Thousands Of Uigher's Died In Chinese Violence

THE leader of the exiled Uighur community from China's northwestern Xinjiang region says thousands may have died in violence in recent days.

Article from: Agence France-Presse
July 11, 2009
Courtesy Of The Australian

Rebiya Kadeer, the Washington-based head of the World Uighur Congress, says it is difficult to come up with a comprehensive toll from the region, where the native Uighur ethnic group has long complained of repression.

"According to unconfirmed reports we get on the ground, now the number is up to 1000 or some say 3000," Ms Kadeer told a news conference at the US Capitol.

She said the deaths occurred not only in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, but also across the vast region, saying there had been "mob killings in different cities such as Kashgar".

Ms Kadeer, who spent about six years in a Chinese prison before being released under US pressure in 2005, estimated that another 5000 people had been imprisoned.

Chinese state media said 184 people were killed in Urumqi, as Uighurs attacked people from China's dominant Han ethnic group on Sunday.

But Ms Kadeer said security forces over-reacted to peaceful protests and used deadly force.
Beijing has accused exiles of exaggerating the death toll and fomenting the violence, charges Ms Kadeer denies.

"I'm against all violence. I have not done this and I will not do such a thing," she said.

Ms Kadeer appeared alongside two members of Congress who introduced a resolution that would condemn China for its "violent repression" of "peaceful Uighur protests".

The resolution also calls on China to end its "slander" of Ms Kadeer. Chinese authorities accuse her of masterminding the violence and of ties to "terrorists" among Uighurs, who are largely Muslim.

"I believe that statement by the Chinese government reveals more about the Chinese government than anything about Mrs Kadeer," said Congressman Bill Delahunt, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party.

"This it just offensive and repugnant," he said. "We are calling on the Chinese government to desist in slandering this woman who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three separate occasions."

"I think what it demonstrates is the desperation of this particular regime in terms of dealing with what clearly is becoming a public relations disaster," he said.

Ms Kadeer, the mother of 11, was once a department store magnate said to be the richest woman in China and hailed by Beijing as a model for the Uighur minority.

But she ran afoul of the authorities as she complained about the treatment of the Uighurs. In 1999, she was arrested as she tried to meet a delegation of US congressional researchers and spent six years in prison.