Day: February 13, 2022

Cambodian activist Sam Sokha was released Feb. 9 after serving a four-year prison term for throwing her shoe at a poster of Prime Minister Hun Sen and sharing it on social media. But the court threatened to jail the former factory worker and opposition supporter for another six months unless she paid a fine of 10 million riels (US $2,460) within a day. Sam Sokha went into debt to avoid going back to jail, while a video of her 2017 shoe toss received fresh attention on social media.

A quarter century after Chinese security forces in the western Xinjiang city of Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) turned their guns on Uyghur youths protesting for an end to religious repression and ethnic discrimination, victims and supporters are pressing for an international investigation and for accountability for those behind the bloodshed. The Ghulja Massacre of February 1997, which claimed some 200 lives, is now seen as a harbinger of the even greater persecution that the mostly Muslim ethnic minority has endured since.

On a cold winter day 25 years ago, young Uyghurs in the western Chinese city of Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) staged a protest to call for an end to religious repression and ethnic discrimination.

The events of that day would instead come to be known as the Ghulja Massacre of 1997, an incident that Uyghurs now look upon as a harbinger of an even greater level of persecution and violence against the largely Muslim community in China that has unfolded in stages since then.

As many as 200 hundred people may have been killed in the massacre — one report said thousands may have died — but it received little international attention at the time.

As much of the world’s attention is drawn to China for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Uyghurs are using the anniversary of Ghulja to press for an international investigation into what transpired that day and to seek accountability for those behind the bloodshed.

“Twenty-five years ago, the Ghulja Massacre was exemplary of the treatment of the Uyghur people by the Chinese authorities and its crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), in a statement issued Feb. 4. “Now, the Chinese government’s genocidal policies are ensuring to prevent the Uyghur people from ever speaking out again.”

Today, nearly 2 million Uyghurs are thought to have been sent to mass internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by a government desperately trying to maintain control of an ethnically and religiously diverse population.

On Feb. 5, 1997, the crowd had gathered to protest a prohibition of Uyghur social gatherings known as meshrep, a celebration of the community’s culture and traditions.

But the protesters were met by Chinese security and armed forces who used water cannons to disperse the crowd. When that didn’t work, they then used their guns, according to witnesses.

The Chinese government at the time claimed that only 10 people died during the protest. Its official organ called the protestors “insurgents.”

But Uyghur organizations and international rights groups later said at least 200 demonstrators were killed. Thousands of others were arrested.

Gaining the upper hand

China has continued to hunt down Uyghurs connected to the incident. Many arrested for participating in the protest and in other demonstrations ended up in China’s “re-education” camps — what Uyghurs say are concentration camps.

China began its mass internment campaign in the region in 2017. An estimated 1.8 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are believed to have been detained in an extensive network of hundreds of camps since then.

Witness testimonies and investigative reports have since alleged that the Chinese government has tortured detainees, sterilized Uyghur women, and conscripted Uyghurs for work in factories.

A year before the Ghulja Massacre, the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo issued the “No. 7 Document” outlining measures to prevent the rise of religious and ethnic extremism. It called on law enforcement to suppress any independence movements. Many Uyghurs want Xinjiang to break away from China and to form a new country called East Turkestan.

“The document called for speeding up assimilationist policies such as moving more Chinese into East Turkistan by giving them Uyghurs’ land and providing them with better jobs while repressing the Uyghurs on all fronts, be it employment, family planning, and so on,” said Mehmet Tohti, a Uyghur political activist in Canada.

“The basic goal of Chinese regime was to gain upper hand in East Turkistan politically, economically, and in number of populations,” he said.

‘An unforgettable tragedy’

Behtiyar Shemshidin, who was a police officer during the Ghulja Massacre but later resigned and left Xinjiang, told the WUC and other rights groups that Chinese authorities opened fire on unarmed protesters.

A Uyghur rights activist now in Canada, Behtiyar said the protesters were arrested and tortured. Many detainees, including the demonstration’s leader, Abduhelil Abdulmejid, were tortured to death in prison, Behtiyar said. The violence continued for weeks, he said.

Zubayra Shamseden, the Chinese outreach coordinator at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a documentation and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., said her two younger brothers and a cousin were among those who were arbitrarily arrested in the crackdown.

One brother, Abdurazaq Shemsidin, was arrested in Ghulja in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison for “political crimes.” He remains incarcerated in Urumqi’s No. 1 Prison.

The other brother, Sedirdin Shemsidin, was assassinated in Kazakhstan in June 1998. Zubayra Shamseden’s cousin, Hammet Muhammad, was killed by Chinese armed forces in a clash in Ghulja a little over a year after the massacre.

“The Feb. 5 Ghulja Massacre is an unforgettable tragedy that befell not only my family but the entire Uyghur people,” Zubayra said.

Large-scale ‘clean-up’ operation

In the aftermath of the crackdown, an article titled “Let’s uncover the terrorist mask of East Turkistan terrorists” published by China’s official Xinhua news agency called the demonstrators, “insurgents.”

Following the incident, the Chinese government used the protest as a pretext to carry out a year-long large-scale “clean-up operation” throughout Xinjiang under the guise of tracking down suspects, Uyghur sources said.

When the Chinese government began detaining Uyghurs in its networks of internment camps in 2017, former prisoners tied to the Ghulja protest were picked up and sentenced yet again.

The world began to learn of what happened at Ghulja when a video of the protest and crackdown was smuggled out of China and aired in the United Kingdom in 1997. But there were few consequences for China.

In April 1999, a report from London-based Amnesty International said thousands of Uyghurs may have been killed in the incident without reason. Amnesty’s account was based in part on witness testimonies, said T. Kumar, former advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International in Washington D.C.

“At that time, I would say that the lack of information is one of the reasons our report was helpful to bring the issue to the forefront,” he said.

But, Kumar added, there was little external outcry.

“That was the sad part because but even the U.N. and the international community did not make any noise at that time,” he said. “If that would have happened — if the international community, the U.S., and others would have made a serious attempt to raise the massacre at that time and try to call for justice — the Chinese would have been extremely nervous about continuing the practice of persecution, and now to the extent of imprisoning or detaining around 2 million people.”

Awareness of rights violations

Uyghur activist organizations remain steadfast in calling on the international community to hold China accountable for the massacre.

“This year the commemoration coincides with Beijing Winter Olympic Games, so we have raised an awareness of the Ghulja Massacre along with our other activities on the international stage,” said Gheyur Qurban, a WUC spokesman in Germany.

“The incident is not only important in the recent history in East Turkistan, but also important internationally to raise awareness of Uyghur rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese regime.”

In the generation since the massacre, China’s economic and political strength has significantly grown. Its leaders believe they can get away with extensive abuses against the Uyghurs, Kumar said.

“Twenty-five years ago, they were not as powerful as today, so the challenges are greater for everyone who cares about human rights and the plight of Uyghurs,” he said.

The U.S., U.N., and the legislatures of some democratic governments have declared that China’s rights violations in Xinjiang amount to genocide and crimes against humanity — a charge that Beijing vehemently denies.

Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

The following is the joint statement released by the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of the Governments of Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Begin Text

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong met today in Honolulu, Hawaii, to reaffirm the critical importance of strong U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation as we seek to address the most pressing 21st Century challenges.  The U.S. alliances with the ROK and Japan span decades, and our enduring friendship and shared values guide us in our efforts to achieve a prosperous and secure future.

The 21st Century has brought not only new and unprecedented challenges but also tremendous opportunities for our three countries to work together.  Underscoring the importance of trilateral cooperation as we navigate an increasingly complicated world, the Secretary and Foreign Ministers committed to expand cooperation and collaboration across a range of regional and global security and economic priorities.

The Secretary and Foreign Ministers emphasized their three countries share a common view of a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, and shared respect for the rules-based international order and pledged to further expand their cooperative relationships.  The Foreign Ministers welcomed the United States’ newly released Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The Secretary and Foreign Ministers condemned the DPRK’s recent ballistic missile launches and expressed deep concern about the destabilizing nature of these actions.  They committed to close trilateral cooperation to achieve complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.  They called for full implementation by the international community of relevant UN Security Council resolutions relating to the DPRK and called on the DPRK to cease its unlawful activities and instead engage in dialogue.  The Secretary and Foreign Ministers emphasized they held no hostile intent towards the DPRK and underscored continued openness to meeting the DPRK without preconditions.  The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed that the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK alliances are essential to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.  In this context, they committed to advance trilateral security cooperation.  They commended the frequent trilateral discussions between the respective Special Representatives for the DPRK.  The Secretary and Foreign Ministers discussed the importance of reuniting separated Korean families, and the swift resolution of the abductions issue.

The Secretary and Foreign Ministers discussed the Russian military build-up along Ukraine’s borders and shared unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They committed to work closely together to deter further Russian escalation.

Noting their shared concern about activities that undermine the rules-based international order, the Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their desire for a peaceful and stable region that would allow all countries to reach their potential. They expressed strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to alter the status quo and increase tensions in the region. The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reiterated their governments’ longstanding support for international law, highlighting in particular the importance of compliance with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. They emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed support for the unity and centrality of ASEAN, which is currently chaired by Cambodia, as well as ASEAN’s efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar.  They also condemned the Myanmar regime’s violence committed against the people of Myanmar and committed to intensify efforts toward the immediate cessation of all violence, the release of those who are arbitrarily detained, and a swift return to the path of inclusive democracy.

The Secretary and Foreign Ministers emphasized the importance of trilateral cooperation to strengthen the rules-based economic order and ensure prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and the world.  They discussed common approaches to address priorities including the climate crisis; critical supply chains; gender equality and empowerment; development finance; and global health security including efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent the next.  They highlighted the importance of collaboration to strengthen information and cyber security, and also to improve economic security, including by promoting innovation of critical and emerging technologies based on democratic values and respect for universal human rights.

Reaffirming their commitment to U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation that is grounded in our shared values and desire for regional peace, stability, and prosperity, the Secretary and Foreign Ministers pledged to continue regular trilateral ministerial consultations.

 

Source: US State Department