Uygur oppression continues as China’s ‘war on terror’ - 7 July 2009

“The recent use of force to suppress the protest riots in Xianjing are a continuation of the suppression of the ethnic identity of Uygur (Uighur) people in western China that has been going on for decades,” says Ian Cohen, Greens MLC.

“Last year I welcomed Nobel Peace Prize nominee and celebrated Uighur human rights activist Ms Rebiya Kadeer to the Parliament. She tole me of China's systematic, gross and ongoing human rights violations of the Uighur people, who have been persecuted since China annexed their country, East Turkestan in 1949.”

“Knowing the way the Chinese Government has treated Uighur prisoners, including Ms Kadeer and her sons Alim and Ablikim Abdiriyim, I am concerned for the safety of those demonstrators who have been detained by Chinese authorities.”

“China has been making use of the ‘war on terror’ to suppress the Uighur people – who are Muslim and of Turkic background. In 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, a series of violent incidents were alleged by authorities to be linked to Uighur ‘terrorist’ activity. They launched a crackdown on the Uighur population in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and arrested and executed a number of people.”

“China cannot continue the hypocrisy of championing a commitment to international diversity and human advancement - as espoused during the Olympic Games - and then suppress basic human rights in the forgotten province of the former East Turkestan.”

“According to Amnesty International, with the exception of one Tibetan case last year, the XUAR remains the only region in China where individuals are executed for political crimes.”

“Authorities now call supporters of independence “terrorists.” They have closed down mosques, detained Islamic clergy, limited the use of the Uighur language and placed severe restrictions on freedom of religion and freedom of expression and association. The Chinese arrest and arbitrarily detain thousands of Uighurs on charges of “terrorism, separatism and religious extremism” when they are simply exercising their human rights.”

“The flood of Han Chinese migrants into the region – encouraged by Government subsidisation - is destroying Uighur customs and fuelling discontent and ethnic tensions. Uighurs face employment discrimination and racism that makes them the target of attacks like the one in Shaoguan that sparked the recent riots.”

“Australia is, I believe, uniquely positioned to play a role in helping China to improve its human rights record. We must work to end the systematic oppression of the Uighur people.”