Joint Statement of Taiwanese Civil Society
10th July, 2009
China: Stop armed force oppression in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) and open to independent investigation
A mass scale of unrest occurred in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) during the night of July 5th. According to the Chinese media, it has caused 156 deaths, 1080 injured, and 1434 arrested up till the evening of the 6th and expanded to conflicts between Uyghur and Han people afterwards. Conflicts between civilians and the police as well as violent incidents have been reported in both Urumqi and Kashgar, the two main cities of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Authority in Urumqi announced a curfew since the night of the 7th. For now, the security level within the autonomous region has been raised to the level of Beijing Olympic.
Unlike practices of blocking information channels regarding unrests in Tibet during March 2008, the Chinese authority has proactively published the statistics of the casualties, and further granted access for international media such as AFP and AP. However, according to released information from Xinhua News, the Chinese authority still categorizes the incident as “a planned, organized violent crime remotely controlled and conducted from extra-territorial and carried out by specific organization within the territory.” It has not mentioned the causes neither what actually happened during the incident. Meanwhile, although international media were granted with access to conduct interviews, most areas are still restricted and controlled. Internet communication is likewise blocked and some foreign journalists were confirmed to be shortly detained.
Taiwanese Civil Society is aware of its particular moral duty and has been constantly monitoring human rights in China and supporting Chinese human rights defenders. Concerning China as a powerful actor of human rights violation in this region, and in view of the blood-drenched Tibetan Uprising last March, we, the undersigned organizations call on the Chinese government to:
1. Stop the armed oppression against the civilians immediately and strictly restrained itself from using armed police force during violent conflicts: The United Nation, the White House and international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have urged China to restrain the usage of the armed police force. China should immediately response to this request and to comply with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
2. Grant access to international media to conduct free and independent interviews within the autonomous region, to find out facts of the incident: China should open up for international media to conduct interviews independently without being limited in the controlled areas. China also needs to remove its cramp on internet communication immediately. Moreover, concerned by the fact that the former UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Lousie Arbour had been continually rejected by Chinese government to conduct investigations in Tibet, China should respond to the urge from international society, to invite current UN High Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay to enter the Xinjiang autonomous region for investigations.
3. Stop arbitrary arrests and detentions, and ensure due process of law and fair trials: According to the Tibet centre for Human Rights and Democracy, up to 6,500 people were arbitrarily arrested and detained after the Tibetan Uprising last March, and 170 among them were sentenced without due process of law. The number of people arrested in Xinjiang Autonomous Region has amounted to approximately 1,500 people. China should stop arresting and detaining Uyghurs arbitrarily and any cases suspected should be tried openly under the monitor of international community.
International community should understand the Xingiang incident under the context of series of human rights violation in China, including the Tibetan Uprising in March 2008, the Charter 08 at the end of 2008, and the recent official arrest of dissident Liu Xiao Bo under the crime of “incitement to subvert state power” after his six-month secret detention. China has long controlled the Xinjiang Autonomous Region with tense oppression, including constraining its religious freedom by prohibiting assemblies during the Ramadan and linking the Uyghur independence movement to terrorism.
International community should not compromise on severe human rights violation in China because for China being a rising economic power. We present this statement as the collective voice of Taiwanese civil society and assert that concerns for human rights should be universal and unconditional. Therefore we also call on international community to remain monitoring and brining pressure to China on the following development of this incident.
Undersigned by:
Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Taiwan Alliance to End Death Penalty (TAEDP), Taiwan Free Burma Network (TFBN), Judicial Reform Foundation, The Human Rights Committee of Taipei Bar Association, Chen Wen Chen Memorial Foundation, Humanistic Education Foundation,
Association of Taiwan Journalists, Friends of Tibet in Taiwan, Deng Liberty Foundation, Amnesty International Taiwan, Taiwan Labor Front, Taiwan Green Party, Peace Time Foundation of Taiwan
Guts United Taiwan, Committee on society of The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, UN for Taiwan Alliance, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress in Taiwan, Taiwan Association of University Professors,
Taiwan Society North
