Commission on Human Rights 59th Session
Geneva, April 02 2003

Intervention by the Transnational Radical Party

delivered by Enver Can


Thank you, Mme Chair!

I take the floor on behalf of the Transnational Radical Party. My name is Enver Can and I am an Uyghur from East Turkestan, also called "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region" by the People's Republic of China. The Uyghur people, who are natives of East Turkestan will face extinction under the policy of colonisation, assimilation, state terror and intimidation by the Communist Chinese Government, unless the world community urgently intervenes to change this process.

Unfortunately, the international criticism of the Chinese human rights record has so far brought nothing to aliviate the sufferings of the Uyghur people. For decades, the Chinese government had been availing itself of the anti-subversion law, now, since September 11, it is increasingly hijacking the terrorism issue to justify the repression of the entire Uyghur population, including the further restriction of their politicial, social and cultural rights.
Thus, the ongoing gross human rights violations of the Uyghur people include:

- Execution of Uyghurs for political reasons through unfair trials, extra-judicial killings and torture;
- Increase of illegal transfer of the Han Chinese population into East Turkestan and the displacement of Uyghurs from their homes;
- Destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage;
- Abolishment of Uyghur language teachings in higher level educational institutions;
- Tight control of worship and religious life, including destruction and closing of mosques and unofficial religious schools;

Mme Chair,

let me bring to the attention of this august body just some of these breaches.
Mr. Tohti Tunyaz, Uyghur citizen, arrested on February 6, 1998 was condemned on March 10, 1999 by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi and the Chinese Supreme Court upheld his sentence in February 2000 to 11 years of prison and 2 additional years of deprivation of political rights. Mr. Tunyaz was arrested whilst making photocopies of a 50-year-old document for academic purposes at the Humanistic School of the University of Tokyo, where he was reading for his doctorate. He was officialy accused by the Chinese authorities of "stealing State secrets for the benefit of foreigners" and "inciting separatism".

On February 5-6, 1997 thousands of Uyghur youths organized on the streets of Ghulja city a large-scale peaceful demonstration protesting China's increased political and religious repression and grave forms of discrimination against the Uyghur people of East Turkestan. Their legitimate protest was met with brutal military force. The Chinese authorities sent fully armed paramilitary police forces to clamp down on the unarmed demonstrators. The Chinese paramilitary police used tear gas and water canon. More than ten Uyghurs were killed and thousands were arrested, as well as their relatives. One group was taken into a huge sports stadium and hosed down with icy water in cold February weather. Many contracted severe frostbite and had to have limbs amputated. Chinese prison guards tortured most Uyghur detainees by pulling out their nails and injecting horsehair into their sexual organ. Abdujelil Abduhelil, who led the peaceful demonstration, was tortured to death in October 2000.

Mme Chair, in view of these atrocious violations, the Transnational Radical Party calls on the Chinese authorities to make public details of the whereabouts of the detained Uyghurs, with their current status, and the charges against them.

Bearing in mind that the People's Republic of China has signed the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Transnational Radical Party appeals to this Commission to submit to the attention of the international community the urgency of investigating the situation in this region, taking into account and building on China's decision to allow U.N. independent observers to visit the country and investigate torture, religious freedom and arbitrary detentions.

We appeal to the Commission to urge the Chinese government to release all the Uyghur political and religious prisoners arrested for their nonviolent opposition and not to permit impunity for the crimes perpetrated against them.

Finally, Mme Chair, the TRP asks to this Commission to create the conditions for a political diaologue between the Chinese Authorities and representatives of the Uyghury people inside and outside the region.

I thank you, Mme Chair.