With Liberal Leader Michael Ignatief

 

with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatief

 

with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatief

 

 

Urgent Action for two Uyghurs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A “Life or Death Struggle” in East Turkestan;

A “Life or Death Struggle” in East Turkestan;

Uyghurs face unprecedented persecution in post-Olympic period



For immediate release

September 4, 2008 3:15 PM EST

Contact: Uyghur Human Rights Project +1 (202) 349 1496



A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) examines sweeping security measures being targeted at Uyghurs in East Turkestan (also known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or XUAR) following a series of violent attacks that took place prior and to the Beijing Olympics. While Uyghurs had experienced widespread repressive measures in the months and years leading up to the Olympics, the arrests, detentions and military and security presence being implemented following these attacks, and in the wake of the Olympic Games, indicate an unprecedented level of repression in the region. While Chinese government authorities claim the security measures are aimed at punishing individuals involved in a series of violent attacks in East Turkestan, the scope of the clampdown represents a broad, far-reaching campaign of intimidation and fear aimed at the Uyghur community.



A “life or death struggle” announced by Xinjiang Party Secretary Wang Lequan, together with a “Strike Hard” campaign issued by Political Consultative Committee head Zhu Hailun, indicate the implementation of a brutal campaign of suppression among the Uyghur population in the weeks and months to come. Wang has presided over a period of political repression and extremely rigid social controls for Uyghurs in East Turkestan, and has spearheaded a drive to blur the distinction between peaceful dissent and terrorism in the region.

UHRP’s report, A “Life or Death Struggle” in East Turkestan, documents a number of recent examples of harsh measures being carried out under the justification of anti-terrorism. These include:


**The arrest of 160 Uyghur children, aged 8 to 14 years old, for participating in “illegal religious activities. The children were brought to Bajiahu Prison in the regional capital of Urumchi, and their parents were asked for 20,000 yuan for the release of each child;

**The arrests of more than 1,000 individuals in post-attack security sweeps in Kucha and Kashgar;


**The confiscation of passports of almost every Uyghur living in the People’s Republic of China, in the run-up to the Olympic Games.


“Some of my worst fears about the Chinese government’s intent to use security as an excuse to detain innocent Uyghurs, including children, are now being realized,” said Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer. “While I knew the Chinese government was capable of such a massive crackdown, I hoped I would never see repression on such a broad scale.”



The new crackdown takes place against a backdrop of far-reaching, systematic repression carried out by Beijing over the past seven years, using “terrorism” as a justification. As is common in the Chinese justice system, those arrested in these campaigns frequently suffer from physical abuse and other maltreatment while in government custody. In addition, they are often subject to nontransparent trials and denied access to independent counsel. Convictions are regularly obtained on the basis of forced confessions extracted through torture. Security forces target Uyghurs who express any type of dissent as they “strike hard” against the “three evil forces” of “separatism, terrorism, and extremism.”



The report, A “Life or Death Struggle” in East Turkestan; Uyghurs face unprecedented persecution in post-Olympic period, can be downloaded at:

http://uhrp.org/docs/A-Life-or-Death-Struggle-in-East-Turkestan.pdf

Chinese region tightens controls over Muslims for Ramadan

Chinese region tightens controls over Muslims for Ramadan
Posted : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:46:00 GMT

Beijing - Officials have tightened controls over mosques and religious practice in China's restive Xinjiang region for the ongoing Ramadan festival, according to exiled Uighurs and local government notices seen on Thursday. Xinjiang officials ordered Muslim restaurants to stay open during the traditional Ramadan fasting and imposed restrictions on mosques and government work units, Dilxat Raxit of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress said in a statement.

A notice on the official website of Xinjiang's Aksu city listed nine measures to be taken for Ramadan by the Yingmaili township government in Shaya (Xayar) county, starting by publicizing the religious policies of the ruling Communist Party.

The notice bans mosques in Yingmaili from hosting people from outside the area or playing music, videos, trumpets or drums; and prohibits them from coercing people into fasting or taking part in other religious activities.

Local officials should increase their minimum contact with mosques from twice weekly to eight times a week during Ramadan and enhance their knowledge to "prohibit illegal religious activities", it said.

Non-local families and work units should sign "stability contracts" to prevent any external religious influence.

"For men with heavy beards and women with veils, take every kind of positive measure [to persuade them] to shave off beards and remove veils," said the undated notice.

Similar measures were publicized by Yingwusitang township in Xinjiang's Shache (Yarkant) county, following a meeting on Monday of local government and religious officials on "maintaining stability during Ramadan".

A report on the official website of the Shache government said township officials were asked to make daily reports on local religious affairs during Ramadan and "strictly prohibit party members, cadres and students from fasting or taking part in religious activities".

Similar controls were introduced in Xinjiang during previous Ramadan festivals and it was not immediately clear if this year's measures exceeded the earlier ones.

Xinjiang witnessed a spate of deadly attacks that killed at least 26 people in less than 10 days last month.

Some analysts believed the attacks, which China blamed on Uighur terrorists and separatists, were timed to coincide with the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Turkic-speaking Uighurs enjoyed brief periods of independence in the 1930s and 1940s, although Chinese dynasties have historically sought to control Xinjiang.

But since the Communist Party took control of China in 1949, the government has encouraged an influx of ethnic Han Chinese to the region, inflaming racial tension.

article source

39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

EVIDENCE

CONTENTS
Tuesday, December 12, 2006



1110
V The Chair (Mr. Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, CPC))
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (President, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation)

1115

1120

1125
V The Chair

1130
V Hon. Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal, Lib.)
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1135
V The Chair
V Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire (Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, BQ)
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1140
V Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire
V The Chair
V Mr. Ted Menzies (Macleod, CPC)
V The Chair
V Mr. Mehmet Tohti (President, Uyghur Canadian Association)

1145
V The Chair
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC)
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1150

1155
V The Chair
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V The Chair
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V The Chair
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V The Chair
V Mr. Wayne Marston (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, NDP)
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1200
V Mr. Mehmet Tohti

1205
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V The Chair
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1210
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer

1215
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V Ms. Rebiya Kadeer
V The Chair
V Mr. Mehmet Tohti
V The Chair
V Mr. Mehmet Tohti
V The Chair

1220
V Hon. Irwin Cotler
V The Chair
V Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire

1225
V The Chair
V Mr. Ted Menzies
V The Chair
V Hon. Irwin Cotler
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V Hon. Irwin Cotler
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson
V The Chair
V Mr. Wayne Marston
V The Chair
V Mr. Wayne Marston
V Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire
V The Chair
V Mr. Ted Menzies
V The Chair
V Mr. Kevin Sorenson

1230
V Hon. Irwin Cotler
V The Chair









CANADA

Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
NUMBER 008
l
1st SESSION
l
39th PARLIAMENT
EVIDENCE
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

* * *

+ (1110)

[English]
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The Chair (Mr. Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, CPC)):
Colleagues, this morning we resume the study of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights on the Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs and International Development with respect to our study of the Canada-China bilateral dialogue.

We have with us the very distinct honour of a special witness in Madam Rebiya Kadeer, who is president of the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation and I believe also now newly elected as president of the World Uyghur Congress. Ms. Kadeer will have an opportunity to make a presentation. She is generally regarded as the leader of the Uyghur people.

It is a particular honour for us to have you here, Madam Kadeer.

Joining Madam Kadeer at the table is Mr. Mehmet Tohti, who is president of the Canadian Uyghur Association. Madam Kadeer's statement is being distributed in its writing, but it will be translated by her translator.

Please go ahead.

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (President, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation) (Interpretation):
First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Jason Kenny for organizing this hearing today.

Also, I would like to express my special gratitude for all those interested parties who are here, who care for the human rights of the Uyghur people, and it is my really great pleasure to come here today to explain to you the human rights violations the Uyghur people are facing in China.

We are the Uyghur people. We are not Chinese. The Chinese government occupied our homeland in 1949, and after that the Chinese government changed our homeland's name from East Turkestan into Xinjiang. We are an autonomous region. Xinjiang means new territory in Chinese.

Our territory is nearly two million square kilometres in size. The fate of the Uyghur people is very similar to the fate of the Tibetans. We are both under Chinese rule, but because the Chinese have covered up our situation, we haven't been able to raise the case of the Uyghur people's human rights violations in the world as successfully as our Tibetan brothers.

Because of interpretation and language issues, now I'm going to turn to my interpreter, who is going to read my full statement for you. Before my interpreter reads the statement, I would like to express my greatest appreciation to the people and the Government of Canada for raising the case of the Uyghur people and even helping gain my release from a dark Chinese prison.

So thank you.

Statement of Ms. Rebiya Kadeer: Ladies and gentlemen of the parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights, thank you so much for inviting me here today to speak about the human rights situation being faced by the Uyghur people in our homeland, East Turkestan, a land that has been under China's administration since 1949 and that has since been renamed the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

This is the first time I have been to Canada, and I'd like to take a moment to tell you what an honour and what a pleasure it is for me to be here. I hope you are aware that all over the world, the word “Canada” invokes in the minds of people, both free and oppressed, an image of a thriving, democratic, peaceful land where the rights and identity of all people are respected and protected. This is an extraordinary achievement on your part and one that I'm sure you as Canadian parliamentarians and citizens are rightly proud.

Personally, during my short stay here, I have already been struck by how well this multi-ethnic, multilingual, multicultural society functions. This society is of course founded on the ideals of respecting and protecting the individual's rights and identity, ideals that are sustained and nurtured by Canada's transparent and inclusive institutions.

The Uyghur people also come from a tradition of a multi-ethnic, multilingual, multicultural society. The government of the first East Turkestan republic, founded in 1933, included people of Uyghur, Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kyrgys ethnicity, even though the population of East Turkestan was overwhelmingly Uyghur. The first East Turkestan republic was the first democratic Muslim republic in the world at that time outside Turkey and was defined by that crucial feature of any healthy democracy: when a majority rules, a minority is still safe and included. During the time of the first East Turkestan Republic, even the tiniest population was embraced into broader society.

+ -(1115)

Ladies and gentlemen of the subcommittee, I am reluctant to define and describe people solely in terms of their race and ethnicity. However, this is the way I was brought up and how all Uyghurs, for two generations and counting, have been brought up. This is how we have been taught to understand our world.

We are Uyghurs. Therefore, we are second-class citizens in our own homeland, East Turkestan. They are Han Chinese. They run the government. Therefore, they have the better jobs, better schools, better clinics, and most of all, better lives. If you go to East Turkestan today, you will see for yourself, as clear as night and day, that the Han have, and the Uyghurs have not.

One of the first messages a Uyghur child learns is that Uyghurs are an ethnic minority and that the Han Chinese are the majority, even in those few places in the southern part of our homeland where Uyghurs still constitute over 90% of the population. A Uyghur child learns from a very young age that the Uyghur language is inferior to the Chinese language. Uyghur history is taught as a footnote to the longer and richer history of China. Uyghur culture is weak and in need of so-called Chinese protection. Look at the destruction wreaked on China's own culture, never mind the culture of Uyghurs and the Tibetans. Would you, as Canadians, want to have Canada's culture protected by China?

The Uyghur people are even expected to be eternally grateful that they are protected from themselves by the benevolence of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. In other words, our so-called minority ethnic status, and all the baggage of inferiority that comes with it, has been assigned to us by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government.

We reject that status. We reject the identity that the Chinese government has assigned to us. We unapologetically reject the role of being merely child-like innocents who express our naive gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party by wearing gaudy costumes, singing songs, and dancing on the tables at banquets for the entertainment of our Chinese masters.

That is the root of the problem. We reject what the Chinese authorities want us to be. The Chinese political system is completely unable and unwilling to accommodate us as a result. That was the Chinese government's problem with me personally. I played the system in China, and I became the seventh wealthiest person in the whole of the People's Republic of China. I was a member of China's so-called Parliament. I was a senior government adviser. But as soon as I stopped playing the Chinese game, and as soon as I started to use my wealth and influence to offer help to the Uyghur people--help that was not forthcoming from the Chinese authorities--my rapid downfall began.

As I am sure you all know, I was sent to prison on trumped-up political charges. Now the legacy continues with one of my sons, who was sent to prison a couple of weeks ago for seven years, also on trumped-up charges. Another son is due to be tried soon on charges of subversion, which could mean a lifetime in prison for him. We have it on good authority that he has been severely beaten in detention. Trial proceedings against him will probably be delayed until he has recovered.

Uyghurs who insist on being Uyghurs are dissidents in Beijing's eyes. We are subversives or separatists, even terrorists, as far as Beijing is concerned. We are treated with extreme prejudice by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. We are not Chinese Muslims, as the western press often describes us, and we are not Chinese Uyghurs, as the Chinese press often describes us. We are simply Uyghurs.

It is our rejection of China's version of the Uyghur people that has been the cause of the catalogue of human rights abuses against us. These abuses are only now starting to be systematically documented.

The second East Turkestan Republic, which lasted from 1945 until 1949, was the last time the Uyghur people could speak, pray, socialize, and simply exist as they saw fit in their ancestral homeland. Since 1949, the Chinese government has tried everything to eliminate our culture.

+ -(1120)

Ladies and gentlemen of the subcommittee, I'm aware that saying the Chinese government is trying to eliminate Uyghur culture can seem overly emotive, and that I run the risk of being accused of exaggeration; however, the evidence is compelling. I need not repeat that evidence here for the benefit of the subcommittee. Your are no doubt fully aware of the scale and nature of the rights violations being perpetrated against the Uyghur people; otherwise, I would not be here today.

The main purpose of being here today is to discuss what can be done by the Canadian government to help improve the human rights situation faced by the Uyghur people.

Ladies and gentlemen of the subcommittee, the Uyghur people are already heavily indebted to the Canadian government for the recognition and support you have given us. There is a large and thriving Uyghur community here in Canada--Uyghur people who have fled oppression at home, who were offered and accepted sanctuary here, and who today are among the proudest new citizens of this great nation.

That naturally brings us to the case of Huseyin Celil, the Canadian Uyghur currently in Chinese detention. I have no suggestions for how the Canadian government could handle his case better and with more integrity than it is already doing. The Chinese government's treatment of Mr. Celil and the Chinese government's decision to ignore or flout diplomatic protocol and standards in his case are quite typical of the Chinese government's reaction to being legitimately challenged on its human rights record.

The best recommendation we have in this case is for the Canadian government to keep pressing China for consular access to Mr. Celil, which would be the first step toward reviewing the fake charges against him and, hopefully, securing his release back to his young family here in Canada as soon as possible.

On the back of the Huseyin Celil case, we would recommend that Canada should make the human rights of the Uyghur people a top priority in its bilateral relations with the People's Republic of China. Canada's voice is uniquely authoritative in the field of human rights. The Uyghur people's plight is unique in that it not only encompasses the whole spectrum of human rights violations perpetrated against all vulnerable groups in the People's Republic of China, but also has a fundamental bearing on the stability of the entire Central Asian region.

To that end, we also recommend that the Canadian government do what it can to help champion and broker discussions between the Chinese government and the World Uyghur Congress to discuss how best to address and resolve the problems of growing Uyghur despair and discontent in our homeland, East Turkestan.

We would recommend that CIDA continue its invaluable work with HIV/AIDS and environmental projects in particular in East Turkestan, with a possible view to increasing funding for HIV/AIDS projects in response to recent reports of a surge in HIV infections in East Turkestan.

With such a large Uyghur community in Canada, we recommend that funding or other forms of assistance be offered to our sole organization here, the Uyghur Canadian Association, so that the UCA can be an effective and responsible partner to the Canadian government in its ongoing work with Uyghur asylees and its humanitarian projects in East Turkestan.

We would also recommend that the Canadian government send, possibly, a fact-finding mission to East Turkestan with a special focus on the human rights situation of the Uyghur people. The findings of this mission, depending on the levels of access and the contact permitted by the Chinese authorities, could be included as a matter of course in governmental and commercial communications with Chinese interlocutors by representatives of Canada.

We would recommend that Canada offer asylum to any Uyghurs who are cleared for release from the U.S. naval detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

We would also recommend--I would personally plead--that the Canadian government do absolutely everything in its power to ensure the false charges against my sons are dropped and that they are released immediately and unconditionally.

+ -(1125)

Ladies and gentlemen of the subcommittee, thank you so much for the opportunity to come here today and to submit these recommendations. Thank you all for attending this hearing today.

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The Chair:
Thank you.

Before we begin with questions, I'd like to take care of a couple of things. First of all, it was my intention when we originally discussed this to have Mr. Tohti as a witness. He didn't end up on the witness list. He was originally a witness in an earlier hearing and we decided to move him to this hearing, so he could appear with Mrs. Kadeer.

I won't ask you, Mehmet, to make a statement.

If any of the committee members have questions about the Canada-China dialogue, I think Mr. Tohti, who is a signatory of the letter to the Prime Minister, will be well suited to respond to that issue.

Secondly, I'd like to acknowledge the presence in the gallery of Kamila Celil, Mr. Huseyin Celil's wife.

Welcome to Ottawa and welcome to the committee. We wish your husband well.

Thirdly, we began almost 20 minutes late. We had initially scheduled for this to be only a one-hour meeting, but I'd like the committee's support in perhaps some extension of time, so that we all have a chance to get to questions. As well, there is, under committee business, a notice of motion.

We will begin with Mr. Cotler and our question period.

+ -(1130)
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Hon. Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal, Lib.):
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like as well to welcome you, Ms. Kadeer, to this committee today. You are here, as has elsewhere been described and what has appropriately been described, as the mother of the Uyghur nation. As someone who has followed your case and cause, I want to state as well that I regret your own personal ordeal of imprisonment and that now of your two sons.

As you summed it up by way of analogy, your fate is very similar to that of the Tibetan people, though I believe the condition and the fate of the Uyghur nation is not as well known, and we have to raise awareness of the situation of the Uyghur people.

I must say that you've been an excellent witness. You've actually made some very specific recommendations as to what this committee can do--for example, to press China for consular access to Mr. Celil, to put the whole question of the Uyghur people and the human rights of the Uyghur people on the agenda of Canada-China bilateral relations; to have the Chinese government enter into discussions with the World Uyghur Congress; the CIDA work; a fact-finding mission that we should be sending; and that the false charges be dropped against your sons. I think you've given us a very good inventory of what we need to do.

Let me ask one question. Perhaps you might elaborate upon it.

I know that our chairman, Mr. Kenney, has been very active, among others--singularly active--in terms of trying to seek the release of Mr. Celil. Is there anything in particular that you wish to recommend that this committee might be able to do in that regard in support of Mr. Kenney's work in this matter?

next intervention previous intervention

Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Normally, the response of the Chinese government to a soft approach is to listen to Canadian or foreign concerns, just pat their shoulders, just smile, be nice, let the time go by so that they can waste as much time as possible. That's usually the Chinese approach to foreign inquiries.

For example, one good thing the members of the U.S. Congress did on behalf of my children was that some 72 U.S. congressmen and women signed a letter and specifically sent it to the Chinese President Hu Jintao. That put a lot of pressure on the president, so it helped to gain the release of my two children.

I believe that if the members of the Canadian Parliament could also draft and sign a letter sent specifically to Chinese President Hu Jintao asking him to release Mr. Celil, it would play a big role. The Canadian government should not be soft on the case of Mr. Celil, because otherwise the Chinese government will not take Canada seriously.

It seems the Chinese government has been using trade as a weapon to threaten other nations so that other nations bend their knees to Chinese demands. Actually, the big western trading partners, countries like Canada, should not bend their knees because of trade, because the Chinese government has more to lose if there is any kind of trade problem than Canada or any other country. So the Canadian government or other countries should not be too worried about China's trade threat, but instead should press forward.

Thank you.

+ -(1135)
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The Chair:
Madam St-Hilaire.

[Translation]
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Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire (Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, BQ):
Thank you, Madam President, for joining us here this morning.

I have to say that this is basically the first time since we began our hearings that we've been given a clear, concise overview of the situation. I want to thank you for that. I think you were spot on when you said the Chinese government's approach to everything is to just smile. That's an image that constantly flashes through my mind.

My colleague aptly summarized the situation. I would like you to give us a clearer, more direct mandate. I understand that you'll be meeting later with Prime Minister Harper. I can't say what the outcome of this meeting will be. Perhaps it will be a private, or a semi-private meeting. I really don't know. After the meeting, I'd like you to report back to Mr. Kenney so that in turn he can ask the subcommittee to take up your cause and be your voice. I would like us to take up your cause if Mr. Harper is reluctant to take the steps you want him to take. As a subcommittee, perhaps we can do something more, if Mr. Harper chooses not to call for Mr. Celil's release. That's basically what I wanted to ask you.

Welcome to Canada and good luck. The Quebec nation is firmly behind you.

[English]
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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Thank you very much for what you suggest.

Of course, raising the case of Mr. Huseyin Celil, and not just raising it but demanding that the Chinese government release him immediately and unconditionally, is critical; otherwise the Chinese government can do anything in its prison and may even just torture him to death. It's going to be really terrible if he's tortured or just dies in prison.

Mr. Huseyin Celil is a Canadian citizen, so the Canadian government should absolutely demand his immediate and unconditional release from Chinese custody.

+ -(1140)
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Ms. Caroline St-Hilaire:
Thank you.

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The Chair:
Because the interpretation is taking additional time and because we might have to deal with further committee business that could be a complex question, I'm going to decide to extend, if necessary, to 12:30. Because people have adjusted their schedules to finish at 12, we'll try to stick to that as much as possible, but we also have this interpretation issue.

I forgot to mention at the top, as well, that I'd like to invite members of the committee to a reception that I'll be hosting in honour of Madame Kadeer this evening, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the East Block.

Mr. Menzies.

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Mr. Ted Menzies (Macleod, CPC):
I'll start off. Thank you.

First of all, thank you so much for coming and sharing this most enlightening information with us. We do appreciate that.

Just so you know, on the topic of Mr. Celil, our government—and I'm sure this is shared with all of our colleagues—raises this issue whenever we have an opportunity.

I met with a member of Parliament from China, not this last weekend but the weekend before, and I once again raised the issue. I said it's very concerning for us to have a Canadian citizen in a jail in China.

Your comments about CIDA interested me. Can you tell me what CIDA, our Canadian International Development Agency, is doing in your country and what they're able to accomplish? Hopefully we are accomplishing some things. You spoke about HIV and AIDS. Can you share with us what some of the concerns are, what we may do better?

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The Chair:
Mr. Tohti, I thought you might be better positioned to answer that question.

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Mr. Mehmet Tohti (President, Uyghur Canadian Association):
Yes, I probably know more than she does, because in six years as the president of the Uyghur Canadian Association, I have been closely involved in the CIDA project. I sent some recommendations to them.

First, they started a project in the southern part of East Turkestan, which is called the Hoten region. Most of the majority are Uyghurs and are very poor people. CIDA initiated a project there, a poverty reduction program, for three or four years. Unfortunately, the program has expired or ended. I received many letters and phone calls from people in Hoten when Canada recalled the poverty reduction program.

As you can see in a lot of information from Amnesty International or in U.S. congressional reports, there is economic discrimination in the region. A CBC journalist, Mr. Anthony Germain, also recently reported from there.

There are no Uyghurs working in industry. There are no Uyghurs in oil and other industrial factories. All of them are employed by the Chinese. Uyghurs are very poor. They are discriminated against. Therefore, nearly 70% of Uyghurs are unemployed.

It is the main reason to continue the poverty reduction program. If you expand it not only in Hoten but, at the same time, in Kashgar and some other regions, first, it would help the local people to start up businesses, and secondly, it would send a strong message to the Chinese government that they're not taking care of their own citizens and are discriminating against them.

I believe the program should continue. That's one suggestion.

The second one is this. For a couple of years, as the Chinese government did in the SARS epidemic, the Chinese government covered up the HIV situation in the Uyghur region. Unfortunately, East Turkestan has now become the crossroads for drug traffickers from the Chinese Golden Triangle to Central Asia and Eurasia. The famous scenic road has now become a drug road. At the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, unfortunately, there are also drugs traffickers from that region, because it is the closest land road to enter into the Kashgar region.

It's the reason HIV is now the biggest problem, or the second biggest problem. Yunan is the number one problem for China, and East Turkestan is the number two problem.

People do not have the economic power to buy drugs. Because of some of the social customs or traditions among the Uyghurs, the biggest problem is that there's a stigma, if I can describe it that way. People are not free to go to the clinic because they are ashamed or afraid.

I made one more suggestion to CIDA to open one clinic, do some checkups, and prevent the further spread of this terrible disease. We should work on this area, because the Chinese government is ignoring the problem.

Recently, last week, the Xinhua News Agency, the official Chinese news agency, said that 17 Uyghurs are infected with HIV every day. It is a huge number.

+ -(1145)
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The Chair:
You may want to come back on the second round, but go ahead, if you want to.

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC):
Very quickly, I have about two or three questions.

I want to thank you for coming.

I have certainly had the opportunity to bring up the Celil case as well, and I have done so. I know this government is committed to bringing forward those issues at every possible opportunity.

The first question is this. What are other countries doing that we could learn from? Canada has taken a stand. We brought forward some cases of human rights violations. You referenced the United States and the human rights bill they brought forward. What are some of the other countries doing specific to the Uyghur people that we could learn from?

What are your views on the new Human Rights Council and on Canadian action that we could perhaps take via this United Nations forum?

The third question is specific to what Mr. Menzies asked. Does CIDA have the ability to direct programming and funds to the Uyghur people, or does it get all passed and vetted through the Chinese government?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
In the case of the United States, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Congress are quite concerned with the case of the Uyghur people. And also, a lot of human rights organizations, certainly in the U.S., have been raising the case of the Uyghur issue together with the case of the Tibetans, so it's pretty high level.

In addition to that, the National Endowment for Democracy, an organization funded by the U.S. Congress, has been funding our organizations. Currently we have three organizations being funded by that organization.

The European Union countries all have been very interested in raising the Uyghur issues, including the members of the European Parliament and British government officials, Sweden, and all the other countries there are raising the Uyghur case as a high-profile case.

We have been raising the case of Huseyin Celil with the other countries as well. We also urge them to raise the case of Huseyin Celil and of my sons' arrest and detention together, so they can raise it directly with the Chinese government to put more pressure on them.

One of our goals is to urge the Canadian Parliament, if that can be done, to introduce a bill to specifically protect human rights and the culture of the Uyghur people.

This time, during my trip to the European Parliament and after meeting with high-level European Parliament officials, they said they were also interested in introducing such a bill.

Another thing that can be done on behalf of the Uyghur people is to fund Uyghur organizations, such as the Uyghur Canadian Association of which Mehmet is president, to be locally active. He could provide you with the latest information, so the Canadian government will be more proactive by getting timely information.

If the Canadian government can give some funding to the Uyghur association here, so the Uyghur association can work professionally toward promotion of the human rights of the Uyghur people, that's going to really help in many ways. Otherwise, for example, the president of the UCA is currently working part-time. Although he has done everything in his power to raise the cases, that is really not enough.

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In terms of CIDA's aid and funds, if CIDA directly transfers funds to the Chinese government, then the Uyghur people will never see those funds. It would be much better if CIDA directly opened clinics or hospitals or test centres that could treat AIDS patients instead of just giving money to the Chinese government and letting them do the job. CIDA should also send their own team to supervise and monitor the process.

As well, millions of Uyghur people who fled from Chinese persecution are living in Central Asia. They need protection, and they probably also need refugee resettlement. The Canadian government could help with that.

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The Chair:
Before we go to the next question, Madam Kadeer mentioned the UCA. I believe that's the Uyghur Congress of America?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
The Uyghur Canadian Association.

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The Chair:
The Uyghur Canadian Association, excuse me.

I don't think Madam Kadeer said this in her statement, but I think it's worth noting that one of her sons was convicted and given a seven-year sentence two weeks ago--the very same day she was elected president of the World Uyghur Congress. Is that correct?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Yes.

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The Chair:
As well, Madam Kadeer didn't say this exactly, but I believe it's also true that her six-year sentence, or what ended up being limited to a six-year sentence, was for engaging in espionage, which consisted of sending in the mail publicly available newspaper articles to her husband in the United States. Is that correct?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Yes, that's correct.

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The Chair:
Thank you.

Mr. Marston.

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Mr. Wayne Marston (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, NDP):
First of all, I want to say that I feel honoured by your presence here today.

Because of our parliamentary style of democracy here, you will find that oftentimes in our discussions we don't agree with members of the government, even though their interest here in particularly Mr. Celil's case is certainly commendable. One thing I'm very concerned about is ethical trade. Human rights should take a priority at all times.

I've been calling for a special envoy, a parliamentary delegation perhaps, to go to China to take up Mr. Celil's case. Would you see that as being effective?

I would add this: thank you for joining the many voices who have said that we need to push harder at China on the issue of human rights.

As well, you mentioned Guantanamo. How many combatants from your area would be down there?

To Mr. Tohti, I have a question around the dialogue we're looking at. What would you call the main failure of the dialogue?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
First of all, thank you very much for your questions and for your concern with regard to Mr. Celil's case. For me it's very important that Canada puts human rights before trade, because that could really help improve the human rights situation for Uyghurs and in China overall.

You suggest that perhaps a parliamentary delegation should visit China's prisons and other places to find out more about Mr. Celil's case and about the cases of people like him. That would really help with our case, and it would definitely help with the release of Mr. Celil and of people like him, those who are imprisoned for doing absolutely nothing.

In terms of the Uyghurs at Guantanamo, there are different attorneys working on different cases. Initially, for the first five, there was another attorney who worked on their cases. He's still working on the cases of the rest of the Uyghurs there.

There are attorneys working very hard on these cases. Our impression is that they may be released very soon. And if they are released, not as enemy combatants but rather as innocents, I would be really delighted if Canada could give them refuge.

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Mr. Mehmet Tohti:
The Canada–China human rights dialogue is the topic I love the most, because of six years of non-stop fighting with the Department of Foreign Affairs, with my friend Tenzin Khangsar. Each year before the dialogue starts, or after the dialogue, or before the UN human rights conference in Geneva starts, I have been invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs for a consultation meeting. I was a member of this consultation meeting on behalf of International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation.

There are a couple of reasons for the failure. One is lack of understanding of tricky Chinese diplomatic policy. The Chinese foreign policy is based upon one Asian theory: to hang out the head of the sheep and sell the meat of the dog. Put a different label on something and do a different thing behind the table. That is traditional Chinese foreign policy. Talking from different mouths ends up with different sounds.

It is the same case in North Korea--six-party talks, teaching North Korea how to act. Then after the dialogue ends, teach other tactics, because China is the only country that wants this crisis. It is the only country that doesn't want a solution for North Korea. It has to be continued so that western countries need China. It is the same policy.

The second main reason for the failure was that Canada acted very softly. Until 1997 we used to sponsor the resolution at the United Nations conference in Geneva condemning Chinese human rights abuses. Then the Chinese diplomats came to us and said, “Do not support this resolution. Let's have a dialogue.” Canada agreed. In the second phase, the Chinese diplomats said, “If you'd like to have a dialogue with us, let's keep it closed-door, without going public.” Canada agreed. In the third phase, the Chinese diplomats said, “We would like to improve our judicial system and the police forces. We would like to reform our detention facilities, but we don't have the money. We have money to send a manned mission to space and expand our military, but we do not have money to improve the quality of our citizens.” Canada said, “Okay, let's provide the money.” So Canada was the order taker; China was the order giver. That was not a dialogue. A dialogue is between two parties. It was a monologue.

The Chinese government assigned four or five diplomats whose primary job was to find answers to the possible questions raised by Canadians. “For Tibetans, okay, we are doing well.” If Canada raised the issue of the Panchen Lama: “Okay, he doesn't want to see anyone. He's okay. He's very good.” If Canada raised the issue of the Falun Gong: “It's an evil cult.” The answers were ready. And as for Uyghurs: “Ah, they are terrorists”. It continued for seven years. We spent a lot of resources on it.

That is a brief picture of the dialogue. It ended up that the four or five Chinese diplomats never passed the messages from Canada to upper-level policy-makers. They didn't know. It was just the job of five people to prepare the answers to possible questions. It was not a dialogue. The Chinese government never implemented any suggestions or took any of Canada's suggestions seriously. It was a waste of resources, money, and everything.

Therefore, if there is a dialogue, there should be a mission accomplished. There should be a clear, step-by-step, case-by-case strategy on what we are going to achieve. The Chinese government should know that if we are going to raise the issue of Tibetans, in what timeframe are they going to achieve something? If we raise the Uyghur issue, what is the timetable? What are the steps? What are the obstacles? How can we overcome it? There should be a clear strategy.

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Secondly, there should be accountability. That is important. All the bureaucrats at the Department of Foreign Affairs conduct talks with the Chinese government, but the Canadian public doesn't know what is going on, what is said by the Chinese, and what the response of the Canadians is, what it has to do with development. We don't know. So on the format of the China–Canada human rights dialogue, as we've said for five or six years, it is a waste of time. We've wasted a lot of time and a lot of resources. It has to be reformatted.

You have to tell the Chinese government that if they would like to have a human rights dialogue, it has to be a dialogue between governments, not with four or five people. The mandate of the dialogue and the agenda for the dialogue should be part of the Chinese government's official policy. The recommendations should be implemented. There should be follow-ups.

I have a lot of things to say about the dialogue because I'm the one who is frustrated. Imagine repeating the same things for six years. I thank the Canadian Parliament and I thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the first time the Canadian Parliament has acted. At least I feel that Canadians today have listened.

I love Canada. I am Canadian--proudly Canadian. I want this relationship to be a better relationship, with mutual respect, not humiliation.

Thank you.

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Although I'm still not yet a U.S. citizen, it was the United States' firm, hard-line pressure on China that got my release. As you probably know, the Chinese government accused me of being a terrorist, and not only of espionage or anything like that. China released me after the United States took a very strong stand on my case, saying, “You have to release her.” Then I was released.

I'm really proud of what the Prime Minister said regarding putting human rights first and trade behind—not trade first, but human rights first. That really means a lot to the Uyghur people and all the oppressed people.

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The Chair:
Thank you very much.

Mr. Tohti in particular, I found that to be one of the most useful encapsulations of the issue that we've heard from any of our witnesses. I would like to invite you to perhaps summarize some of those points in writing and submit them to committee. I think it would be quite fruitful as we prepare our report.

For a five-minute round, we go to Mr. Sorenson.

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson:
I have two quick questions.

You mentioned that there are 17 Uyghur people in the naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. What are they there for?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
In 1997 there was a big massacre. To us, it was more like a June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre. It happened in the city of Ghulja, which is very close to the Central Asian borders, and a lot of Uyghurs were executed. It was a peaceful protest, but the Chinese government cracked down on that protest very hard.

After 1997, the Chinese government also executed a lot of Uyghur people. As a result, a lot of Uyghurs fled to Central Asian countries. Because they couldn't return—if they got deported, they would be executed—some of them fled to countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. A lot of them were actually later picked up by Pakistani bounty hunters, because the U.S. paid money for picking up people. These people were picked up and given to the Americans, then the Americans brought them to Guantanamo Bay.

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson:
But were they fighting with al-Qaeda?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
No, they were not fighting with al-Qaeda.

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson:
I got that. I don't understand the language, but I understood that.

I have one other quick question, Mr. Chair.

In the material that you gave us—and I appreciate it—you talk a lot about the Uyghur culture being weak and in need of protection. You speak quite a bit about culture. You talk about how the Chinese government would like to get rid of the Uyghur culture, and you realize that stating “the Chinese government is trying to eliminate Uyghur culture’ can seem overly emotive, and that I run the risk of being accused of exaggeration”, but that's what they're doing. Can you define for me the Uyghur culture?

Take religion. I don't know much about the Celil case, but I do know what is of concern to Canadians. First of all, he's a Canadian citizen. Secondly, he was sent to China and he's being held. He hasn't been given consular services. All those things go against the values that we have here in Canada. But on religious freedom, is it a religion? Is it religious freedom that is not being protected? What could the Chinese government do to protect the culture of Uyghur people? Religious freedom is one of the issues that I'd like you to speak about.

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
The Uyghur people have a completely separate set of cultural, historical, religious, and value systems when compared to the Chinese. Even our territory and way of life are completely different from those of the Chinese.

When the Chinese government actually gave us so-called autonomy, the Chinese government promised to respect our human rights, our culture, our language, and our religion. But now, after China's rise, with it becoming this emerging superpower, our language is becoming completely useless right now in terms of education at all levels, because the Chinese government is forcing the Chinese language onto us.

In terms of religion, we believe in Islam. Basically, the Chinese government, after 9/11, immediately labelled us as terrorists. In fact, you see hardly anything that resembles terrorism among the Uyghurs.

As you all know, religion plays a big role in helping the people to keep their morality, in giving them true values. If you visit our homeland today, you will see beautiful mosques and you will even see people praying inside. That's what the Chinese government is basically showcasing, so that foreign delegation people will come and see that.

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Mr. Kevin Sorenson:
That is my point.

One of the recommendations is that you want us to go on a fact-finding mission: “We...recommend that the Canadian government send a fact-finding mission to East Turkestan”. What are we going to see when they get there? When we get there, we're going to see what the Chinese government wants us to see.

The Uyghur people aren't a pluralistic society either. They're a fairly closed Islamic society. Are other religions free in this area? Do you believe in religious pluralism?

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Ms. Rebiya Kadeer (Interpretation):
Of course, the Chinese government will do everything to ensure you see what they want you to see. The thing is, if you go inside the mosques, they post regulations on the walls specifically saying minors cannot be allowed, that preaching is, for example, for 30 minutes, and they only use their own imams and mullahs trained by the government, not the individual clerics who train elsewhere. In all of those regulations, if you read them, all those imams and mullahs are supposed to strictly follow government guidelines in terms of their clerical activities.

If you just go to mosques and see people praying and try to talk to a Uyghur, and you tap on his or her shoulder and ask them what religious freedom is, or things like that, you can see the fear on their face. But when they say things, they would say they have their religious freedom and are living their best lives under Chinese rule.

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The Chair:
Thank you very much.

We're over our time. I would invite members of the committee again to attend a special reception this evening from 6 to 8 o'clock in the East Block, if they have further questions for Ms. Kadeer.

Madam Kadeer, Mr. Tohti, and your interpreter, thank you very much for your time and your visit to Ottawa.

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Mr. Mehmet Tohti:
I have just one more request. I gave Mr. Kenney the Chinese number seven secret document. Please read that document, and you'll find the answer about religious freedom.

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The Chair:
We'll have this translated and distributed to the committee.

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Mr. Mehmet Tohti:
Yes, and also there is one paragraph to answer a question about whether or not there are Chinese spies in Canada. There is one paragraph; you just have to read it. It is a very clear mission set by the Chinese government on how to conduct, how to be involved with the Chinese communities, how to train them, how to get the information. There is a signature on that document; it was chaired by Jiang Zemin, the Chinese president. There is the Chinese president's signature. That document was just leaked by Ms. Rebiya Kadeer.

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The Chair:
Thank you again.

Thank you. We're adjourned.


http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?COM=10945&SourceId=188498&SwitchLanguage=1

Celil Granted Access To Lawyer

Celil Granted Access To Lawyer
Wednesday June 13, 2007

The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) welcomed news reports that jailed Canadian Huseyin Celil has finally been allowed to meet with his lawyer in China.

TORONTO. The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) welcomed news reports that jailed Canadian Huseyin Celil has finally been allowed to meet with his lawyer in China. Mr. Celil of Burlington, Ontario, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced back in April to life in prison by a Chinese court. Since his arrest last year, Mr. Celil has been denied Canadian consular services as China refuses to recognize his Canadian citizenship. CCNC maintains its position that the plight of Huseyin Celil has far-reaching implications for naturalized Canadians of Chinese origin who travel to China or to surrounding nations where they may face the threat of arrest, imprisonment or deportation to China and no access to consular services.

“We are encouraged by this new development,” Colleen Hua, CCNC National President said today. “We know that Prime Minister Harper, former Prime Minister Martin, Foreign Minister Peter MacKay and many other Ministers and MPs have raised this case with Chinese officials and insisted that Mr. Celil’s rights as a Canadian, be recognized.”

“We urge the Canadian Government to continue to press for full consular access to Mr. Celil including proper legal assistance and medical personnel to check on Mr. Celil’s health and well-being.”

CCNC is a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more just, respectful, and inclusive society. CCNC is a national non-profit organization with 27 chapters across Canada with a mandate to promote the equality rights and full participation of our community members in all aspects of Canadian society.

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For more information, please contact Victor Wong at (416) 977-9871.

End



CANADIAN DETAINED
Celil granted access to lawyer in jail after Martin visit with Chinese PM

OMAR EL AKKAD

June 6, 2007

Jailed Canadian activist Huseyin Celil has finally been allowed to meet with his lawyer, more than a month after a Chinese court sentenced him to life in prison for terrorism-related offences.

Mr. Celil met with his hired Chinese lawyer last Thursday and Friday, according to the Uyghur Canadian Association. Each meeting lasted about two hours, marking a dramatic shift in the amount of access China allows to Mr. Celil.

Previously, neither his Chinese lawyer nor Canadian embassy officials were allowed to meet the prisoner.

Indeed, embassy officials were barred from entering the courtroom when his sentence was handed down in April.

Mr. Celil was represented by another court-appointed lawyer during his trial. His current lawyer was hired by relatives and supporters to work on his appeal.

Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association, said Mr. Celil's Chinese lawyer was given assurances after his first two meetings that he would be granted consistent access to his client.

That's a sharp change from a little more than a month ago, when Mr. Celil's lawyer asked the jailed Canadian's family to deny his involvement in the case, for fear of potential retribution from the Chinese authorities.

Last month, former prime minister Paul Martin visited China to attend the African Development Bank's annual meeting. He serves as an adviser to the organization.

During his time in the country, Mr. Martin met with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao for 35 minutes, where he raised Mr. Celil's case and repeated the Conservative government's demand that the imprisoned Canadian be given consular access. Yesterday, Mr. Tohti said the newly relaxed restrictions on Mr. Celil's access to lawyers is likely a sign that Mr. Martin's meeting and the current government's tough stand on the issue are working.

According to Mr. Tohti, the meetings between Mr. Celil and his lawyer included two other people: a translator and a representative of China's secret police.

Mr. Celil looked to be in good health, Mr. Tohti said, but it was unclear how honest he was able to be about certain topics, due to the police representative at the meeting.

Mr. Celil is an ethnic Uyghur, a Muslim minority group that resides primarily in the Xinjiang region of northwest China.

He was arrested in Uzbekistan and handed over to China more than a year ago. He was travelling on a Canadian passport at the time of his arrest.

Chinese authorities have labelled Mr. Celil a terrorist, and charged him with engaging in violent separatist activities.

His case has strained relations between China and Ottawa, as government officials in Canada continued to protest against his detention without consular access. Human-rights groups have also expressed concerns that Mr. Celil has been tortured during his time in Chinese custody.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070606.CELIL06/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/