Questions over 43 'disappeared' Uighurs
Human Rights Watch calls on Chinese government to account for 'disappeared' detainees
Wednesday, 21, Oct 2009 02:40
By Sarah Garrod
Human Rights Watch has called on the Chinese government to immediately account for all detainees in its custody following the July Urumqi protests.
In a report on enforced disappearances released by the organisation today, HRW said 43 Uighur men and teenage boys have 'disappeared' after being detained by Chinese security forces.
The demonstrations in July were sparked by a fight at a factory in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, between Turkic-speaking, Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese workers in June in which two Uighurs were killed.
Ethnic clashes erupted and more than 150 people were killed in the riots. The violence was the worst in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Today's report, "'We Are Afraid to Even Look for Them': Enforced Disappearances in the Wake of Xinjiang's Protests", documents the enforced disappearances of the 43 men and boys.
"The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg," said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW.
"The Chinese government says it respects the rule of law, but nothing could undermine this claim more than taking people from their homes or off the street and 'disappearing' them - leaving their families unsure whether they are dead or alive."
Trials of those involved in the protests began last week, with nine men already sentenced to death, three others to death with a two-year reprieve, and one to life imprisonment.
HRW says forces in the area have done a "large scale-sweep" of the Uighur areas. The victims of "disappearances" documented by HRW were young Uighur men, most were in their 20s, although the youngest reported victims were 12 and 14.
HRW has called on the Chinese government to immediately stop the practice of enforced disappearances, release those against whom no charges have been brought, and account for every person held in detention. They have also called for the Chinese government to allow for an independent, international investigation into the Urumqi unrest and its aftermath and called on the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take the lead in such an investigation.
"The United States, the European Union, and China's other international partners should demand clear answers about what happened to those who have disappeared in Xinjiang," said Mr Adams. "They should not let trade relations or other political considerations lead them to treat China differently than other countries which carry out this horrific practice."