China 'executes' Uighur activist

[PatricVadec]

An ethnic Uighur Muslim activist has been executed by China for "attempting to split the motherland", the US-backed Radio Free Asia reports.

Ismail Semed was shot dead in the far western city of Urumqi, capital of the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province.

The case has been criticised by rights groups who say the conviction was based mainly on his alleged links to an outlawed separatist movement.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40936000/gif/_40936347_xinjiang_urumqi_map203.gif

There has been no word from Chinese authorities on the execution.

Semed's wife, Buhejer, told Radio Free Asia she was only allowed 10 minutes with her husband before he was executed.

"When the body was transferred to us at the cemetery I saw only one bullet hole in his heart," she said.

Separatist violence

Semed was convicted in October 2005 of "attempting to split the motherland" and the possession of firearms and explosives.

Buhejer said her husband had told the court during his trial that he had been forced to make a confession.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41022000/jpg/_41022961_chinaafpbody.jpg
CHINA'S UIGHURS

Critics say the case was marred by a lack of evidence, and the charges stemmed from allegations he was a founding member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), considered a terrorist group by both the US and China.

Before his trial, Semed had been deported from Pakistan where he had fled after serving two jail terms for alleged involvement in a violent uprising in 1990.

Uighur and rights groups have condemned the case.

"His trial, like most Uighur political prisoners' trials, was not fair," the World Uighur Congress said.

Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs make up about eight million of the 19 million people in Xinjiang.

Some Uighurs are eager to re-establish an independent Islamic nation, and Xinjiang has suffered periodic separatist violence which China is eager to suppress.

from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6345879.stm

[PatricVadec]

More from BBC News

Fighting the cause of China's Uighurs
By Kate McGeown

Rebiya Kadeer was once a successful businesswoman in China's Xinjiang province.But she was imprisoned in 2000 for leaking state secrets, and since her release in March she has been concentrating on a very different goal.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41230000/jpg/_41230753_rebiya203.jpg
Ms Kadeer

"Since I came out of jail, I have never stopped fighting for the freedom of my people," she told the BBC News website.

Ms Kadeer is a Uighur - a member of an eight million-strong ethnic group which she claims suffers severe repression from the authorities in Beijing.

Now based in the US, she devotes all her time to publicising the plight of the Uighurs - and she is currently touring Europe to bring attention to their cause.

"I believe the Uighur people are the most persecuted people on the planet," Ms Kadeer said.

"In prison, I personally witnessed the torture and persecution of many Uighurs who were totally innocent of the crimes they were said to have committed."


Out of favour

Ms Kadeer herself suffered hardship during her five year imprisonment.

"I wasn't allowed to speak to other inmates, to read or to write," she said. "I wasn't even allowed to hire my own lawyer for my trial."

Once lauded by the Chinese authorities - and even appointed a seat on one of the government's highest consultative bodies - Ms Kadeer fell out of favour when her husband, former political prisoner Sidik Rouzi, fled China for the US in 1996.
She was detained in 1999 for endangering national security by sending newspaper clippings to her husband on the treatment of the Uighur community.

She said that even when she was released from jail, she did not feel confident that she was really free.

"The Chinese government rarely let a Uighur prisoner go," she explained.

In fact she did not feel safe until she took her first step onto an aeroplane to take her out of China to the US.

Even though she has now left the country, Ms Kadeer believes the government is continuing to harass her relatives and business employees.

She said police had raided her business and taken away all its records, and were now pressing charges against some of her sons.

"I don't know what will happen. We're waiting to see, but I'm very worried," Ms Kadeer said.

She is also concerned about the plight of Uighurs who flee from China only to be deported back there if their asylum claims are rejected.

During her visit to Europe, she plans to lobby the German government to review the case of 50 asylum seekers.

"My main concern is that if these people are sent back, the Chinese government might imprison them or even execute them," she said.

Terrorist claims

The Uighurs, who are almost all Muslim and look and sound like Turks rather than Han Chinese, enjoyed a brief period of independence in the 1940s, calling their state the Republic of East Turkestan.

Some Uighurs are eager to re-establish an independent Islamic nation, and Xinjiang suffers periodic separatist violence which China is eager to suppress.

Ms Kadeer insists her campaign is peaceful - and that she wants to focus purely on improving human rights rather than the issue of separatism.

But she claims that the Chinese authorities have used the 11 September attacks on the US as an excuse to crack down on the Uighurs, citing the need to quell terrorist activity.

"It's easy for the government to say that Uighurs are terrorists, because they are Muslims," she said. "Many Uighurs have been falsely persecuted for this."

Beijing has named several Uighur groups it accuses of being behind attacks in the region, and it claims that some are also linked to the al-Qaeda network - a fact Ms Kadeer vehemently denies.

"I believe that history will show that they weren't terrorists at all," she said.

Despite the might of the Chinese government, Ms Kadeer is convinced that the international community will back her cause and "bring justice to the Uighur people".

"My people will win," she said.

[gaijinsamurai]

Well, the Tibetans haven't had a lot of luck, and they've had the fortune to have had Richard Gere, Robert Thurman (Umma's father), and a host of other celebrities attracted to their cause.
Still, I wish her the best.

[Heron]

have any media mentioned that she was a drug kingpin?

[gaijinsamurai]

Is this true?
Any evidence?

[gaijinsamurai]

No links to back up your claims that she was a drugpin, Heron?

[neseli]

xingiang homeland of uyghur turks from 3000 years..chiana should obey human rights for all people..ETİM could be terorist organısation..but not all uyghura are terorrist...

[Heron]

if i got certain source then i'd already posted it instead of asking.

[Lerclair]

xingiang homeland of uyghur turks from 3000 years..chiana should obey human rights for all people..ETİM could be terorist organısation..but not all uyghura are terorrist...You should research that a little further.

Give you a head start.. when did Turks invaded and controlled Xijiang.

And not all Uighur are persecuted.. some are even serving in the PAP.

[duck]

A lot of uighurs have migrated to the coastal cities. Lots of Xinjiang restaurants opening lately in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere. China is a bit more complex than what the previous stories state.

[Satellite Weapon]

Is this true?
Any evidence?

No direct connection Mr foreign Japanophile, Mr Beartown might have got his facts wrong but Rebiya is well known trafficking in illegal drugs. Please spare us your rants taken from Ishihara's bestselling novels and bullsh*t sob stories for the divine chosen race known as the Tibetans. The Miao, Han, Tibetan, Manchu, Cantonese, Hani and everyone else are all oppressed equally by the Motherland, all beaten or imprisoned when they step out of line.

And I don't see you shedding any of your same crocodile tears for the Burakumin, Ainu, Kankokujins, Native Americans or Australian Aboriginals

[gaijinsamurai]

Woah!
Ease up, there!!!
All I did is ask for any links to confirm the claims!!!!!

And by the way, I am part-Native American, and no, I'm not shedding any tears.
You must really like flame wars.

[Miles.]

Woah!
Ease up, there!!!
All I did is ask for any links to confirm the claims!!!!!

And by the way, I am part-Native American, and no, I'm not shedding any tears.
You must really like flame wars.

Don't you love this place? :hug:

[gaijinsamurai]

Yeah. 90% of the people on this forum are great, but then there's that select # of trolls who love to come out of their holes to stir stuff up.
Satellite Weapon for example: he loves to bash Japan at nearly every opportunity, but heaven forbid anyone express any sympathy for people who have suffered in China.