menggu) Autonomous Prefecture, are “completely full” and have been turning detainees away because they could not accommodate them. An employee at the central Korla Detention Center did not deny that the facility was overcrowded, but said he was not authorized to speak to people over the phone. The head and deputy chief of the center were unavailable for comment, he added, suggesting that inquiries be directed to the local Public Security Bureau. An official with the Judicial Office in Korla’s Qosheriq township told RFA that while he didn’t have the exact number of inmates held at area re-education camps, “it’s been over a month since I heard that the centers were full,” adding that “people are taken to them, but can’t be admitted.” He referred further inquiries to Korla’s Central Management Office, including questions about whether those who had been turned away were sent back to their home villages. One thousand processed But Naman Bawdun, the former head and Communist Party secretary of Bashawat village, in Korla’s Awat township, said that during the course of a few days last month he had joined around 1,000 people awaiting health checks at the city’s main hospital, ahead of being admitted to re-education camps. According to Bawdun, despite his exemplary work as an official and loyalty to Beijing, his wife was detained on Oct. 9 for allegedly “allowing others to preach religion,” after workers were said to have delivered Islamic sermons at her carpet factory. His daughter was removed from her position in the local police force a week later and Bawdun was held in police custody from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, before being brought to the hospital to undergo a medical examination as part of the intake process for entering a local re-education camp. “I was taken for a medical examination at the hospital, where I saw around 500 people,” he said. “I witnessed women who fainted, as well as many men over the age of 70—a number of whom were being looked after by their children. They were all there for medical check-ups before being taken to the detention centers.” Bawdun said that at around 7:30 p.m.—more than four hours after arriving at the hospital—he completed his medical exam and was moved to a large hall outside of a re-education camp, where he and others waited to be processed and admitted. “I saw 500-600 people waiting in a hall, many of whom were sleeping on the floor … before being assigned to a place in the re-education camp, one-by-one, after their medical reports had been checked,” he said. “My turn came at 4:00 a.m. … but I was turned away as I had failed my health check. When I went back through the gate to the hall, again I saw people sleeping on the floor everywhere.” When asked whether the people could have included visitors that were waiting to see their detained family members, Bawdun said it was “impossible.” “No one is allowed to visit the center or its detainees, so everyone there was waiting to be imprisoned,” he said. ‘Stop bringing people’ Bawdun said that on the day he was brought to the re-education camp, a friend was also processed and admitted, although contacts from the Bayin’gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefectural Public Security Bureau and the detention center bailed him out three to four days later based on a health condition. While inside, the friend said he had seen officials from the re-education camp tell the police to “stop bringing people … as it is already too full.” He described cells that had previously held eight people now accommodating 14 inmates, who “were not allowed pillows” and “had to lay on their sides because there was not enough room to lay flat,” let alone space to turn over or stretch their legs. Other acquaintances told Bawdun that they had seen “detainees walking barefoot,” and that inmates were “not allowed clothes with buttons or metal zippers,” belts, shoelaces, or “even underwear” in some cases, despite average low temperatures of around 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius) at night in December. Bawdun was unable to confirm how many people are typically admitted to area re-education camps on a daily basis, but said those he saw during his visit consisted of detainees being processed “from Dec. 1-3,” and that the chief of the center he went to had ordered police to stop bringing them on the last of the three days. Weeks later, he said, a police acquaintance had told him that detainees were being processed at the camps again, although he did not specify how many. ‘Like a brother’ The former village chief, who has been a party member since 2009 and was one of only four residents of Xinjiang to have ever received China’s “Ethnic Unity Prize,” said he remains unsure of exactly what he had done to earn a visit to a detention center last month. “When I was the district secretary, my relationship with the Han Chinese was like that of a brother—when I had any celebrations I invited them, and they invited me, and when they leased land of 50 mu (8.2 acres) but extended it another 20 or 30 mu (3.3-5 acres), I turned a blind eye,” Bawdun said. “But now I’m in a terrible situation. I used to be the person who led my cadres house to house, promoting ethnic unity, and educating people on government policies in order to prevent illegal activities. All of a sudden, I’m the person receiving this education, and the working group comes to see me almost daily, taking photographs of me to document their visit.” Since Xinjiang party chief Chen Quanguo was appointed to his post in August 2016, he has initiated several harsh policies targeting religious freedom in the region. 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 RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camps-01032018155622.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 .

7 years

RFA Breaking News: Two Uyghur Students Die in China’s Custody Following Voluntary Return From Egypt

by Paul Eckert

Two Uyghur Students Die in China’s Custody Following Voluntary Return From Egypt Dec. 21, 2017 - Two Uyghur students who were detained after voluntarily returning to northwest China’s Xinjiang region from Egypt this year amid a call by authorities for members of the ethnic group living abroad to travel home have died in police custody, according to sources. A resident of Xinjiang, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFA’s Uyghur Service that Abdusalam Mamat and Yasinjan, both from Korla (in Chinese, Kuerle) city, had been studying at prestigious Al-Azhar Islamic University in Egypt’s capital Cairo since 2015 and 2016, respectively. After Xinjiang’s government issued an order earlier this year for Uyghurs living abroad to travel home to “register” with authorities, Mamat voluntarily returned to Korla in January and Yasinjan three months later, the source said. The two young men were immediately imprisoned upon arrival and later died in police custody under suspicious circumstances, despite having no prior health issues, he added. Since Xinjiang Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo was appointed to his post in August last year, a series of harsh policies have been initiated targeting Uyghurs in the region, where members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group complain of religious and cultural repression and harassment under Chinese rule. Thousands of Uyghurs accused of harboring “extremist” and “politically incorrect” views have been detained in political re-education camps and prisons throughout Xinjiang since April as part of an ongoing crackdown. The Communist Party secretary of Korla’s Aq-Eriq village, who said that 23 people are currently detained in his village, confirmed in a telephone call with RFA this week that Mamat and Yasinjan had died “in prison.” Mamat “was the son of the imam of the Grand Mosque,” he said, referring to Korla’s biggest Muslim house of worship, also known as the “Juma Mosque.” Yasinjan was the sibling of an officer from Korla’s Charbagh township police station who had worked for seven to eight years at the township’s prison, the secretary said, adding that “not even his police brother could save his life.” “Yasinjan’s brother was dismissed from his police work prior to Yasinjan’s death,” he said. “He was dismissed because he began to inquire about Yasinjan’s imprisonment.” Enver Osman, the secretary of Lenger village, in nearby Awat township, said he was unfamiliar with Yasinjan’s brother, when asked about policemen who had been recently fired from the Charbagh police station. “We have many who have been dismissed, so I don’t know which one,” he said. Cairo students Some 20 Uyghur students in Cairo are unaccounted for several months after authorities launched a dragnet targeting members of the ethnic minority at China’s behest, two of the young men, who said they endured regular abuse while in detention, recently told RFA. More than 200 Uyghurs, many of them religious students at Al-Azhar 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 said in earlier reports. Dozens of Uyghurs are believed to have already been deported home to Xinjiang, where rights groups say they face a serious risk of arbitrary detention and torture, but many of those who have voluntarily returned home have also been taken into custody. 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 and that repressive policies in Xinjiang 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 Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/students-12212017141002.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 .

7 years

WATCH: Radio Free Asia's Look Back at 2017

by Rohit Mahajan

>From the plight of the Rohingya to Liu Xiaobo's death to a dramatic defection in the DMZ, 2017 was full of remarkable stories showing both the struggle and resilience of the human spirit. Radio Free Asia <http://www.rfa.org/english/> was there. WATCH . https://youtu.be/PtFXMbtlg2g Season's greetings from all of us at Radio Free Asia. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

7 years

CPJ Report Highlights Threats to RFA Journalists, Former Staff

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 13, 2017 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org CPJ Report Highlights Threats to RFA Journalists, Former Staff WASHINGTON - More than half of the countries in <http://www.rfa.org/english/> Radio Free Asia's target broadcast region are listed among the world's worst jailers of journalists in the Committee to Protect Journalists' <https://cpj.org/reports/2017/12/journalists-prison-jail-record-number-turke y-china-egypt.php> special report for 2017. The report cites China, Cambodia, and Vietnam -- countries that have imprisoned Radio Free Asia (RFA) current and former journalists, as well as contributors and sources. RFA President Libby Liu said the report's findings underscore not only the threats to free press, but also the importance of RFA's work and independent journalism in these countries and around the world. "Cambodia, Vietnam, and China persecute and make examples of journalists and sources who challenge the narratives of the ruling regimes," Liu said. "By resorting to desperate measures, these countries unwittingly highlight the impact and importance of a free press. "The situation in Cambodia, where two former RFA journalists have been charged with espionage, is especially egregious. Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin severed ties to RFA after our bureau was forced to close in September. Yet two months later they were arrested and charged, and they now wait in prison as a Cambodian court pursues what could be a months-long quest to assemble evidence for the prosecution. It's an absolute outrage. "In Vietnam, RFA contributors like Nguyen Van Hoa and Mother Mushroom have both been sentenced to jail and other correspondents are routinely stopped and searched, while their families are questioned and harassed by police. "In China, authorities detain and charge rights activists, citizen journalists, and family members who provide information or comments to RFA. "None of these individuals deserves to be imprisoned or face the might of authoritarian legal systems. Nor should their families and loved ones be forced to suffer at the hands of authorities. These acts of intimidation should cease and these individuals should be freed, without charges and without delay. "RFA thanks CPJ, RSF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders, and other global media rights groups for their sustained efforts to keep pressure on the international community to act." In Cambodia, former RFA journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin from its Khmer Service, which was forced to close its Phnom Penh bureau in September, were arrested and are facing charges of "espionage." The two are being held at Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh. If tried and convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison. In Vietnam, video journalist and RFA contributor Nguyen Van Hoa was sentenced in November to seven years in prison for reporting on the 2016 chemical spill that devastated the country's central coast. Days after Nguyen's sentencing, blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known also as Mother Mushroom, lost her appeal of her 10-year prison sentence for her posts on Facebook about human rights and other underreported issues in Vietnam. According to CPJ's updated <https://cpj.org/data/imprisoned/2017/> database, China has 41 reporters and bloggers currently in prison, making it among the world's biggest jailers of journalists. CPJ also <https://cpj.org/blog/2017/12/in-china-medical-neglect-can-amount-to-a-death -sen.php> documents how medical neglect in Chinese prisons often amounts to a "death sentence" for jailed journalists. While no RFA journalists or sources have been arrested in Myanmar, the country has three reporters jailed and recently stepped up restrictions on media. # # # 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.

7 years, 1 month

RFA Releases e-Book of Chinese Dissident Political Cartoonist's Artwork

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 13, 2017 Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org RFA Releases e-Book of Chinese Dissident Political Cartoonist's Artwork WASHINGTON - <http://www.rfa.org/english/> Radio Free Asia (RFA) today released an e-book featuring the artwork of Wang Liming, also known as Rebel Pepper, whose career as a political cartoonist began by satirizing politics in his native China. In this collection of 50 drawings, titled "Drawing Fire: The Political Cartoons of Rebel Pepper," Wang continues to apply his editorial and artistic wit to events in China, while also tackling issues from North Korean nuclear provocations to Cambodian political machinations to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis in Burma. RFA's e-book is available free for download on iTunes <https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/drawing-fire-the-political-cartoons-of-reb el-pepper/id1324163355?ls=1&mt=11> , Google Play <https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Radio_Free_Asia_Drawing_Fire_Th e_Political_Cartoon?id=aYNCDwAAQBAJ> , and the RFA website's <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> e-book shelf (in PDF format <http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf/RebelPepper.pdf> ). "Rebel Pepper masters the art of making big statements with few to no words," said Libby Liu, President of RFA. "Political cartoonists serve up satire, caricatures, and dark humor that can be controversial, if not subversive, even in free societies with long histories of unfettered media and open debate. "In countries where independent thought is repressed and even criminalized, the resonance of visual commentary can be a lifeline." Wang honed his craft in his native China, where the government is more famous for censorship than for a sense of humor, and where often grim political and human rights topics do not lend themselves easily to light treatment. His success in giving expression to the thoughts of his thousands of followers both on taboo subjects and on everyday experiences drew the wrath of the mighty Chinese Communist Party. "I want to use my talents for change using a format that can be understood by everyone," said Wang. "In China, to be a cartoonist is a very dangerous profession. I believe by doing my artwork I help friends and others in China whose voices have been silenced. To have an opportunity to think, say, and, of course, draw anything without fear is a right that cannot be taken for granted." Forced to leave his homeland in 2014, Rebel Pepper first found haven in Japan before settling in Washington, D.C. His cartoons have appeared in the Japanese edition of Newsweek, Index of Censorship, and China Digital Times, among other publications. He began working for RFA in June 2017. Throughout his journey he continued to hone his craft, challenging Chinese state-controlled narratives and expanding his graphic editorials for RFA. # # # 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. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Director of Public Affairs and Digital Strategy <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

7 years, 1 month

RFA Breaking News: Tibetan Monk Burns to Death in Sichuan Calling For Tibetan Freedom

by Paul Eckert

Tibetan Monk Burns to Death in Sichuan Calling For Tibetan Freedom Nov. 29, 2018 - A Tibetan monk set himself ablaze and died on Sunday in western China’s Sichuan province in a challenge to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, Tibetan sources said. The protest brings to 151 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of burnings began in 2009. Tenga, aged 63 and a monk at a monastery in Sichuan’s Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) county, set himself alight on Sunday, Nov. 26, and died of his burns, a Tibetan living in exile in South India told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing sources in Kardze. While burning, Tenga called out for freedom for Tibet, a second source said, speaking on condition of anonymity from inside Tibet. “Security officers and armed police quickly arrived at the scene and took his body away,” the source said. “Afterward, there was a heavy security clampdown in the area, with family members in Dando village placed under watch by Chinese police.” “With police now stationed around his house, and phone calls not getting through, it is difficult to assess the current situation,” he said. “Police have not returned [Tenga’s] body to his family yet,” a third source said, also speaking on condition he not be named. Communications clampdown News of Tenga’s fiery protest on Sunday was briefly delayed in reaching outside media contacts due to communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in the Kardze area. Telephone and online social media connections are now blocked in the area where the incident occurred, RFA’s source in South India said, adding that a phone call he had made to Kardze seeking information ended abruptly when the phone line was cut. “But what we know for sure is that he burned himself for the Tibetan cause, and that he demanded freedom for Tibet,” he said. The second of four siblings in his family, Tenga had worked as a volunteer teacher before joining the Kardze monastery, another local source said. “He was very popular in several villages in his hometown, where he was respectfully called ‘Teacher’ by the villagers,” the source said. A total of 151 people have now set themselves ablaze in Tibet and Tibetan-populated counties in western China. Their protests have featured demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959. Reported by Lhuboom, Pema Ngodup, Dawa Dolma, and Lobsang Choephel for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this s tory online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burns-11292017120514.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 .

7 years, 1 month

RFA Breaking News: Disappeared Chinese Lawyer 'Held in Darkness' in Shaanxi Province

by Paul Eckert

cid:db5c53ccb2f2c28f5afa2b46deb76600b893914b@zimbra Disappeared Chinese Lawyer 'Held in Darkness' in Shaanxi Province Nov. 12, 2017 - Human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng is being held in secret police custody a darkened room with no access to the outside, according to a rights group that has been advocating for him. Gao, 53, has been incommunicado after disappearing on Aug. 13 from his previous house arrest in a cave dwelling in a remote village in the northern province of Shaanxi. Now, the Gao Zhisheng Lawyers' Concern Group headed by rights activist Ai Ming says it has tracked him down, publishing a brief audio clip of Gao talking about the conditions he is being held in. "I haven't seen the light of day, nor taken any exercise in eight years," Gao can be heard saying in the audio recording, saying that his conditions are even worse than during his three-year jail term at Shaya Prison in a remote area of the northwestern region of Xinjiang. "Things weren't so bad in Shaya Prison," Gao says in the undated audio sent to RFA by Ai. "During my time there, I got to leave the closed cell at times. I also got to leave the prison building twice during those three years." Gao said he is currently locked up in total darkness, in a room where the windows have been blacked out to prevent any natural light from coming in. He said it feels like being confined in an "infinite darkness." "He is currently being held in secret detention, so they definitely won't be allowing him access to the outside, nor any medical treatment," Ai told RFA on Sunday. "We are very worried about his situation in secret detention, that he will be subjected to torture like he was before," she said. "The denial of medical treatment is a form of slow torture ... and we are worried that he might [die in custody] if this continues." Ai said Gao had a number of illnesses. "For example, his teeth have all fallen out, so he can only eat liquids," she said. However, officials gave conflicting information about Gao's whereabouts when contacted by RFA on Sunday. 'Stability maintenance' An official who answered the phone at the Jialu township government in Shanxi's Jia county, which administers Gao's home village, said his case is being managed by the local "stability maintenance" team." "I don't know the details. I think the stability maintenance team is handling it. I can give you the number of a Mr. Xue who's in charge of it," she said. But Xue declined to give a direct answer when asked about Gao's whereabouts on Sunday. "As far as I recall, he is still in the village, but maybe he is here. Yes, he is. He never went [to Beijing]. He spent some time at a friend's place," Xue said. His account contradicted that of Gao's brother, who told RFA last month that his brother had been placed in detention by authorities in Beijing. Asked when Gao went to the friend's house, he replied: "I don't know. This wasn't part of our remit. It was the Jia county [police]. But he's fine, anyway. Nothing happened to him, nothing at all." "[The Jia county police] told us that he's fine. OK, I have to go now," Xue said. And Gao's defense attorney Zhang Lei said the Jia county police had denied being in charge of Gao's case when he went there in person on Nov. 9 to enquire about his client's whereabouts. "We don't know what our next move should be, and we have no way of finding out what is really happening," Zhang told RFA. "Under the law, if he is implicated in a case, the family should be informed. If he's not, he should be a free man." Gao Zhisheng, once a prominent lawyer feted by the ruling Chinese Communist Party, began to be targeted by the authorities after he defended some of China's most vulnerable people, including Christians, coal miners, and followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement. In a published memoir, Gao details the torture he later endured at the hands of the authorities during his time in prison, as well as three years of solitary confinement, during which he said he was sustained by his Christian faith and his hopes for China. Activists say his continuing house arrest even after being "released" from jail mirrors the treatment meted out to fellow rights lawyers and activists detained in a nationwide police operation since July 2015. Gao's wife Geng He fled to the U.S. with the couple's two children after Gao's last disappearance in 2009, where she has continued to speak out on his behalf. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Hai Nan for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/gao-update-11122017141322.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.

7 years, 2 months

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 .

7 years, 2 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 .

7 years, 2 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 .

7 years, 3 months

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