Friends and family have not heard from two Uighur students in more than a month. Amnesty International is very worried about their safety.
PUBLIC
AI Index: ASA 17/028/2009
UA 158/09
Fear of Torture and other Ill-Treatment
18 June 2009
CHINA
Yusufjan (Yuesefujiang) (m), aged 27
Memetjan (Maimaitijiang) (m), aged 24
Yusufjan and Memetjan, both ethnic Uighurs and students at Xinjiang University, were detained on 10 May in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China. There is no information on their current legal status or whereabouts and there are fears that the men may be subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
According to China Aid Association, a US-based Christian NGO, on 10 May Yusufjan, Memetjan, and five other students were holding a meeting at Xinjiang University to discuss religious issues. Their meeting was broken up by two officers from the local internal security police force, accompanied by more than ten plain-clothed men, who led all seven away in handcuffs for interrogation.
According to China Aid Association, the five other students were held for 15 days and each fined 5,000 yuan (approximately 730 USD) for “holding an illegal gathering”. This charge and the students punishment does not comply with Chinese law which suggests that their detention was arbitrary and that corruption or discrimination may have played a part.
China Aid Association have stated that the authorities have threatened Yusufjan and Memetjan with more severe punishment than that received by the five students who were released.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Uighurs are a mainly Muslim ethnic minority who are concentrated primarily in the XUAR. Since the 1980s, the Uighurs have been the target of systematic and extensive human rights violations. This includes arbitrary detention and imprisonment, incommunicado detention, and serious restrictions on religious freedom as well as cultural and social rights. Chinese government policies, including those that limit use of the Uighur language, severe restrictions on freedom of religion, and a sustained influx of Han Chinese migrants into the region, are destroying customs and, together with employment discrimination, fuelling discontent and ethnic tensions. Chinese government has mounted an aggressive campaign that has led to the arrest and arbitrary detention of thousands of Uighurs on charges of “terrorism, separatism and religious extremism” for peacefully exercising their human rights. On 14 August 2008, Wang Lequan, Communist Party Secretary of the XUAR, announced a "life and death" struggle against Uighur "separatism".
Local authorities maintain tight control over religious practice, including prohibiting all government employees and children under the age of 18, from worshipping at mosques.
Torture and other ill-treatment are endemic in all forms of detention, despite China having ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1988.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Write a personally-worded message in English, Mandarin or your own language
- calling on the authorities to release Yusufjan and Memetjan immediately and unconditionally;
- calling on the authorities to provide information on their whereabouts, and the reasons and legal basis for their detention;
- urging the authorities to guarantee that they are not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment while in custody;
- urging the authorities to ensure they are given access to a lawyer of their choice, their families and any medical treatment that they may require;
- calling on the authorities to respect and protect the right of Uighurs to enjoy their own culture, to practise their religion, and to use their own language.
- calling on the authorities to make a clear distinction between activities that involve the peaceful exercise of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and those that would be internationally recognized as criminal acts.
APPEALS TO:
Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China:
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017, People's Republic of China
Fax: 011 86 10 6596 1109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People's Government:
Nur BEKRI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
2 Zhongshanlu
Wulumuqishi 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
Director of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security:
LIU Yaohua Tingzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gong'anting
58 Huanghelu
Wulumuqishi 830001
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director
COPIES TO:
His Excellency LAN Lijun
Ambassador for the People's Republic of China
515 St. Patrick Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5H3
Fax: (613) 789-1911
Please respond quickly on behalf of these two Uighur students. Thank you.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Urgent Action Office
Amnesty International Canada
14 Dundonald Street
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1K2
Moving July 4 to 3-1992 Yonge St, Toronto M4S 1Z7
Tel: (416) 363 9933 ext 25
Fax: (416) 363 3103
www.amnesty.ca/urgentaction
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Harper enlists activist to help Celil
Harper enlists activist to help Celil
U.S. businessman known for obtaining freedom of political prisoners in China
CAMPBELL CLARK
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
May 12, 2009 at 3:37 AM EDT
OTTAWA — The federal government has enlisted U.S. businessman turned activist John Kamm in efforts to secure the release of jailed Uyghur-Canadian Huseyin Celil and others in China, turning to more sophisticated approaches after years of fruitless efforts.
Mr. Kamm, a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, is legendary for obtaining the freedom of dissidents through respectful but persistent inquiries with Chinese officials at all levels - using an approach Beijing accepts to win ground on a tense topic. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ministers initially criticized the Chinese government when Mr. Celil, a Canadian citizen from China's Uyghur minority, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 after a closed-door trial on terrorism charges.
But as they have attempted to thaw chilled relations with China in recent months, their criticisms regarding Mr. Celil and other rights cases have been less public.
Three weeks ago, Canadian officials brought in Mr. Kamm to seek his advice and help in meeting with aides to Mr. Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, as well as with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
Related Articles
The Globe and Mail
Mr. Kamm is beginning to work on the case of Mr. Celil, who is in a remote prison in the northeast Chinese city of Urumqi.
Brock University China expert Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in China, said bringing in Mr. Kamm shows the government is looking for new options to handle such issues with "commitment and sophistication."
"I guess it also indicates that the government feels that we need to look outside Canada to get the expertise to try and engage China effectively on this matter," he said.
"The Chinese clearly respect him and are prepared to work with him despite the fact that [his organization's] raison-d'être is to try to assist people we feel have been unjustly imprisoned in China for political reasons."
The move comes as the Conservative government is trying to find its own new approach to China, with Mr. Cannon the latest minister to troop to Beijing, meeting Vice-President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi yesterday.
The Conservatives are also seeking to revive a revamped version of the Canada-China Human Rights dialogue - closed-door meetings between officials that were suspended in 2006 over criticisms they were little more than lip service to rights - but this time with domestic officials who have jurisdiction over rights issues, rather than diplomats.
After Mr. Harper's government's initial whacking of Beijing over rights cases, Canadian companies that do business in China raised fears trade would be hurt.
Mr. Kamm, once regional vice-president of Occidental Chemical Corp., made his U.S. Chamber of Commerce colleagues uneasy when he turned to pressing rights issues in China in 1990. But his Dui Hua Foundation - it means "dialogue" in Mandarin - is known for its smooth, effective touch.
"It's patience, and more importantly, persistence. You keep asking for information. You just never give up," Mr. Kamm said in an interview.
He declined to discuss Mr. Celil or any other case, but said that in general, he takes a respectful approach, making inquiries for information rather than demanding release, knowing China sometimes responds to repeated questions with early release.
He doesn't ask officials about political prisoners; he refers to the specific Chinese charge.
He fishes for better medical care, or transfer to a model prison, rather than immediate release.
He seeks to defuse the sentiment that a foreigner is insulting China's rights record, and avoids automatic replies.
"If you go in and say, 'I think this person has been wrongly imprisoned,' you'll get a stock response, which is, 'We treat people according to the rule of law.' That's the stock response," Mr. Kamm said.
"But if you say, I understand this person has cirrhosis of the liver, or ask about family visits, that's considered more helpful."
He said his work would not be viable without rights advocates pressing the issue. But he added that he uses the sales lessons from his liquor-salesman father, Arthur: concentrating on results, cultivating people in low positions because they may have authority later, and gathering the kind of details about who he is meeting that salesmen once kept in little black books. "I still do," he said.
Mr. Celil's Canadian lawyer, Chris MacLeod, said he has begun exchanging e-mails with Mr. Kamm, but the case has been through a period of "stagnation," and Canadian rights groups have called for more efforts.
"There really hasn't been a whole lot of talk recently about Mr. Celil," said Amnesty International Canada's China campaigner, Lindsay Mossman.
****
Dealing with dissidents
Some of John Kamm's lessons for dealing with China on dissidents:
DIG UP EVERYTHING
Use details about the dissident in talks with officials.
USE THEIR LANGUAGE
He doesn't use the term "political prisoner."
DON'T DEMAND, ASK QUESTIONS
He makes repeated inquiries for information.
PREVENT AUTOMATIC RESPONSES
He attempts not to make officials defensive.
TALK TO EVERYONE
Including court officials, judges, prison officials, and government officials high and low.
Source
U.S. businessman known for obtaining freedom of political prisoners in China
CAMPBELL CLARK
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
May 12, 2009 at 3:37 AM EDT
OTTAWA — The federal government has enlisted U.S. businessman turned activist John Kamm in efforts to secure the release of jailed Uyghur-Canadian Huseyin Celil and others in China, turning to more sophisticated approaches after years of fruitless efforts.
Mr. Kamm, a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, is legendary for obtaining the freedom of dissidents through respectful but persistent inquiries with Chinese officials at all levels - using an approach Beijing accepts to win ground on a tense topic. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ministers initially criticized the Chinese government when Mr. Celil, a Canadian citizen from China's Uyghur minority, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 after a closed-door trial on terrorism charges.
But as they have attempted to thaw chilled relations with China in recent months, their criticisms regarding Mr. Celil and other rights cases have been less public.
Three weeks ago, Canadian officials brought in Mr. Kamm to seek his advice and help in meeting with aides to Mr. Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, as well as with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
Related Articles
The Globe and Mail
Mr. Kamm is beginning to work on the case of Mr. Celil, who is in a remote prison in the northeast Chinese city of Urumqi.
Brock University China expert Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in China, said bringing in Mr. Kamm shows the government is looking for new options to handle such issues with "commitment and sophistication."
"I guess it also indicates that the government feels that we need to look outside Canada to get the expertise to try and engage China effectively on this matter," he said.
"The Chinese clearly respect him and are prepared to work with him despite the fact that [his organization's] raison-d'être is to try to assist people we feel have been unjustly imprisoned in China for political reasons."
The move comes as the Conservative government is trying to find its own new approach to China, with Mr. Cannon the latest minister to troop to Beijing, meeting Vice-President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi yesterday.
The Conservatives are also seeking to revive a revamped version of the Canada-China Human Rights dialogue - closed-door meetings between officials that were suspended in 2006 over criticisms they were little more than lip service to rights - but this time with domestic officials who have jurisdiction over rights issues, rather than diplomats.
After Mr. Harper's government's initial whacking of Beijing over rights cases, Canadian companies that do business in China raised fears trade would be hurt.
Mr. Kamm, once regional vice-president of Occidental Chemical Corp., made his U.S. Chamber of Commerce colleagues uneasy when he turned to pressing rights issues in China in 1990. But his Dui Hua Foundation - it means "dialogue" in Mandarin - is known for its smooth, effective touch.
"It's patience, and more importantly, persistence. You keep asking for information. You just never give up," Mr. Kamm said in an interview.
He declined to discuss Mr. Celil or any other case, but said that in general, he takes a respectful approach, making inquiries for information rather than demanding release, knowing China sometimes responds to repeated questions with early release.
He doesn't ask officials about political prisoners; he refers to the specific Chinese charge.
He fishes for better medical care, or transfer to a model prison, rather than immediate release.
He seeks to defuse the sentiment that a foreigner is insulting China's rights record, and avoids automatic replies.
"If you go in and say, 'I think this person has been wrongly imprisoned,' you'll get a stock response, which is, 'We treat people according to the rule of law.' That's the stock response," Mr. Kamm said.
"But if you say, I understand this person has cirrhosis of the liver, or ask about family visits, that's considered more helpful."
He said his work would not be viable without rights advocates pressing the issue. But he added that he uses the sales lessons from his liquor-salesman father, Arthur: concentrating on results, cultivating people in low positions because they may have authority later, and gathering the kind of details about who he is meeting that salesmen once kept in little black books. "I still do," he said.
Mr. Celil's Canadian lawyer, Chris MacLeod, said he has begun exchanging e-mails with Mr. Kamm, but the case has been through a period of "stagnation," and Canadian rights groups have called for more efforts.
"There really hasn't been a whole lot of talk recently about Mr. Celil," said Amnesty International Canada's China campaigner, Lindsay Mossman.
****
Dealing with dissidents
Some of John Kamm's lessons for dealing with China on dissidents:
DIG UP EVERYTHING
Use details about the dissident in talks with officials.
USE THEIR LANGUAGE
He doesn't use the term "political prisoner."
DON'T DEMAND, ASK QUESTIONS
He makes repeated inquiries for information.
PREVENT AUTOMATIC RESPONSES
He attempts not to make officials defensive.
TALK TO EVERYONE
Including court officials, judges, prison officials, and government officials high and low.
Source
Thursday, February 26, 2009
China fire protesters were Uighurs
China fire protesters were Uighurs
Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:22am GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three family members who set themselves on fire in a car in Beijing Wednesday were Uighurs, an ethnic group from China's far-western frontier, who had come to the capital to petition lawmakers, a source told Reuters.
China's national parliament begins its annual session next week and many aggrieved citizens try to come to the capital at this time to air complaints about everything from corruption, lost land and jobs to investments gone sour.
The family had come to Beijing to petition, apparently related to a dispute over housing, the Beijing-based source with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.
The husband and wife, aged 59 and 58, were hospitalised with burn injuries, the man's serious, the Xinhua news agency said late Wednesday without specifying their identities.
Their son, aged 28, was not injured and is in police custody, the source said.
Police stopped the grey car with Xinjiang licence plates when the driver, apparently lost, turned onto the Wangfujing pedestrian shopping street.
The husband, who was doused in gasoline, lit himself when the police stopped the car for a traffic violation, the source said.
The Xinjiang government's representative office in Beijing denied a report by the Hong Kong-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy that the couple was affiliated with the office.
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Benjamin Kang Lim)
Source
Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:22am GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three family members who set themselves on fire in a car in Beijing Wednesday were Uighurs, an ethnic group from China's far-western frontier, who had come to the capital to petition lawmakers, a source told Reuters.
China's national parliament begins its annual session next week and many aggrieved citizens try to come to the capital at this time to air complaints about everything from corruption, lost land and jobs to investments gone sour.
The family had come to Beijing to petition, apparently related to a dispute over housing, the Beijing-based source with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.
The husband and wife, aged 59 and 58, were hospitalised with burn injuries, the man's serious, the Xinhua news agency said late Wednesday without specifying their identities.
Their son, aged 28, was not injured and is in police custody, the source said.
Police stopped the grey car with Xinjiang licence plates when the driver, apparently lost, turned onto the Wangfujing pedestrian shopping street.
The husband, who was doused in gasoline, lit himself when the police stopped the car for a traffic violation, the source said.
The Xinjiang government's representative office in Beijing denied a report by the Hong Kong-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy that the couple was affiliated with the office.
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Benjamin Kang Lim)
Source
Spain may accept Guantanamo Bay detainees
Spain may accept Guantanamo Bay detainees
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 |
CBC News
Spain has told the United States it is open "in principle" to accepting some prisoners currently being held at Guantanamo Bay when the military base is shut down.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told Spanish National Radio on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had asked for his country's help.
"I responded that Spain, in principle, is open to collaborating in accepting some prisoners as long as the legal conditions, when they are transferred, are acceptable," said Moratinos.
Moratinos and Clinton met Tuesday in Washington.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Cuban-based U.S. military prison within a year.
Aid groups say there is an urgent need to find new homes for about 55-60 international detainees who face an uncertain future in their home countries. There are 250 detainees at Guantanamo.
Media reports have stated there are six detainees, including three Uighurs, who have applied for resettlement in Canada. The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group from northwestern China, many of whom have fought for independence from China.
Canadian Omar Khadr has been held at the prison since 2002 after he was involved in a battle with American troops in Afghanistan. The 22-year-old is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier.
Source
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 |
CBC News
Spain has told the United States it is open "in principle" to accepting some prisoners currently being held at Guantanamo Bay when the military base is shut down.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told Spanish National Radio on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had asked for his country's help.
"I responded that Spain, in principle, is open to collaborating in accepting some prisoners as long as the legal conditions, when they are transferred, are acceptable," said Moratinos.
Moratinos and Clinton met Tuesday in Washington.
Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the Cuban-based U.S. military prison within a year.
Aid groups say there is an urgent need to find new homes for about 55-60 international detainees who face an uncertain future in their home countries. There are 250 detainees at Guantanamo.
Media reports have stated there are six detainees, including three Uighurs, who have applied for resettlement in Canada. The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group from northwestern China, many of whom have fought for independence from China.
Canadian Omar Khadr has been held at the prison since 2002 after he was involved in a battle with American troops in Afghanistan. The 22-year-old is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier.
Source
Pentagon urges resolving fate of Guantanamo Uighurs
Pentagon urges resolving fate of Guantanamo Uighurs
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A Pentagon report on Monday said the US government needed to move quickly to help arrange the transfer of Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo prison who have been cleared of wrongdoing.
The group of 17 Uighurs face uncertainty about when they will leave the detention camp for terror suspects and their case has "increased tension and anxiety within the detainee population," the Defense Department report wrote.
"Therefore the Review Team requests that emphasis be placed on providing immediate assistance within the interagency (government) process on where to transfer these detainees," said the review, overseen by Admiral Patrick Walsh.
The Defense Department and the State Department have tried unsuccessfully for several years to arrange the transfer of the Uighurs to a third country, as Washington fears the Uighurs face the risk of persecution if they return to China.
Human rights groups have urged the government to release the Uighurs within the United States in areas where there are Uighur communities.
Along with the Uighur detainees, there are two other detainees -- Algerians captured in Bosnia -- that US courts have ordered to be released from Guantanamo.
Other inmates at Guantanamo are aware that courts have cleared the Uighurs for transfer but that they remain under detention, and that "breeds a climate that can be one with lots of friction," Walsh told a news conference at the Pentagon.
The Uighurs and the two Algerian detainees are held at a section of the prison called "Camp Iguana," where they enjoy more freedoms than other inmates.
"Despite increased freedoms at Camp Iguana, the detainees there continue to vocally and physically express their extreme frustration with their continued detention at Guantanamo," the report said.
Source
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A Pentagon report on Monday said the US government needed to move quickly to help arrange the transfer of Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo prison who have been cleared of wrongdoing.
The group of 17 Uighurs face uncertainty about when they will leave the detention camp for terror suspects and their case has "increased tension and anxiety within the detainee population," the Defense Department report wrote.
"Therefore the Review Team requests that emphasis be placed on providing immediate assistance within the interagency (government) process on where to transfer these detainees," said the review, overseen by Admiral Patrick Walsh.
The Defense Department and the State Department have tried unsuccessfully for several years to arrange the transfer of the Uighurs to a third country, as Washington fears the Uighurs face the risk of persecution if they return to China.
Human rights groups have urged the government to release the Uighurs within the United States in areas where there are Uighur communities.
Along with the Uighur detainees, there are two other detainees -- Algerians captured in Bosnia -- that US courts have ordered to be released from Guantanamo.
Other inmates at Guantanamo are aware that courts have cleared the Uighurs for transfer but that they remain under detention, and that "breeds a climate that can be one with lots of friction," Walsh told a news conference at the Pentagon.
The Uighurs and the two Algerian detainees are held at a section of the prison called "Camp Iguana," where they enjoy more freedoms than other inmates.
"Despite increased freedoms at Camp Iguana, the detainees there continue to vocally and physically express their extreme frustration with their continued detention at Guantanamo," the report said.
Source
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Uighur detainees at Guantanamo pose a problem for Obama
Uighur detainees at Guantanamo pose a problem for Obama
Gent Shkullaku AFP/Getty Images
Abu Bakker Qassim is one of five Uighurs released from Guantanamo in 2006. Albania was the only country willing to take them, and it suffered the consequences.
The administration, already viewed with suspicion by Beijing, doesn't want to send the soon-to-be-freed ethnic separatists back to China -- which is demanding just that.
By Peter Spiegel and Barbara Demick
February 18, 2009
Reporting from Beijing -- Hozaifa Parhat, a fruit seller from China's Muslim west, spoke passionately before a Guantanamo tribunal about his love for America and swore he never planned to fight the United States.
The Chinese, however, were another matter.
"I left my country to try to get something, get back and liberate my people and get our country independence," the ethnic Uighur testified in November 2004.
Seven years after he was detained near Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains and sent to Guantanamo Bay, Parhat and 16 fellow Chinese Uighurs appear likely to be the first of the 245 prisoners still at the U.S. military prison in Cuba to be set free under the Obama administration.
President Obama has made closing the camp a priority, and federal courts have so far ruled that the Uighur detainees present no threat to the United States.
But freed to where? China is insisting that the Uighurs be sent home to face trial for separatist activities. It has further intimated that any country that offers them political asylum will in effect be harboring dangerous terrorists.
"On the issue of the Chinese terrorist suspects detained in Guantanamo, we have repeatedly stated that we oppose any country receiving these people," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said this month.
How the Uighurs are handled could play a role in defining what kind of relationship the Obama administration forges with Beijing in its early months. China has made it clear that it wants to be considered an ally in the battle against terrorism, which is coming closer to China's borders as the administration shifts focus from Iraq to Afghanistan.
The fate of the Uighurs also creates a sticky situation for Washington's Western allies, which have applauded Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo prison but don't want to jeopardize their trade ties with China. Germany, Canada and Sweden have been mentioned as possibly offering asylum to the Uighurs.
"Nobody is going to want to take the Uighurs because of the Chinese pressure," said Parhat's Boston-based attorney, Sabin Willitt. "Every time we got an audience with the third deputy assistant minister of [any country], we always found the Chinese minister was ahead of us, having had a full lunch with the foreign minister."
The Uighurs live primarily on the wild northwestern steppes of China in a region officially known as Xinjiang but called Turkestan by the Uighurs. Beijing has come under widespread criticism from the United States and others for its repression of rights and religious freedom there.
People familiar with the talks within the administration said there was little chance the White House would agree to return the Uighurs to China, given the widespread belief that they might be tortured or executed if sent back.
But because of allies' reluctance to accept the refugees, human rights groups and Uighur advocates believe Obama may be forced to allow them to settle in Washington's Virginia suburbs, where there is a large community of Uighur expatriates. The administration has already shown leniency toward the Uighurs: Days after Obama's inauguration, Parhat was allowed to call his mother for the first time in nearly seven years.
Although Obama has given his administration a year to decide how to deal with the Guantanamo detainees, the Uighur question is likely to become an issue much sooner.
Human rights groups and lawyers for the 17 men have begun to push for their immediate release, noting that the only thing that prevents their freedom is a Bush administration decision to challenge last year's court ruling that they be freed immediately.
Nearly three years ago, the U.S. released five Uighurs from Guantanamo, sending them to Albania, the only country that would take them at the time.
The Balkan country proved a poor match for the refugees, and Albania was spurned by China for accepting them, which led it to refuse to take any other Uighur detainees.
"The Albanians took a big diplomatic and economic hit," said a Pentagon official involved in detainee issues. "No one wants to do that again."
According to unclassified documents and transcripts of U.S. military tribunals released by the Pentagon, the men range in age from late 20s to mid-40s. Nearly all said they fled China to escape poverty and oppression, ending up in Afghanistan because it was one of the few nearby countries that wouldn't send them back to China.
Parhat is typical. In his testimony before a Guantanamo tribunal, he said he left Xinjiang in May 2001 because he was barely making a living selling fruit and had heard rumors of a camp in Afghanistan where Uighurs trained to fight the Chinese.
He found his way to the camp in Tora Bora, run by Hasan Mahsum, a well-known separatist leader believed to have founded the radical East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
At the camp, the Uighurs read the Koran and trained to use Kalashnikov rifles, the men told their tribunals.
"The reason I trained on those weapons was so I could get my freedom. I understand that my country is a brutal communist country," testified another of the Uighur detainees, 30-year-old Ahmen Mohamed.
But they insisted that the camp was funded by wealthy Uighurs living abroad, not by Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and that they considered the United States to be their ally because of its history of staunch anti-communism.
"I can represent the 25 million Uighur people by saying that we will not do anything against the United States," Parhat said.
In his federal case four years later, a three-judge federal appellate court agreed, ruling in June that there was no evidence that any of the Uighurs had plotted against the U.S.
Alim Seytoff, director of the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, said the nationalist sentiments expressed by the Uighur detainees were much the same as those expressed by Tibetans, but are viewed differently internationally simply because the Uighurs are Muslim.
"Not a single Tibetan was sentenced to death," Seytoff said of last year's uprising in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, arguing that Western pressure has restrained Chinese authorities. "With the Uighurs, they can get away with it."
The last year has been particularly difficult for Uighurs in China, human rights groups say. Before the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chinese authorities accused Uighur separatists of planning terrorist attacks to disrupt the Games, and they began a crackdown. At least 30 people were killed in bombings and shooting incidents in western China before the Olympics.
But Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert in Singapore, believes that Uighur separatists pose more of a threat than U.S. authorities realize.
"It is true that they came to Afghanistan primarily to fight China, but they have been radicalized by their exposure to international terror groups," Gunaratna said. "The global jihadists very much have China in their sights.
"They feel that they've defeated the Soviet Union, they are defeating the United States, and next they will go after the dragon: China."
peter.spiegel@latimes.com
barbara.demick@latimes.com
Source
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Lithuania Considers Taking in Guantanamo Prisoners
Lithuania Considers Taking in Guantanamo Prisoners
By VOA News
11 February 2009
Lithuania said it is to hold talks with the United States on accepting some of the inmates being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas said Wednesday in Vilnius that he has been instructed to begin consultations with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama regarding the issue. It was not clear when talks would take place and there was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.
The United States has previously tried to persuade the 27-nation European Union to accept inmates from the prison, but has not succeeded. Many European countries that have called for Guantanamo's closure are now debating whether to accept ex-detainees after they are released.
President Barack Obama signs an executive order closing prison at Guantanamo Bay in the White House, 22 Jan. 2009
President Obama signed an order last month to close the controversial facility within one year, but some U.S. lawmakers have voiced concerns that shutting Guantanamo may allow some dangerous inmates to be set free.
Separately, Canada's three opposition parties have written to President Obama, asking him to return a Canadian being held at Guantanamo.
Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was arrested for allegedly killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. Now 22, he is the only western detainee left at the prison.
The opposition parties asked President Obama to acknowledge Khadr's status as a child soldier and return him promptly. They said if Khadr is to face charges, it should be in Canada. President Obama visits Canada February 19 for meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Mr. Harper's Conservative government refuses to intervene in the case, saying it would allow the U.S. proceedings to unfold.
Separately, Britain said the U.S. has agreed to let British diplomats visit a former British resident being held at Guantanamo and prepare him for release.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday that the team will check on the health of Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohammed. He has been on a hunger strike since January to protest his detention and alleges he was tortured. The Pentagon dropped terrorism charges against him last year.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters
Source
By VOA News
11 February 2009
Lithuania said it is to hold talks with the United States on accepting some of the inmates being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas said Wednesday in Vilnius that he has been instructed to begin consultations with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama regarding the issue. It was not clear when talks would take place and there was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.
The United States has previously tried to persuade the 27-nation European Union to accept inmates from the prison, but has not succeeded. Many European countries that have called for Guantanamo's closure are now debating whether to accept ex-detainees after they are released.
President Barack Obama signs an executive order closing prison at Guantanamo Bay in the White House, 22 Jan. 2009
President Obama signed an order last month to close the controversial facility within one year, but some U.S. lawmakers have voiced concerns that shutting Guantanamo may allow some dangerous inmates to be set free.
Separately, Canada's three opposition parties have written to President Obama, asking him to return a Canadian being held at Guantanamo.
Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was arrested for allegedly killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. Now 22, he is the only western detainee left at the prison.
The opposition parties asked President Obama to acknowledge Khadr's status as a child soldier and return him promptly. They said if Khadr is to face charges, it should be in Canada. President Obama visits Canada February 19 for meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Mr. Harper's Conservative government refuses to intervene in the case, saying it would allow the U.S. proceedings to unfold.
Separately, Britain said the U.S. has agreed to let British diplomats visit a former British resident being held at Guantanamo and prepare him for release.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday that the team will check on the health of Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohammed. He has been on a hunger strike since January to protest his detention and alleges he was tortured. The Pentagon dropped terrorism charges against him last year.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters
Source
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Church groups offer to sponsor detainees from Guantanamo Bay
Church groups offer to sponsor detainees from Guantanamo Bay
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR
Feb 11, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (10)
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA – The Canadian Council for Refugees is demanding the federal government give sanctuary to five detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay who do not face charges but could be in danger if returned home.
One of them is Maassoum Abdah Mouhammad, a Syrian Kurd who is being sponsored by a Toronto church group committed to meeting his financial and emotional needs should he be resettled in Canada.
"We do believe he faces serious risk if returned to his country and we hope we can be part of an effort to offer him hospitality and home in Canada," said Sonya Wu-Winter, a member of the congregation at Trinity St. Paul's United Church in the Bloor St. W. and Spadina Ave. area. "As a community of faith, we believe that this is part of our calling to work for justice and healing in the world."
His application for refugee status was submitted yesterday.
The other detainees include three men from the Uyghur Muslim minority in northwest China: Anwar Hassan, sponsored by a group of churches in Toronto, and two unnamed men sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Montreal.
China has demanded no country accept any of the 17 Uyghurs who remain at Guantanamo because it deems them to be members of a terrorist organization.
Diplomatic threats from China are believed to have played a role in Canada ending negotiations to accept some of the Uyghurs in 2006 around the same time China detained Canadian Huseyin Celil.
The Anglican Diocese of Montreal is sponsoring Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian alleged to have conspired with Al Qaeda, and viewed as one of the reasons Canada could move slowly on this file.
"Immigration officials have the authority to reject sponsorship applications from individuals who threaten our national security or who are involved with terrorist groups," Alykhan Velshi, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, wrote in an email yesterday.
He added he hoped the refugee council and other groups would "keep that in mind" when choosing who to sponsor.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Toronto-born detainee Omar Khadr said he would be willing to face prosecution in Canada and undergo a period of transition away from his family under the guidance of an expert team if the U.S. sent him home, The Canadian Press reported.
Source
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR
Feb 11, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (10)
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA – The Canadian Council for Refugees is demanding the federal government give sanctuary to five detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay who do not face charges but could be in danger if returned home.
One of them is Maassoum Abdah Mouhammad, a Syrian Kurd who is being sponsored by a Toronto church group committed to meeting his financial and emotional needs should he be resettled in Canada.
"We do believe he faces serious risk if returned to his country and we hope we can be part of an effort to offer him hospitality and home in Canada," said Sonya Wu-Winter, a member of the congregation at Trinity St. Paul's United Church in the Bloor St. W. and Spadina Ave. area. "As a community of faith, we believe that this is part of our calling to work for justice and healing in the world."
His application for refugee status was submitted yesterday.
The other detainees include three men from the Uyghur Muslim minority in northwest China: Anwar Hassan, sponsored by a group of churches in Toronto, and two unnamed men sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Montreal.
China has demanded no country accept any of the 17 Uyghurs who remain at Guantanamo because it deems them to be members of a terrorist organization.
Diplomatic threats from China are believed to have played a role in Canada ending negotiations to accept some of the Uyghurs in 2006 around the same time China detained Canadian Huseyin Celil.
The Anglican Diocese of Montreal is sponsoring Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian alleged to have conspired with Al Qaeda, and viewed as one of the reasons Canada could move slowly on this file.
"Immigration officials have the authority to reject sponsorship applications from individuals who threaten our national security or who are involved with terrorist groups," Alykhan Velshi, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, wrote in an email yesterday.
He added he hoped the refugee council and other groups would "keep that in mind" when choosing who to sponsor.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Toronto-born detainee Omar Khadr said he would be willing to face prosecution in Canada and undergo a period of transition away from his family under the guidance of an expert team if the U.S. sent him home, The Canadian Press reported.
Source
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Beijing to world: Don't take Chinese from Gitmo
Beijing to world: Don't take Chinese from Gitmo
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING – Feb 5, 2009 Beijing warned other countries on Thursday not to accept Chinese Muslim detainees released from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, reiterating a long-standing demand that they be returned to China.
In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama ordered Guantanamo shut by the end of 2009. Last month, Obama gave a U.S. task force 30 days to recommend where to put the 245 remaining detainees.
Three of the 17 ethnic Uighur Muslims currently held at the detention facility have been cleared for release and have asked for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and the Uighur Canadian Association, a nonprofit group sponsoring the men, said Tuesday. Two of the men applied last week and one applied in October.
The U.S. government and human rights groups say they could be abused and tortured if returned to China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu did not mention Canada directly, but said China was "against any country accepting these people."
"We hope it will be handled appropriately and in accordance with international law," Jiang said at a regularly scheduled news conference. China contends that international law requires the men be returned, although there is no accepted consensus.
Jiang did not give details or say whether China planned retaliatory action against countries that accepted the men.
China says they are members of a violent separatist group and demands they be returned to face trial. The men were captured on battlefields in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The former Bush administration said the Uighurs were too dangerous to be admitted to the U.S. Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but has since balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.
Canada, which hasn't commented on the latest cases, had previously refused several requests from Washington to provide asylum for men cleared for release.
On Tuesday, the EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said European countries that agree to take in Guantanamo detainees may eligible for financial aid. The major parties in the European Parliament are urging EU nations to accept some 45 inmates from Guantanamo.
Privately, European diplomats say Chinese officials have been visiting their governments warning them against receiving the men.
Uighurs traditionally formed the majority in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, which borders on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Militants among China's six million Uighurs have waged a long-simmering campaign to overthrow Chinese rule, saying their culture and religion are threatened by communist restrictions and waves of immigrants from other parts of the country.
Source
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING – Feb 5, 2009 Beijing warned other countries on Thursday not to accept Chinese Muslim detainees released from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, reiterating a long-standing demand that they be returned to China.
In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama ordered Guantanamo shut by the end of 2009. Last month, Obama gave a U.S. task force 30 days to recommend where to put the 245 remaining detainees.
Three of the 17 ethnic Uighur Muslims currently held at the detention facility have been cleared for release and have asked for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and the Uighur Canadian Association, a nonprofit group sponsoring the men, said Tuesday. Two of the men applied last week and one applied in October.
The U.S. government and human rights groups say they could be abused and tortured if returned to China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu did not mention Canada directly, but said China was "against any country accepting these people."
"We hope it will be handled appropriately and in accordance with international law," Jiang said at a regularly scheduled news conference. China contends that international law requires the men be returned, although there is no accepted consensus.
Jiang did not give details or say whether China planned retaliatory action against countries that accepted the men.
China says they are members of a violent separatist group and demands they be returned to face trial. The men were captured on battlefields in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The former Bush administration said the Uighurs were too dangerous to be admitted to the U.S. Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but has since balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.
Canada, which hasn't commented on the latest cases, had previously refused several requests from Washington to provide asylum for men cleared for release.
On Tuesday, the EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said European countries that agree to take in Guantanamo detainees may eligible for financial aid. The major parties in the European Parliament are urging EU nations to accept some 45 inmates from Guantanamo.
Privately, European diplomats say Chinese officials have been visiting their governments warning them against receiving the men.
Uighurs traditionally formed the majority in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, which borders on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Militants among China's six million Uighurs have waged a long-simmering campaign to overthrow Chinese rule, saying their culture and religion are threatened by communist restrictions and waves of immigrants from other parts of the country.
Source
Thursday, January 29, 2009
East Turkestan: Swiss to back Uyghurs in UPR China
East Turkestan: Swiss to back Uyghurs in UPR China
Thursday, 29 January 2009
East Turkestan: Swiss to back Uyghurs in UPR China
On the eve of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is to undergo in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in early February 2009, representatives of UNPO and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) seek diplomatic support in Geneva, Switzerland to highlight their case during the 3 hour state examination of the human rights record of PRC which is scheduled to take place on Friday 9 February 2009.
The UN HRC – which is haunted by the politicization of its predecessor, the Commission – installed a peer review mechanism under which the human rights situation in every UN member state will be examined in cycles of four years. Early 2009 will see the so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the PRC, during which UN member states are allowed to ask questions and make recommendations with regards to the human rights situation in PRC.
NGOs have been requested to submit information beforehand, which is summarized in a 20 page report compiled by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Both UNPO and the WUC have contributed in this process, which started in the fall of 2008. On the eve of the actual review procedure, a diplomatic mission was launched with the aim of informing UN member states of the current situation in East Turkestan and to propose questions to be asked and recommendations to be made to PRC, as NGOs are not allowed to actively participate in the review.
To this end, the World Uyghur Congress has send representative Mr. Dolkun Isa to Geneva, assisted by the local Uyghur community, to lobby different governments for inclusion of the situation in East Turkestan in their statement assessing the Chinese human rights record. Assisted by UNPO representative Ms. Agnes Venema, Mr. Isa has been able to confirm meetings with representatives of almost a dozen UN member states.
The biggest result rendered so far is the word of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs to include the situation in East Turkestan in their statement. Whereas representatives of other states have been holding back in undertaking specific action on East Turkestan in light of the UPR, the Swiss representative assured the delegation of inclusion of this “very important issue” and stated that they were “certain that other states will do the same”. None, however, have to this point given off such a strong message as the Swiss.
Nevertheless, more meetings are scheduled to take place the day before the review process and several representatives – amongst which UNPO observer-member Estonia – did indicate to be interested in being kept informed of evolvement of the situation in East Turkestan. However, the extend to which the situation in East Turkestan will be analyzed by UN member states taking the floor, will have to be see on Friday 9 February 2009 when the PRC takes a stand to defend its human rights policy in the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council.
Source
Thursday, 29 January 2009
East Turkestan: Swiss to back Uyghurs in UPR China
On the eve of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is to undergo in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in early February 2009, representatives of UNPO and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) seek diplomatic support in Geneva, Switzerland to highlight their case during the 3 hour state examination of the human rights record of PRC which is scheduled to take place on Friday 9 February 2009.
The UN HRC – which is haunted by the politicization of its predecessor, the Commission – installed a peer review mechanism under which the human rights situation in every UN member state will be examined in cycles of four years. Early 2009 will see the so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the PRC, during which UN member states are allowed to ask questions and make recommendations with regards to the human rights situation in PRC.
NGOs have been requested to submit information beforehand, which is summarized in a 20 page report compiled by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Both UNPO and the WUC have contributed in this process, which started in the fall of 2008. On the eve of the actual review procedure, a diplomatic mission was launched with the aim of informing UN member states of the current situation in East Turkestan and to propose questions to be asked and recommendations to be made to PRC, as NGOs are not allowed to actively participate in the review.
To this end, the World Uyghur Congress has send representative Mr. Dolkun Isa to Geneva, assisted by the local Uyghur community, to lobby different governments for inclusion of the situation in East Turkestan in their statement assessing the Chinese human rights record. Assisted by UNPO representative Ms. Agnes Venema, Mr. Isa has been able to confirm meetings with representatives of almost a dozen UN member states.
The biggest result rendered so far is the word of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs to include the situation in East Turkestan in their statement. Whereas representatives of other states have been holding back in undertaking specific action on East Turkestan in light of the UPR, the Swiss representative assured the delegation of inclusion of this “very important issue” and stated that they were “certain that other states will do the same”. None, however, have to this point given off such a strong message as the Swiss.
Nevertheless, more meetings are scheduled to take place the day before the review process and several representatives – amongst which UNPO observer-member Estonia – did indicate to be interested in being kept informed of evolvement of the situation in East Turkestan. However, the extend to which the situation in East Turkestan will be analyzed by UN member states taking the floor, will have to be see on Friday 9 February 2009 when the PRC takes a stand to defend its human rights policy in the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council.
Source
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