Tag: Uyghur

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Another Uyghur mosque disappeared at Xinjiang

Chinese authorities built a wall around Jiaman mosque at Qira in Xinjiang province. They broke all its four minarets and the central dome and installed Chinese national flag, thus removing all impressions that it was a mosque. Beijing faces accusation of destroying mosques and Islamic culture in Xinjiang… a special report by Kaliph Anaz

There have been allegations against China of demolishing mosques in Xinjiang province as a part of suppression of religious rights of minority Uyghur Muslims. One such is Jiaman mosque that was located in Xinjiang’s city of Qira. Chinese authorities built a wall around the mosque, broke all its four minarets and the central dome and installed Chinese national flag, thus removing all impressions that it was a mosque.   There are hundreds of such cases. While the government denied the charges of forcibly tearing down mosques, satellite images taken a few years ago showed Muslim religious sites disappearing fast.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

Since 2017, Communist Party-led Beijing government demolished or damaged about 16,000 mosques in Xinjiang, which account for 65 percent of the total number, revealed a report by Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). The institute used satellite imagery to study destruction of mosques visited by minority Uyghur Muslim population.   It found estimated 8,500 mosques were demolished outright. Moreover, 30 percent of Islamic sacred sites such as shrines, cemeteries and pilgrimage routes too were torn down while 28 percent of them were damaged or altered.

ASPI located 533 mosques and carried out analysis using satellite imagery. Of those mosques, 170 were destroyed (31.9 percent), 175 were damaged (32.8 percent) and 188 remained undamaged (35.3 percent). “The Chinese Government’s destruction of cultural heritage aims to erase, replace and rewrite what it means to be Uyghur and to live in the XUAR (Xinjiang). The state is intentionally recasting its Turkic and Muslim minorities in the image of the Han centre for the purposes of control, domination and profit,” the ASPI said in its report.  It questioned silence maintained by global bodies– such as UNESCO which are assigned with preservation of heritage structures — for being silent on cultural and religious destruction in Xinjiang. China however rejected the claims in the ASPI report and justified its acts as “restructuring mosques for safety of Muslims”.

Domination or interference in affairs of ethnic minority cultures and communities has surged since Xi Jinping took over reigns of China in 2013. On the similar lines of education camps in Xinjiang, Beijing government started a mass labour programme in Tibet region, which saw authorities forcing Tibetans to handover their lands to the government.  Also, attempts were made to replace Mongolian language with Mandarin in Inner Mongolia to assimilate ethnic minorities into Chinese Han culture.   A Muslim man named Huang Shike was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for creating a group on social media app WeChat to hold discussion about Islam. According to Chinese judicial document, the group “disturbed normal religious activity” and violated laws regarding use of internet to discuss religion.  

Now, China is again accused of targeting imams or Muslim religious leaders in Xinjiang. As many as 630 imams and other Islamic leaders in the province were detained since 2014 in the crackdowns to assimilate Uyghur culture with the China’s national ideology.   These leaders were found to be charged with propagating extremism””, “inciting separatism”, “gathering crowd to disturb social order” among others. And 304 of them were sent to prison, finds the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

Uyghur

Mosques in Xinjiang have been fitted with surveillance cameras as Beijing government goes into hyperpolicing to keep a watch and target people perceived as threats. Investigations by rights group showed Chinese authorities have set a goal of reducing footfall in the mosques, and decreasing attendance is seen as success.   Darren Byler, a researcher at the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado, said “The system is set up in a way that’s producing hyperpolicing where any strange or any kind of aberrant behavior is reported.” And ethnic minorities like Uyghurs and Kazaks are very susceptible to this kind of hyperpolicing as they monitored on a micro level- – both by human policing and by the application of the technology, Byler added.

Bill Drexel, who researched Chinese state surveillance, said China has installed surveillance tech in Xinjiang especially in Kashgar city to support more comprehensive urban surveillance, vast economic exploitation, and bring changes in Uyghur culture which pleases Beijing.  “The power of surveillance technology to work against minorities is considerable. Total surveillance-control of a minority has already been achieved, with sobering efficacy,” Drexel added.

READ MORE: Pakistan and Turkey’s selective support to Muslim causes

READ MORE: China transformed into a full-fledged Surveillance State during Covid

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Pakistan and Turkey’s selective support to Muslim causes

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The Pakistan foreign minister made it clear that he could not speak against a powerful totalitarian country like China even if it was in the thick of carrying out a ‘genocide’ of Muslim brethren, reports Rahul Kumar

The Israel-Palestine conflict has opened up a can of worms revealing that when it comes to Pakistan and Turkey, their support for Muslim causes is selective, opportunistic and in the end based on cynical geopolitical calculations. Both countries are trying to champion Palestinian rights an effort which was visible in plain sight during the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, which is confined to Gaza.

But given their embrace of China, the leadership of the two countries remains petrified, unable to displease Beijing, despite the violation of human rights on an industrial scale of the Uyghur Muslim community in Xinjiang. Some countries have labelled the mass incarceration of the Uyghurs by China as genocide.

Pakistan’s double standards on supporting Islamic causes were on public display when Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi flew all the way to Turkey on a two-day visit and then to New York to discuss the Palestine issue and the rights of the Muslims in Israel. On his Europe to US flight, he was accompanied by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Palestine and Sudan to lend a collective voice to the repression of the Muslims.

In New York, when asked by CNN as to why Pakistan was not raising the issue of ‘genocide’ of Uyghurs in China, the Pakistan foreign minister fumbled to answer the question. All that Qureshi could manage was: “… You know China is a very good friend of Pakistan. They have stood by us through thick and thin. And we have means of communication. We use our diplomatic channels. We do not discuss everything in public”.

To Qureshi’s discomfiture, the CNN journalist remained insistent and asked again: “… But you can’t just turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in one country. Are there discussions behind the scenes by your Prime Minister Khan?” A re-faced Qureshi could only say: “Ma’am, there’s always a way of doing things. And we are not oblivious of our responsibilities.” The Pakistan foreign minister made it clear that he could not speak against a powerful totalitarian country like China even if it was in the thick of carrying out a ‘genocide’ of Muslim brethren.

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This hypocrisy is not limited to Pakistan alone. Turkey�the other aspirant to global Muslim leadership�sails in the same boat. What is worse is that both the nations have instead helped China in a crackdown upon the runaway Uyghurs. Over the last many years, the two Muslim countries have hounded and deported Uyghurs back to China. It is not difficult to guess what fate awaits the deported Uyghur men and women in China.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

Just last month, Human Rights Watch in a 53-page report said that China has detained up to a million Muslim people in its western region as it carries on a campaign of repression against the minority. The report says: ” As many as a million people have been arbitrarily detained in 300 to 400 facilities, which include “political education” camps, pretrial detention centres, and prisons. Courts have handed down harsh prison sentences without due process, sentencing Turkic Muslims to years in prison merely for sending an Islamic religious recording to a family member or downloading e-books in Uyghur.”

Emboldened with the hypocritical attitude of the Islamic nations, China is exploring an extradition treaty with Turkey. Expectedly, this has sent a shiver among the Uyghur community that has escaped to Turkey.

Media reports suggest that Turkey has agreed to deport Uyghur Muslims in return for covid-19 vaccines. Dilxat Raxit, a spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress, told AFP earlier this year: “This extradition treaty will cause worry among Uyghurs who have fled China and do not yet have Turkish citizenship.” Through Turkey has denied these allegations, it is under constant pressure from Beijing about deporting Uyghurs who managed to escape. Over the years it has been sending back the activists that China wants.

In another instance, Uyghur women activists made allegations of rape, torture and forced sterilisations against China on this International Women’s Day. They also alleged that Uyghur and Turkic women are forced to marry ethnic Han men. Such serious allegations against the mistreatment of the ethnic minority did not evoke condemnation from the Islamic world.

This curious sentiment of looking the other way over Uyghur rights is now being investigated by the international media. After a new report came out on the human rights violation of the Uyghur community, The Washington Post asked, ‘Why do some Muslim-majority countries support China’s crackdown on Muslims?’

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Uyghurs�this is one Muslim issue on which both Pakistan and Turkey muffle their high-volume global voices even as they carry on a crusade for the rights of Muslims in other countries. It is important to take up these two countries because Pakistan shares a land link with Xinjiang�the homeland of the persecuted community in China while Turkey hosts the largest Uyghur community with which it shares a common ethnicity.

Like Turkey, Pakistan has been abetting China in its human rights abuses of the Uyghurs. It too sends the escaped Uyghurs back to the Communist regime. With a massive $62 billion project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan is one of the few all-weather friends of China. Even when asked on international platforms about the plight of the Uyghurs, the Pakistani government has ended up praising their treatment at the hands of China.

While Pakistan has been vociferous over raising issues like the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet in the French media and other perceived insults or violation of rights of the Muslim community in other countries, it has not shown the same courage against China on behalf of the Muslim Uyghurs.

It is not just hypocrisy at play.

The answer lies in both�the power of fear and the lure of money that keeps self-appointed leaders of the Muslim world like Pakistan and Turkey cosy up to China. Both have made the protection of Islam a convenient weapon, which they unleash or keep sheathed as they wish to. The liberal and democratic nations are however a convenient and soft target.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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EU urged to include rights safeguards in China deal  

In view of the upcoming Plenary session of the European Parliament, the CSOs in the letter expressed “grave concern” at the omission of a human rights clause…reports Asian Lite News

A coalition of 36 civil society organisations (CSOs) has launched a joint appeal to the European Institutions calling for the inclusion of enforceable human rights clauses in the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

In view of the upcoming Plenary session of the European Parliament, the CSOs in the letter expressed “grave concern” at the omission of a human rights clause from the discussion about the agreement and its final text, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said in a statement.

They state that the omission of rights clause “sends a signal that the European Union will push for closer cooperation [with China] regardless of the scale and severity of human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese Communist Party, even when Beijing is in direct and open violation of international treaties and continues to refuse to allow international monitoring of the human rights situation”.

The letter is addressed to the likes of President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; President of the European Council, Charles Michel and members of the European Parliament.

A parent sharing their woes with BBC journalist John Sudworth (TV Grab)

“It is evident therefore the European Union has a Treaty obligation, as well as a moral duty, to stand by its founding principles of democracy, rules of law and the universality of human rights in its negotiations with the People’s Republic of China. This is an obligation not only to the people suffering oppression and gross human rights violations but also to uphold the international rules-based order,” the letter further said while alluding to growing evidence of forced labour in Tibet and Xinjiang.

They called upon the EU and its institutions to ensure China ratifies core Human Rights Conventions before entering into the Agreement, mainly the ICCPR, and core ILO Conventions.

“The agreement should also include a human rights clause. This should be introduced via a Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter that uses binding language and provides for effective enforcement mechanisms in case of violation, the creation of an EU Domestic Advisory Group and effective monitoring and complaint mechanisms on human rights that can been seized by the affected populations and NGOs defending human rights. This mechanism should contribute to ensure the agreement will be implemented in conformity with international human rights law,” they said. (ANI)

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UK Parliament declares genocide in China’s Xinjiang

But the government has steered clear of declaring genocide over what it says are “industrial-scale” human rights abuses against the mainly Muslim Uyghur community in Xinjiang, reports Asian Lite News

Britain’s parliament called for the government to take action to end what lawmakers described as genocide in China’s Xinjiang region, stepping up pressure on ministers to go further in their criticism of Beijing.

But the government again steered clear of declaring genocide over what it says are “industrial-scale” human rights abuses against the mainly Muslim Uyghur community in Xinjiang. Ministers say any decision on declaring a genocide is up to the courts.

So far the government has imposed sanctions on some Chinese officials and introduced rules to try to prevent goods linked to the region entering the supply chain, but a majority of lawmakers want ministers to go further.

Beijing denies accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Lawmakers backed a motion brought by Conservative lawmaker Nusrat Ghani stating Uyghurs in Xinjiang were suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, and calling on government to use international law to bring it to an end.

The support for the motion is non-binding, meaning it is up to the government to decide what action, if any, to take next.

Also read – Uyghur movement needs more global support

Britain’s minister for Asia, Nigel Adams, again set out to parliament the government’s position that any decision on describing the human rights abuses in Xinjiang as genocide would have to be taken by “competent” courts.

Some lawmakers fear Britain risks falling out of step with allies over China after the Biden administration endorsed a determination by its predecessor that China had committed genocide in Xinjiang.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

Meanwhile, the US government, is under pressure to urge like-minded countries to independently investigate and formally determine whether the abuses in Xinjiang meet the definitions of genocide and/or crimes against humanity under international law, and work together to take measures to hold China accountable.

The US Congress should support legislation to promote religious freedom in China, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended.

Also Read – Report on Xinjiang reveals China’s dark side

Last year, the report said, religious freedom conditions in China had deteriorated.

The government intensified its “sinicisation of religion” policy, particularly targeting religions perceived to have foreign connections, such as Christianity, Islam and Tibetan Buddhism.

The authorities also continued their unprecedented use of advanced surveillance technologies to monitor and track religious minorities, and the Measures on Managing Religious Groups became effective in February, further constricting the space in which religious groups could operate.

Quake-affected people have a meal at a temporary settlement in Jinghe County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Li Jing/IANS)

In September 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute had identified 380 detention centres across the Uyghur region (otherwise known as Xinjiang), including new facilities built in 2019 and 2020.

This indicates that the Chinese government has continued to detain Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims despite claiming to have released all the detainees.

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Since 2017, authorities have reportedly sent millions of Muslims to these camps for wearing long beards, refusing alcohol, or exhibiting other behaviours deemed signs of “religious extremism”.

Former detainees reported torture, rape, sterilisation and other abuses in custody. Experts raised concerns that the Chinese government’s ongoing actions in Xinjiang could amount to genocide under international law.

Demand for US to skip Winter Olympics

Meanwhile, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has asked the US government not to attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing if the Chinese government continues its crackdown on religious freedoms of minorities in China.

In its annual report, the USCIRF recommended the Joe Biden administration to redesignate China as a “country of particular concern”, or CPC, for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).

The Commission asked the US government to publicly express concerns about Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and state that US government officials will not attend the games if the Chinese government’s crackdown on religious freedoms continues.

It has also recommended the US government to enforce to the fullest extent the existing US laws — such as the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and Tibetan Policy and Support Act — and continue to impose targeted financial and visa sanctions on Chinese government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom.

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