DEKLARASI BANGKOK 2009

DEKLARASI BANGKOK

PERSIDANGAN NGO ASEAN

“GESAAN RAKYAT - TEGAKKAN KEADILAN DAN KEAMANAN”

Pusat Islam , Bangkok , Thailand

16hb Okober 2009

Dengan Nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah dan Maha Penyayang .

KAMI anggota dan aktivis NGO ASEAN bersama dalam Nusantara Inisiatif untuk Keadilan dan Keamanan (NADI) pada persidangan NGO ASEAN di Bangkok , Thailand pada 16hb Oktober 2009 ,

Mengingatkan tragedi sejarah yang telah memangsakan ramai rakyat di Myanmar, Thailand Selatan , Mindanao dan iktibar yang dapat dirumuskan bagi generasi masakini,

Menegaskan semula ASEAN ditubuhkan untuk mengujudkan hubungan multilateral antara Negara-negara di rantau ini demi kemanfaatan dan pembangunan bersama,;

Menerima keperluan mengalakkan inisiatif rakyat ke rakyat untuk mencapai keadilan dan keamanan di kawasan Asia tenggara,.

Mengingatkan semua Ketua negara yang telah mengistiharkan komitmen masing-masing pada AMM 17 - 24 July 2008 ke 41 di Singapore, mengenai pertanggungjawapan mereka ke atas rakyat ketika melaksanakan kerjasama dalam isu-isu bersama dan merumuskan langkah yang konkrit dan pratikal untuk membina kapasiti , dan membina kepakaran untuk kemajuan dalam bidang yang boleh mengujudkan keamanan kolektif,

Menegaskan semula matlamat untuk membina komuniti ASEAN berasaskan keadilan sosial , berekonomi mapan , berbudaya tradisi dan mengakar dan dinamik , sensitif kepada alam sekitar dan memberi ruang yang luas kepada penyertaan politik yang sihat,

Menegaskan kemajuan serantau berasaskan keadialan dan keamanan perlu dirangka merujuk kepada keperluan ekonomi , tradisi dan budaya rakyat tempatan,

Menegaskan semua konflik perlu ditangani melalui pendekatan yang aman berdasarkan keadilan , kebenaran dan hak rakyat,

Mengutuk pendekatan keras dari operasi tentara yang dilaksanakan oleh sebahagian kerajaan dalam ASEAN yang dilaksanakan atas nama membenteras keganasan , memburu pemisah , golongan yang didakwa radikal , Akibatnya ialah meningkatkannya konflik dan semakin mendalamnya ketidakadilan dan memangsakan rakyat melalui penangkapan yang tidak sah, penculikan , pembunuhan tanpa pembicara , penderaan , perampasan harta yang tidak sah , penggunaan undang-undang yang bersifat draconian dan pelbagai pelanggaran hak asasi manusia,

Menolak semua campurtangan ekonomi, sosial-budaya , politik dan ketenteraan oleh mana-mana hegemoni kuasa luar semada secara terang atau sulit,

Mengambil perhatian mengenai konflik yang berpanjangan di Mindanao , Selatan Thailand , dan Mynmar yang memberi kesan buruk kepada perhubungan saling hormat dan usaha untuk mencapai penyelesaian yang adil.

DENGAN INI KAMI MENGESA SEMUA KERAJAAN ANGGOTA ASEAN SUPAYA:

• Menghormati mandat dan amanah yang telah diberi oleh rakyat untuk menjamin hak rakyat mendapat keadilan dan keamanan bagi hidup yang bermaruah dan mendapat keperluan asas dan menikmati pengagihan sumber Negara yang saksama,

• Tidak memileh pendekatan ketenteraan untuk mengatasi konflik tetapi menangani konflik dan pertelingkahan serantau secara aman dan menyeluruh dalam rangka mencari kerjasama dan saling hidup berjiran yang sihat , harmoni dan hubungan antara pemerintah dan rakyat yang baik,

• Mempromosi interaksi dan konsultasi antara Negara dan rakyat demi memenuhi keperluan menunaikan tanggungjawab kolektif untuki mencari penyelesaian kepada sebarang konflik dan pertelingkahan secara aman,

• Meningkatkan kerjasama serantau dan antarabangsa untuk mengalakkan perkongsian dan implementasi polisi yang berciri pro-rakyat. Usaha untuk menghasil amalan terbaik bagi menjamin keadilan dan memelihara dan mengutamakan kebajikan hidup rakyat ,

• Menyelesaikan dengan sertamerta nasib etnik Rohingya yang dinafi hak kerakyatan , konflik Selatan Thailand dan perjuangan Bangsamoro melalui konsultasi dan kerjasama kolektif antara Negara-negara anggota ASEAN berdasarkan keadilan dan hak rakyat yang sah,

• Berunding dengan kerajaan Myanmar, Thailand and Filipina untuk menekankan prinsip bahawa keselamatan dan situasi dalam negara mereka mempunyai impak kepada keselamatan dan situasi di seluruh rantau ini,

• Bekerjasama dengan komuniti antarabangsa dan masyarakat sivil dalam melindungi, membantu dan memberi hak kepada rakyat yang telah terusir dari tempat tinggal asal mereka akibat konflik atau penindasan .Akibatnya keadilan dinafi dan layanan yang adil seperti yang diharapkan oleh rakyat Negara masing-masing juga diketepikan.Kami menuntut supaya prinsip kemanusiaan universal diamalkan agar Negara-negara anggota ASEAN memberi hak kepada rakyat yang ditindas sehingga mereka dapat kembali ke tempat tinggal mereka yang asal dan kembali hidup bermaruah. Ini termasuk prinsip mengiktiraf mereka sebagai individu yang perlu kepada perlindungan dan tidak mencirikan mereka hanya sebagai pendatang tanpa dokument dan menginzinkan agensi antarabangsa untuk mendapat akses kepada mereka yang ditahan bagi menentukan status mereka,

• Memperundangkan Konvensyen Mengenai Isu Status Pelarian 1951, Protokol 1967 , Konvensyen Mengenai Status Warga tanpa Negara 1954 , the 1961 Konvensyen Mengurangkan Warga tanpa Negara 1961 , Konvensyen Antarabangsa untuk Perlindungan Hak semua Pekerja Asing dan ahli keluarga 1990 .

• Beri lebih perhatian kepada wanita dan kanak-kanak sebagai sebahagian yang intergral dalam penyelesaian konflik di rantau ini.

• Mempraktik dan promosi nilai dan amalan urustadbir yang baik (good governance) yang memberi keutamaan kepada pembinaan budaya berintergriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dan menolak regim yang menindas dan korup.

• Mengambil langkah untuk mengalakkan kerjasama serantau , memberi rakyat pergerakkan antara sempadan yang lebih mudah dan pertukaran serta perkongsian budaya dan perdagangan dalam rangka mencapai pertuumbuhan serantau yang mapan ,

• Menentukan semua kumpulan bukan kerajaan memainkan peranan yang positif seperti media , agensi swasta dan masyarakat sivil untuk mengalakkan persefahaman , dan kerjasama dan bukan permusuhan dan konflik,

• Melaksanakan konsultasi antara anggota Negara ASEAN bagi merumuskan pendirian yang sama mengenai hal-hal pertahanan yang boleh memberi kesan kepada keselamatan kolektif di rantau ini,

• Mengujudkan suruhanjaya mencari kebenaran dan rekonsialisi nasional di Negara seperti Mynmar, Thailand, dan Filipina untuk membina semula keyakinan rakyat dan menegakkan keadilan untuk rakyat. Suruhanjaya ini perlu bagi merongkai pelbagai kes pelanggaran hak asasi manusia , dan menyemak semula semua kes-kes yang dikaitkan dengan dakwaan mengenai keselamatan nasional,

• Mengambil langkah ke arah perlaksanaan undang-undang Islam terutama undang-undang yang berkait dengan hak kaum Muslimin

• Menekankan pendekatan dialog dan perundingan secara aman dipelbagai peringkat untuk meleraikan konflik,

Mengenai nasib etnik Rohingya dan Mynmar keseluruhannya , kerajaan Mynmar dan ASEAN di gesa

• Memberi pengiktirafan sepenuhnya kepada semua etnik Rohingya dan rakyat Mynmar berkait dengan hak kerakyatan yang sah sebagai warganegara Mynmar,

• Memberi hak dan kebebasan amalan beragama dan memdirikan serta membina semula serta menyelenggara semua masjid, kuil , gereja dan institusi agama,

• Memberi akses yang sama kepada komuniti Rohingya untuk mendapat pendidikan dan latihan vokesyenal,

• Menamatkan segala penculikan , pembunuhan tanpa bicara , penahanan arbitrari, intimidasi , ugutan , buruh paksaan dan pelbagai jenis gangguan (harassment)

• Melaksanankan hukuman keatas mereka yang melakukan mana-mana kesalahan di atas,

• Memberi kebebasan bergerak

• Kebebasan berkahwin dan menarik balik larangan berkahwin,

• Menamatkan pengusiran , pemusnahan tempat tinggal dan perampasan hartabenda

• Bahawa semua rakyat Mynmar semada yang menjadi pelarian dalam negeri atau yang berada di luar Negara sebagai pelarian , dibenarkan dan diterima untuk balik ke tanah air mereka dan dijamin keselamatan dan kehormatan mereka,

• Membuka ruang untuk kemasukan bantuan kemanusiaan di Myanmar oleh agensi PBB dan wakil-wakil NGO

• Melaksanakan pilihanraya yang bebas dan adil pada 2010

Berkait dengan konflik dan nasib kaum Muslim di Thailand Selatan dan Thailand secara keluruhannya , kerajaan Thailand dan ASEAN di gesa supaya

• Menamatkan Undang-undang Dharurat dan Undang-undang Tentera dan mana-mana undang-undang yang boleh membawa kepada penyalahgunaan kuasa dan pendakwaan yang tidak adil ke atas umat Muslim di Thailand Selatan dan warga di kawasan tersebut dijamin hak asasi manusia dilindungi mengikut Perlembagaan Thailand,

• Menghentikan penangkapan dan pelenyapan terpaksa , pembunuhan tanpa bicara , penahanan arbitrari, penderaan , extorsi dan gangguan termasuk gangguan seksual ,

• Menghukum mereka yang bertanggugjawab melakukan mana-mana kesalahan di atas,

• Menghentikan pendakwaan , kezaliman dan sistem yang menindas dan mendiskriminasi rakyat di Thailand Selatan,

• Melucutkan senjata semua paramiliteri atau tentera sivil sukarela di Yala, Narathiwat, Patani , Satun dan sebahagian daerah Songkla kerana kumpulan ini telah meningkatkan keganasan dan rasa curiga diantara masyarakat,

• Melaksanakan njakan paradigma dalam pentadbiran sosial,ekonomi dan politik di Thailand Selatan ke arah de-militarisasi dan kembali kepada pentadbiran sivil.

Berkaitan dengan nasib Bangsamoro di Mindanao dan kerajaan Filipina dan ASEAN digesa supaya :

• Menyelesaikan konflik di Mindanao melalui menangani punca asas (root cause) yang menyebabkan ketidakadilan, kependudukan tidak sah , pengusiran , penjajahan , kemiskinan dan kemunduran wilayah Bangsamoro,

• Hak Bangsamoro untuk menentukan nasib mereka sendiri dijadi asas penyelesaian dan entiti autonomi seperti yang dibenarkan oleh banyak perjanjian antarabangsa seperti UN Covenant on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 1994 digunapakai untuk mengembalikan hak mereka untuk menentukan pentadbiran wilayah mereka sendiri, ;

• Menyokong pendekatan perundingan secara aman untuk mencapai hak tersebut , termasuk menyokong implementasi penuh perjanjaian MNLF-GRP 1996 dan proses perundingan yang sedang diteruskan antara kerajaan Filipina dan MILF

• Bahawa ketidakadilan yang telah terjadi dalam bentuk rampasan hartanah dan penempatan penduduk asing di kawasan kaum peribumi diatasi dengan perjanjian yang menyeluruh dan berimbang – yang akan memberi keadilan kepada sejarah kezaliman masa lampau serta juga kepada keadaan masakini - berkaitan dengan hak Bangsamoro ke atas tanah adat dan tanah milik generasi terdahulu melalui konsultasi dan kesepakatan dengan semua yang berkepentingan,

• Bangsamoro berhak diberi kuasa kawalan keatas wilayah-wilayah mereka dari segi penggunaaan , pemuliharaan dan perlindungan sumber alam untuk kepentingan generasi masakini dan akan datang,

• Bangsamoro disokong dengan sistem pendidikan dan pelatihan yang efektif untuk semua lapisan ; muda dan dewasa dan mengalakkan warisan budaya,tradisi dan sejarah Bangsamoro yang perlu dipulihara,

• Menjamin kebebasan pergerakan dan kebebasan bersuara yang adil dan bertepatan dengan tradisi dan aspirasi Bangsamoro,


• Hak kelompok yang terdedah dengan penganiayaan seperti wanita, kanak-kanak ,golongan cacat dan orang tua hendaklah dilindungi , dipertahan dan diketengahkan sementara keganasan dan pelanggaran hak mereka dihukum semaksimanya menurut undang-undang ,

• Menegakkan sistem ekonomi dan pengurusan sumber kewangan yang berlandaskan inspirasi dan aspirasi warisan Bangsamoro,


Berkaitan dengan NGO , kami merumuskan untuk berperanan seperti berikut:

• Mengambil peranan untuk memimpin dan menyuburkan budaya saling memahami antara rakyat dan pemerintah serta organisasi antarabangsa mengenai konflik dan ancaman terhadap keamanan , keselamatan dan kemajuan rantau ini,

• Menangani perlangggaran hak asasi manusia , memberi pembelaaan kepada semua mangsa dan menuntut hak perlindungan undang-undang dan administrative untuk mereka,,

• Memperkasa masyarakat terpinggir untuk meningkatkan status sosio-ekonomi mereka,

• Berinteraksi dengan ASEAN dan Negara-negara anggota agar berhati-hati dan waspada dengan sebarang perhubungan militari dan hegemoni kuasa luar dan dengan bersungguh-sungguh menjadikan rantau ini zon aman , bebas , berkecuali dan bebas dari campur tangan kuasa luar,

• Mengujudkan jaringan yang kuat antara NGO di rantau ASEAN dan juga diseluruh dunia yang mempunyai visi yang sama dengan hasrat kami untuk mencapai matlamat kami menegakkan keadilan dan keamanan,

• Merangka plan bertindak melalui penubuhan sekretariat serantau untuk melaksana dan menyelaras aktiviti serta mengadakan penilaian dari masa kesemasa..


Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
Kordinator NADI dan Pengarah Persidangan NGO ASEAN
Bangkok, Thailand

Organisasi yang memperakui deklarasi ini:
1. Nusantara Initiatives for Justice and Peace
2. Citizens International, Malaysia
3. TERAS Pengupayaan Melayu (TERAS,Malaysia)
4 Secretariat for the Ulama Assembly of ASIA ( SHURA)
5. Muslim Care Malaysia
6. International Islamic Strategic Studies
7. Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia
8. Ulama Association Of Malaysia
9. Muhammadiyyah International
10. Ikatan Ilmuan Nasional, Malaysia
11. Muslimah Action Council Of Malaysia
12. Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT)
13. United Islamic Rohingya Organization for Development
14. International Students Network
15. Young Muslims Association of Thailand
16. Persatuan Ulama Kedah, Malaysia
17. Pusat Advokasi Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia (Paham), Indonesia
18. Centre for Indonesian Reform (CIR)
19. Yayasan Generasi Baru Nusantara
20. World Assembly of Muslim Youth (Thailand Office)
21. Thai Muslim Students' Association, TMSA.
22. Deep South Women's Network for Peace
23. Council of Muslim Organizations of Thailand
24. Students' Federation of Southern Thailand
25. Rohingya Human Rights Association in Thailand
26. Muslim Students' Federation of Thailand
27. Islamic Culture Foundation of Southern Thailand
28. As-Salam Institute, Yala Islamic University
29. Muslim Group for Peace (Thailand)
30. Yala Muslim Community Radio Network
31. Muslim Attorneys Centre, Thailand (MAC)
32. Thai Islamic Medical Association (TIMA)
33. Students Federation of Thailand
34. Students' Network for Protecting People
35. Pencerdasan Ummat, Malaysia (Wadah)
36. Muslim Patani Association
37. Aman News Network, Thailand
38. Muslims Association of Krabi, Thailand
39. Association of Research and Development for Consumer Protection (Thailand)
40. Halal Consumer Protection Association of Thailand (HACPA)
41. Muslimah Sisterhood of Indonesia (SALIMAH)
42. Cross Cultural Foundation
43. Islamic Centre of Thailand
44. Muslim Relations Association of Krabi
45. Peoples' Empowerment (Thailand)

Seminar yang patut dihadiri oleh mereka yang prihatin

Dek kekangan waktu yang menghambat saya, dan berbetulan pula hari saya bekerja, saya telah terlepas satu persidangan yang cukup penting untuk diikuti dan memerlukan satu tindakan segera oleh seluruh umat Islam.Lebih-lebih lagi kepada Pemimpin-pemimpin yang berkuasa.

SEMINAR HAL EHWAL UMAT ISLAM ANTARABANGSA
PERJUANGAN MENGEMBALIKAN HAK DAN IZZAH MUSLIMIN

Umat Islam Rohingya berjuang hak kerakyatan di Arakan , MyAnmar Rakyat Muslim Selatan Thailand menuntut kemerdekaan sejak 1902 Umat Bangsa Moro berjuang DI MINDANAO untuk keadilan dan hak asal sebagai wilayah berdaulat

MUTAKHIR UMAT ISLAM DI GAZA

anjuran TERAS & SHURA

15hb OGOS 2009/24HB SYA’BAN 1430

8.00 pagi – 1.30 ptg

Auditorium & Dewan Muzium Alam Shah
40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan

Pengenalan:

Umat Islam berada dalam kehinaan . Bukan sahaja penjajahan maseh belum selesai, malah hak umat terus dicerobohi tanpa pembelaan. Lantaran itu sejarah penindasan dan kezaliman ke atas umat Islam belum lagi berakhir. Malah penafian dan perampasan hak terus berlanjutan sehingga kini. Perjuangan umat Islam di rantau Asia Tenggara ini adalah antara yang paling lama menentang kuasa penjajah. Soalnya rantau ini yang mempunyai bilangan umat beragama Islam yang paling ramai di dunia , tidak mampu untuk mengakhirkan secara muktamad masalah yang dihadapi sehingga hak dan maruah umat Islam maseh belum terbela . Nasib umat Islam Bangsa Moro di Mindanao terus di cengkam oleh regim Manila berlanjutan sehingga 5 orang Presiden . Demikian juga perjuangan umat Islam Pattani , Selatan Thailand belum kelihatan dapat mengeluarkan umat dari penghinaan diperintah oleh kerajaan Siam sejak dari 1902 . Juga jika diteliti nasib umat Islam etnik Rohingya yang ditindas oleh regim Junta Mynmar sejak 1962.

TERAS dan SHURA berpendirian bahawa umat Islam perlu disedarkan mengenai bagaimana nasib saudara mereka di luar Malaysia yang bertarung nyawa untuk mempertahan hak mereka. Sikap persaudaraan tulin hanya dapat diterjemahkan jika setiap kaum Muslimin di negara ini sering di dedahkan dengan maklumat dari masa ke semasa. Mereka juga akan menjadi lebih peka serta prihatin juga maklumat yang diperolehi dapat menggerakkan aksi nyata untuk membantu dan bersama dengan perjuangan yang haq seluruh kaum Muslimin di rantau ini.


Seminar ini dicetuskan adalah dari titik tolak keinginan mengangkat perjuangan umat Islam antarabangsa ke persada tanah air.Kesempatan yang lebih besar di Malaysia boleh memberi peluang untuk umat mengembleng tenaga dan harta bagi membantu perjuangan umat Islam di peringkat antarabangsa , rantau dan global.

Objektif :

1.Mendidik masyarakat Islam Selangor mengenai kesatuan Ummah merentas sempadan.

2.Menyedarkan masyarakat Islam Selangor mengenai hal ehwal semasa berkaitan nasib umat Islam tertindas di seluruh dunia

3Meransang masyarakat Islam Selangor mengenai peranan dan tanggungjawab untuk membela umat Islam mustadhafin di seluruh dunia.

Siapa yang perlu hadir:

Terbuka kepada masyarakat umum sekitar negeri Selangor termasuk pelajar-pelajar Institusi Pengajian Tinggi dan NGO2.

Yuran Pendaftaran:

Yuran pendaftaran RM 50.00 Pelajar RM 10.00

Yuran pendaftaran termasuk: sesi ucapan utama, teknikal, pameran, kertas kerja, makan tengahari, minum pagi dan petang.

Penyertaan terhad kepada 200 orang sahaja.

ATURCARA SEMINAR

8.00 pagi Pendaftaran peserta

8.30 pagi Majlis Peresmian

- Kata-kata Sambutan
- Bacaan Al Quran

8.45 pagi – Ucapan Pengarah Seminar

8.55 pagi – Ucapan Peresmian Oleh YB Yaakob Sapari ,Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor

9.30 pagi – Ucaputama "Kewajipan Umat Saling Membantu Menuntut Hak dan Perkembangan terkini di Gaza” ” YB Dr. Syed Azman Syed Alwi Pengerusi Al Quds Malaysia


10.30 pagi Bicara 1 :

”Dari Pembunuhan Di Masjid Kerisik , Kezaliman di Tak bai Sehingga Tragedi di masjid Al Furqan – Apakah Hak Umat Islam Selatan Thailand dapat di bela?” oleh Prof Dr. Nik Anuar (UKM)

11.30 pagi Jamuan ringan

11.45 pagi Bicara 2 : ”Nasib Umat Islam Rohingya , Myanmar yang tidak di ketahui” oleh Ust Mohammad Islam , Presiden UNIROD

12.45 pagi Bicara 3 :”Perjuangan Umat Islam Bangsa Moro Mindanao – Menuntut hak dan Kedaulatan yang dinafikan”- oleh Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid (Kordinator Kempen Citizens International/ Presiden TERAS)

1.15 tgh Bicara 4 : "Perkembangan terkini di Gaza” oleh YB Dr Syed Azman Syed Alwi (Pengerusi Al Quds Malaysia)

1.30 ptg Resolusi ” Melakar tindakan dan pengemblengan Umat”

2.00 ptg Jamuan dan Bersurai

Sebarang Pertanyaan sila Hubungi:

Dr. Syed Jamaluddin : 019 3301055
Hj Jaliluddin : 012 2109753
Pn Noridah : 012 2109753
Khairul Anwar : 013 6714932

Bersama Imam dari Gaza Palestine

Mohon maaf kerana tak berkesempatan untuk update entri atas sebab kekangan masa.InsyaAllah program sentiasa dijalankan dalam kekangan masa yang ada. Baru-baru ini atas iniatif sahabat dari Al-Quds (M) dengan kerjasama Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (N.Sembilan) & Masjid Panchur Jaya berjaya menjayakan program solat teraweh bersama imam yang didatangkan khas dari Gaza Palestin.InsyaAllah kami semua mendokong perjuangan menegakkan agama Mu Ya Allah.

SOLAT ISYA DAN TARAWIH

Bersama Imam Mohamed Tayseer dari Gaza , Palestin

Isnin 7 September 2009

Di Masjid Taman Panchur Jaya , Seremban

Muslimin dan muslimat semua dijemput hadir

Young Moros Marsh Reace Rally

Published by Jun Filed under Bangsamoro

Last January 6 at around 8 o’clock in the morning, hundreds, if not thousands of Young Moros, from different groups and organizations of various schools and colleges in the City of Marawi and Lanao del Sur, gathered and Marshed in Quezon Avenue of the city for the MARSH PEACE RALLY urging the National Government to continue Peace Negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front by Respecting and Honoring the Initialed MOAD-AD. They joined also the international community’s condemnation of the attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip of Palestine that kills hundreds of civilians and wounded thousands mostly children and women. The crowds chanting “RESPECT AND HONOR THE INITIALED MOA-AD”, “STOP BOMBING GAZA”!

Aleem Ilias Macarandas led the prayer before the Marsh. Omarsharief Pangandaman of Tarompong Radio Forum (596) and a Human Rightist was in the affair.


Heres the MANIFESTO:

Bangsamoro Youth Marsh Peace Rally on the Occasion of the Visit of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the Province of Lanao del Sur, January 6, 2009.

WHEREAS, We, the Young Bangsamoro, rejoice in our identify as the offsprings and today’s young generation of the Bangsamoro and as such, proud inheritors of an undying will to assert our people’s freedom and our sovereign rights over territories and our destiny as a nation;

WHEREAS, We are fully aware of the long history of our people’s struggle against foreign oppression and happily bear in mind that our freedom-fighters have consistently demonstrated their wisdom, dignity and magnanimity, in adhering to the principles of justice and peace and in peaceful means of conflict resolution when ever their enemies lean towards peace;

WHEREAS, We are painfully conscious that all the peace treaties and agreements entered into by the Bangsamoro have not been honored or implemented by their counterparts in the negotiations, from way back during the American occupation down to the present administration of the government of the Republic of the Philippines, the latest of which is the deliberate abortion of the initialed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), carefully crafted over more than ten years;

WHEREAS, we are fully cognizant of the reality that the series of betrayals and immoral conduct of the leaders of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is the rout cause of the sustained instability, violence grossly underdeveloped, marginalized and indignified condition of our people and communities, most especially, the hopelessness against a bright, peaceful and prosperous future for the Bangsamoro Young Generation and successor generations;

WE, THEREFORE, on record, issue forth the following questions to Her Excellency, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, on the occasion of her visit in our Province of Lanao del Sur this 6th day of January 2009, and for which we demand unequivocal answers as is our right, and as is only right should the President still assert her rule over us, and faithful to her sworn duty to provide equal protection to all her constituency;

1. Wherefore have you come, Madame President?

2. Do you come as the President of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, who has embroiled our representative in an eleven-year span of peace negotiation, with a historic final document that is certainly the best solution to the conflict, and right on its final approval, Your Excellency turned about and declared your determination not to sign (even at the point of a gun), a presidential declaration vehemently stated even long before the Supreme Court could issue its final decision on the unconstitutionality of the MOA-AD?

3. Is your visit with the blessings of Justice Puno, and the permission of the three Kings of Mindanao Piñol, Cruz and Lobregat? And like Alexander the Great, ride rough shod with no grass allowed to stand in his way?

4. What are you bringing to our people? Can your Excellency bring out hope in the nailed coffin of the MOA-AD? Do you bring equal protection for us and if so, are you bringing at least 13,000 arms for our civilians as you did to non-moro civilians in Mindanao?

5. What can you do for us in the remaining months of your Presidential reign? Your Excellency cannot promise a constitutional change to legitimize the MOA-AD because your powerful opponents took that away from you. The only remaining option is the declaration of Martial Law. Have you come to use us, as Dictator Marcos did, to justify the declaration? Wherefore, have you come this late and no avail?

6. What gift are you bringing to our people and to us, the Young Bangsamoro?

As for us, the MOA-AD is a living document it is not open for re-negotiation if in re-negotiation, the little that is left to us, is further lost to us for we bound ourselves to respect the rights of other peoples in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, the Bangsamoro Homeland and territory.

We are the Young Bangsamoro. We are learning much of democracy under the tutelage of the GRP. WE AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.

Done in the Islamic City of Marawi on 06 January 2009.

Stop the bombings and other atrocities against civilians

STATEMENT

Stop the bombings and other atrocities against civilians
by Bangsamoro Youth Leaders Forum
Friday, 10 July 2009

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The Bangsamoro Youth Leaders Forum (BMYLF), the broadest coalition of Moro youth organizations in Mindanao strongly condemns the recent series of bombings in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Iligan City and Jolo, Sulu that killed 12 persons and injured almost hundred of innocent civilians.

The BMYLF expresses its sympathy and condolence to the families of the victims of these atrocities even as we pray for the immediate recovery of the injured civilians. These incidents can only be a handiwork of individuals or groups with evil motives to create chaos that foment further animosities between Muslim and Christians to serve their own selfish agenda.

Indeed, the BMYLF is aghast and abhors these forms of carnage as it is alarmed by the escalation of violence in Mindanao and the growing number of civilian casualties and displaced persons. The BMYLF wonders if these incidents are not part and parcel of the recently disclosed document “Operation August Moon”. The results of these hostilities are more than enough to prove that resorting to violence will never be the solution of the aged-old problem of Mindanao.

It is with these premises that the BMYLF make the following urgent calls to all concerned particularly the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to wit:

1. Stop the war;
2. Immediately resume the peace talks between the MILF and the GRP;
3. Re-activate the Joint Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Ceasefire
Mechanism and Ad Hoc joint Action Group.
4. For the AFP and MILF-BIAF to respect and adhere to the principles of
International Humanitarian Law, Geneva Conventions 1-1V and Protocols 1-II
5. Immediately form Independent Fact Finding Committee to conduct an in-depth
investigation of the recent bombings and hostilities in Mindanao; and
6. Appeal to the international community particularly the European Union (EU) and
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to help push through the peace process
in Mindanao in order to arrive at a final political settlement.




Finally, the BMYLF further reiterates that the conflict in Mindanao can only be resolved through dialogue and calls upon all parties to act with utmost restraint and jointly work for a lasting solution to the Bangsamoro problem.

SAVE THE INNOCENT CIVILIANS!

Reference:

RAHIB PAYAPAT
Spokesperson



Source: http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6660&Itemid=95

SOLDIERS RAID EVACUATION CENTER IN N. COTABATO

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Early last month, Rakman Suleik and his 17-year-old son Samsudin, together with a few others, fled from the fighting between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Aleosan, North Cotabato. They had evacuated, to safety or so they thought, at the house of a certain Colonel Maguid of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Barangay (village) Nalapaan in Pikit, North Cotabato.

But even in the house that had served as their refuge, they would not be safe from atrocities by soldiers.

A few minutes past midnight on Oct. 16, the evacuees at Colonel Maguid’s house heard violent raps on the door. A man from outside gave them five seconds to open the door, after which, he threatened, the house would be fired upon.

Ustadz Omar Salasal and his wife opened the door, whereupon soldiers barged in bearing bolos. They threatened to hack the evacuees with the bolos, ordered them to lie on the floor face down, and started beating them up. “Inapakan ako sa mukha (They stepped on my face),” Salasal told the delegates of a recent National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission (NIHM) to Pikit, North Cotabato and Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

The women and children were then separated from the men and locked up in a room. One of the soldiers then asked Salasal’s wife if there was anyone upstairs. She answered in the negative, but the soldier refused to believe her and dragged her upstairs. The soldier saw Rakman there, hiding in the ceiling, and ordered him to go down.

“Kinaladkad si Rakman at tinadyakan noong pababa sila ng hagdan (They dragged Rakman and kicked him as they were descending the stairs),” Salasal told the NIHM delegates.

Samsudin said he saw his father being beaten up. “Binugbog ang tatay ko, pinilipit ang tainga niya, at napaiyak siya dahil sa paninipa sa likod niya (My father was beaten up, his ears were twisted, and he broke into tears because his back was being kicked)” he said.

A few moments later, Samsudin said, he was accosted by the soldiers, who asked him who his father is. “No’ng malamang tatay ko si Rakman, sinipa ako at inapakan sa ulo, at saka inilabas ako (When they learned Rakman is my father, they kicked me and stepped on my head, and brought me out),” he said.

As all these were taking place, Salasal said, Colonel Maguid’s mother was pleading with the soldiers not to hurt the civilians. A soldier responded by taking one of the flashlights in the house and inserting it into the mouth of Colonel Maguid’s mother.

After that, the soldiers took Rakman and Samsudin outside the house and beat them up some more before speeding away with them in an Army truck. When the soldiers -– whom Salasal had identified as belonging to the 40th Infantry Battalion by the lettering on the Army truck they had used in the raid –- had gone a considerable distance, the other evacuees fled.

Samsudin said they were taken near another evacuation center, where the soldiers tied them to an ipil-ipil tree and continued beating them up.

Rakman is now detained at the Aleosan Municipal Jail. The soldiers had brought them there after beating them up while tied to the ipil-ipil tree.

“Do’n na lang po namin nalamang may kaso sa kanya (It was only there that we learned there is a case against him),” Samsudin said. “Hindi po alam ng tatay ko na may kaso pala siya (My father didn’t know that there was a case against him).”

“Hindi ko po alam kung bakit kami ang tinatarget (I don’t know why we were being targeted),” Samsudin told the NIHM delegates.

As of Oct. 24, there was still no definite information as to whether or not Rakman had been charged with any offense. (Bulatlat.com)
posted by Alexander Martin Remollino


Source: http://ourthoughtsarefree.blogspot.com/

ON BEING A MORO AND A MUSLIM

(A Statement from the Office of Anak Mindanao Party List Representative Mujiv S. Hataman on the Privilege Speech of Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin)

When the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front caused a wave of protests among different sectors of society, we feared the resurging of anti-Moro discrimination and prejudice.

Though we believed that the said Memorandum of Agreement could have been a major breakthrough in the peace process, we adhered and respected the Temporary Restraining Order issued by the Supreme Court, acknowledging the right to information and consultation raised by the protesters. We welcomed this opportunity for calmness, rationality and objectivity in the discussion and study of the Agreement, thereby easing our aforementioned fear.

However, today (August 6, 2008) our fear stared right in front of us, right in the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, coming from the least expected person, as we have revered and esteemed him for his eloquence, brilliance and uncorrupted stance in major public controversies in the past.

Exercising utmost prudence, we did not settle for what the news reported. We asked for a copy of the mentioned Privilege Speech of the Honorable Representative Teddy Boy Locsin, and much to our grief, the words in the actual Speech only served to confirm our fears.

We recognize the oppositions against the content of the Agreement, even the process by which it was carried out. But to put forward arguments based on misconceptions about Islam and derogatory statements about the Moro people is uncalled for, especially from a statesman such as the Honorable Representative.

If a highly educated, respected authority like Congressman Locsin thought and felt this way towards the Moro people and Muslims in general, one can only surmise what an ordinary non-Moro, non-Muslim thinks about us.

It is for this consideration, that we are compelled to negate some points raised by the good Congressman, made not in bad faith, we would like to believe, but out of the lack of acquaintance with the Moro People’s History and the dynamics of Islam.

Enumerated in the Speech under Items Four, Five and Six are what the Representative say will result from the MOA – an allusion to the establishment of an anarchic, Afghanistan-style government, “an educational system teaching even undemocratic political values along with intolerant religious ideas,” “without any of the civilized limitations in the Bill of Rights, such as equal protection of the laws, due process, and the prohibition against such cruel and unusual punishments as stoning to death a woman taken in adultery or just suspected. Indeed, it shall possess absolute powers without any prohibition against the discrimination, abuse and enslavement of women, which happens in some Muslim states.”

We do not deny the fact that these occur in countries where Muslims are a majority (there are questions among Muslim authorities on the use of the term “Islamic State” as the claim of some countries to be such is still highly debated upon), but they are also occurrences in many non-Muslim nations. Yes there are Muslims who allege that these are Islamic teachings, but many Muslims believe that these are misrepresentations arising from conservative interpretation of Islam, contrary to the true essence of Islam as established in Qur’anic hermeneutical exegesis. We are not in the position to lecture on Islamic theology and we know that this is not the proper forum. However, allow us to share the following Rights prescribed in Islam:

1. BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS:

1. The Right to Life
2. The Right to the Safety of Life
3. Respect for the Chastity of Women
4. The Right to a Basic Standard of Life
5. Individual’s Right to Freedom
6. The Right to Justice
7. Equality of Human Beings
8. The Right to Co-operate and not to Co-operate

2. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS IN AN ISLAMIC STATE:

1. The Security of Life and Property
2. The Protection of Honor
3. The Sanctity and Security of Private Life
4. The Security of Personal Freedom
5. The Right to Protest Against Tyranny
6. Freedom of Expression
7. Freedom of Association
8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction
9. Protection of Religious Sentiments
10. Protection from Arbitrary Imprisonment
11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life
12. Equality Before Law
13. Rulers not above the Law
14. The Right to Avoid Sin
15. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of the State


3. RIGHTS OF ENEMIES AT WAR:

1. The Rights of the Non-Combatants
2. The Rights of the Combatants
o Right Against Torture with fire
o Protection of the Wounded
o The Prisoner of War should not be Slain
o No one should be tied to be killed
o No looting and destruction in the enemy’s country
o Sanctity of Property
o Sanctity of a Dead Body
o Return of Corpses of the Enemy
o Prohibition of Breach of Treaties
o Rules about Declaration of War

These Fundamental Rights were laid down by Islam six hundred years before the concept of human rights was said to be introduced in the Magna Carta of Britain. They are Rights due to every single being, regardless of race, sex or religion. Muslims are to uphold these Rights with utmost compliance because in the words of the Muslim scholar, Syed Maududi, “…when we speak of human rights in Islam we really mean that these rights have been granted by God; they have not been granted by any king or by any legislative assembly. The rights granted by the kings or the legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same manner in which they are conferred. But since in Islam human rights have been conferred by God, no legislative assembly in the world, or any government on earth has the right or authority to make any amendment or change in the rights conferred by God. No one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they the basic human rights which are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and denied in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical concepts which have no sanctions behind them.”

Furthermore, no less than the Prophet (S.A.W.) said, “On the day of judgment, rights will be given to those to whom they are due (and wrongs will be redressed…)

The violation by some Muslims of this decree does not justify the attribution of cruelty to all Muslims or to Islam in general.

We hope to have shed a speck of light on the issue of Islam, Human Rights and Democracy. Allow us now to clarify some points raised about the Moro People and our Struggle for Right to Self-Determination.

Rep. Locsin started his speech by saying it is easy for one (such as Rep. Dilangalen) to approach the issue calmly, for he stands to gain an entirely new country. May we remind or if indeed he is ignorant of the fact, inform his honor that the Moro’s struggle is not about GAINING a new country, but about REGAINING what was unjustly taken away from us. And in this particular agreement, this opportunity of regaining what is rightfully ours is not even without conditions.

The Moro people is not what he called new-minted citizens. Sir, we have been a civilized people long before the Spaniards came. We were a sovereign nation 448 years before the Philippines even became one. Our government had treaty relations with the Spaniards, the French and the Americans. Long before Magellan discovered the Philippines, Jolo was already serving as one of the international trading ports in the Malayan world, frequented by Arab, Chinese and other Asian traders. We had a defined land territory and we are not solely seafarers as mentioned.

Perhaps the good Congressman forgot, Manila started as a Muslim community ruled by Rajah Sulayman.

If we have become the lowly people that we are now, bereft of civility and dignity as many see us to be, we can only point to a stepmother who has forsaken us after forcibly taking us along with our legitimate inheritance into her custody. From the very beginning, the Moro people were not remiss in their resistance against inclusion in the Philippines. But despite pleas, petitions and clamors in every means imaginable, the interest of the Moro people was never sufficiently addressed or at the very least heard. In the drafting of the 1935 Constitution, a group of Moros wrote a letter to the Constitutional Convention, asking for a guarantee of their political, economic and socio-cultural survival as a people. This found no space in the said Constitution. The letter was not even read. It is said that in protest of this injustice, a Christian Filipino delegate from Lanao, Hon. Tomas Cabili did not sign the Constitution.

But despite these, many of us grew up to be loving, respectful and obedient children of this nation. But just like illegitimate children, we are forever challenged to prove our loyalty, to struggle in order to gain respect and acceptance or even just to belong. We are eternally striving to prove our worth and to at least get the attention that we deserve but never had. And in times when we cry, longing for our identity in our own home, we are called insurgents, rebels, traitors and dealt with as such.

The Filipino nation has not and from the recent debacles about the peace process, will never be able to accept us unconditionally for who and what we are. Yet, the Filipino nation denies us, even a glimpse of hope to regain our lives. What can be more cruel than that?

This is not to serve the interest of the peace process, more so push for the contentious Memorandum of Agreement. Public debates on the issue are everywhere. This is a mere attempt to provide an alternative perspective on what has been said, particularly in the subject Privilege Speech, which we know, represents the feelings and insights of many of our Christian Filipino brothers and sisters.

Lastly, the said Speech also questioned the intervention of the Malaysian government. We cannot speak in behalf of Malaysia. But this we can say, the Moro People’s Right to Self-Determination is a universally upheld Right. Between Malaysia, who recognizes this right, and one who is not aware of, much more support this right, who now is bereft of the spirit of human rights, democracy and justice?


Source: http://blog.wyzemoro.com/on-being-a-moro-and-a-muslim/

Ethnic Conflict and Natural Resources Xinjiang, China

Ancient Ruins of Jiaohe City Xinjiang, China

I. CASE BACKGROUND

1. Abstract

The Muslim Uyghurs are an ethnic minority in Xinjiang, the most western province of China. Particularly since the Communist takeover of the region in 1949, the Uyghurs have experienced religious and cultural persecution by the Han Chinese. With the discovery of oil and other natural resources in the region, the Han Chinese are now flooding into the region in an effort to exploit the resources.

This influx of people has intensified the already tenuous relationship between the Han Chinese and the Uyghurs over their religious, cultural and social differences. Furthermore, the influx of people has lead to not only the extraction of resources but the over-cultivation of land and over-use of precious water resources in the area. As a result, the Uyghurs have strengthened their own campaign, sometimes resorting to violence, in an effort to reclaim their land to halt the religious and political persecution and, in extremist cases, to establish their own, independent Uyghur state.

Street Market Urumqi, China

Muslim Mosque Urumqi, China

2. Description
Along with cultural and political repression, the fight for oil is contributing to the repression of economic progress in the region as well. In order to understand the importance or the magnitude of the struggle for resources, it is important to understand the political and cultural struggles that have come before. The environmental aspect of the struggle between the Uyghurs and the Han Chinese is not only a cause of recent conflict but is also a contributing factor in the ongoing conflict which has existed for many years. The conflict in Western China is also unique in that the environmental aspect, as said before, exists both in the natural resources at stake and in the strategic geographic location of the region. The growing importance of its geographical position (it is important to note) is related to the development of neighboring nations and economies within the region. The development of the Central Asian states and the sympathetic Uyghur populations located within those states may prove to be a problem for Chinese control as they may encourage or even assist in the drive for an independent Uyghur nation in the future.


Historical Relationship
Throughout various periods in history, the Uyghurs have experienced tastes of independence, the independent republic of East Turkistan, for a short time. However the Han insist that the same area was in fact settled by the Chinese over 2,000 years ago. As a result of the historical disparities, disagreements and hostilities over economic, political and cultural issues have plagued the region up through its modern history.


Though the ethnic origin of the Uyghurs has been traced to the Uyghur Empire in Northwestern Mongolia (744-840 C.E.) it is believed that the modern Uyghurs have only existed since the mid-1930s (when the Chinese government defined the modern Uyghurs as ‘oasis-dwelling Muslims of Xinjiang’s Tarim Basin). That from 1450-1935 the term ‘Uyghur’ essentially went ‘unused’ does not mean that the people disappeared. In 1931 the Chinese government attempted to manipulate the hereditary leadership in Xinjiang (oasis of Hami) and ethnic turmoil ensued. This violence was the beginning of the Uyghurs modern struggle for independence. They found themselves in opposition to the Han and the Tungans (Hui people) (as the Tungans, from a Uyghur standpoint, had allied with the Han though they were, in fact, Muslim). Until 1949, Xinjiang managed to remain relatively independent from central authorities in China (instead the Uyghurs were more influenced by the civilizations on China’s Western border, i.e. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, etc.). (Rudelson, Oasis Identities)


Xinjiang builds ties with outside world, the Chinese becomes uneasy
As transportation and communication abilities increased, barriers to integration deteriorated. Furthermore, as the Soviet Union began to make agreements with warlords in Xinjiang to exploit the area’s natural resources, the Chinese government realized they needed to manipulate the geographical situation to favor their own interests. To take away trade routes from the Soviet Union, the city of Urumqi was made a transportation hub and the Han have been pouring into the region in search of agricultural and economic opportunities since. Ethnic friction has continued to intensify as more and more Han move into the region usurping Uyghur autonomy.

Oil exploration officially began in 1951 with the drilling of the first well in 1955. Coincidentally, the first major incident of resistance occurred in 1954, the Khotan rising in Southern Xinjiang. In 1962 a mass exodus of Kazakhs and others westward was the result of a rationing of resources (specifically the grain rationing system). Han Chinese immigration and competition resulted in scarcities of agricultural land, water and pastures. Uyghur opposition grew increasingly more overt and nationalistic throughout the 1980s as the repressive atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1977) began to wither (Rudelson, Oasis Identities).


With the discovery of large reserves of strategic natural resources in the area, specifically oil and natural gas, tensions have grown increasingly complex and more violent. Not only do the natural resource demands represent another way for the Han Chinese to exploit the people of Xinjiang in order to support the further economic development of Eastern China, Xinjiang also holds much value as a border province, or a link with the relatively newly ‘opened’ Central Asian (formerly Russian) states. Xinjiang is expected to replace northeast China as the new supplier of energy resources, mainly oil and natural gas (and some coal, too). For example, in early 2005, construction began on an oil pipeline between Kazakhstan and Western China (Dillon)


Post-cultural revolution: ethnic conflict erupts as need for scarce natural resources intensifies
February, 1997: Yining/Ghulja, Xinjiang
Chinese security officials acted with force to suppress what had been a peaceful pro-independence demonstration in Yining (a small city about 30 miles from the China-Kazakhstan border). Uyghurs contend that the Han Chinese were simply looking to exploit Xinjiang’s natural resources. Two days of riots followed. Though reports differ, it is believed that at least nine people were killed and hundreds more were injured. One month after this outbreak of violence separatists responded by detonating bombs on two public buses in Urumqi.

By January, 2000 China had launched the “Go West” policy indicating that there is more at stake than merely increasing growth in Western China. Not only are there interests in Xinjiang for its natural resources but also, by extracting the natural resources from the area as an economic commodity, they (China) are in a sense taking away Uyghur livelihood and their (Uyghur) means to live. This results in two situations: first, the Uyghurs are left to flounder in a ‘backwards’ society, isolated from the rest of the world with no means to overcome the geographical and economic factors separating them. Secondly, as they are further marginalized, the Uyghurs naturally become increasingly discontent and perhaps leads to an increase in separatist/extremists mentalities.


3. Duration
Begin: Early 1950 (1955- Xinjiang was officially labeled an autonomous region of China.)


End: Present As China’s interest in developing strategic relationships with central Asian states continues (evidence in the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.) the region of Xinjiang will continue to be important both as a border region (for security measures) and as a viable source of energy.


Over the last half of the 20th century several violent incidents have occurred. In the late 1990s and particularly in the aftermath of September 11th, the boundaries of the ethnic conflict and natural resources have grown beyond Urumqi, Xinjiang and the violence has now spread to cities like Beijing where deadly bombings were carried out in late 1997 (Dillon, 100).


The Uyghur conflict has also spread internationally. For example, in October 2002, China’s Deputy Prime Minister claimed the U.S. government detained at least 12 Uyghurs at Guatanamo Bay for possible connections with terrorist networks. Though any terrorist connections have yet to be proven, if the Uyghurs are returned to China they will almost certainly face brutal interrogations and incarceration regardless. While the U.S. State Department has issued reports condemning China for its harsh treatment of accused separatists, they have also praised China on joining the West in the war on terrorism (Starr). The increasingly vocal Chinese dissidents or separatists (i.e. Uyghurs) may hurt China’s economic relationships as well. For example, Kazakhstan’s president has stated his opposition to any organization advocating separatism in China using Kazakh territory. China’s economic relationships, with neighboring nations, depends on China’s ability to reign in the ‘wild west of China’ and maintain control over the ‘violent separatists’.



courtesy of University of Texas Libraries
4. Location: East Asia: China
Western China: Xinjiang Province, and the Central Asian States: Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The actual conflict has occurred in (what is considered) China, although scuffles have broken out near or on the Western border mainly with Kazakhstan but also Kyrgystan and Tajikistan as well. Also, it is important to remember that in discussing the connection between Chinese economic interests and the war on terror, Afghanistan does share a small border with Western China.

5. Actors: Han Chinese, People's Republic of China, Ethnic Uyghur People

Actors
Sovereign Actors: Government of the People’s Republic of China, Han Chinese citizens

Non-Sovereign Actors: Uyghur people (of Turkic Muslim descent) While the Chinese claim the Uyghurs are part of China, the Uyghurs consider themselves a separate national identity

II. Environment Aspects
6. Type of Environmental Problem: Resource Rights: Oil
Source Problem
Looking at direct causal linkages, the environmental conflict present alongside the ethnic conflict taking place in Xinjiang is a problem of source. The negative impacts of the repeated and invasive search for oil are only compounded by the fact that the benefits the area could potentially hope to see are lost as the oil is taken out of the region and devoted to development of eastern China. What makes the sacrifice of ethnic culture, language and political autonomy in the pursuit of economic development seem perhaps more in vain is the fact that China, with 9% economic growth yearly and the world’s second largest consumer of oil, China has also continued to develop oil projects outside its national borders in order to satisfy a need which may increase by as much as 7% this year over last(1). When 40% of China’s oil comes from imports and China is making deals to develop oil fields in Iran, why has the region of Xinjiang been so exploited when, according to some analysts, the actual amount of oil in the area is far less than originally claimed, and far less than could be found else where?


According to the list of potential source problems, this case study could be placed under habitat loss for the simple reason that the extracting of oil is compromising or even destroying the Uyghurs’ livelihood and essentially their living conditions. Beyond that, however, if given the choice, I would categorize this study simple as ‘oil’. That simple term encompasses not only the desire for oil but also the side effects that come with it. In China, economic growth is at the forefront of most policy decisions and as such, the search for oil, a driving force behind economic growth, is placed above environmental concerns or implementation of environmental protections. The oil that is exploited from the region serves to fuel environmental degradation in other, more developed, parts of China.


(1)China-Iran Energy Talks Complicate Nuclear Standoff. The Wall Street Journal. February 17, 2006.

7. Type of Habitat: Dry
Dry, Cool (Winter) Hot (Summer) Desolate peaks vs. Arable Land

Xinjiang is a remote province and sparsely populated. It is made up of vast deserts which contribute to a climate of very cold winters and very hot summers. It’s an area of low humidity with more consistent patterns of rain as opposed to a concentrated rainy season.
Xinjiang accounts for more than one sixth of China’s total territory and a quarter of its boundary length. The provinces lowest point is 155 meters below sea level and it’s highest is 8611 meters above sea level. More importantly, the borders of Xinjiang include the point of land remotest from the sea which is 1,645 miles from the nearest coastline. Several of its borders are marked by mountain ranges contributing to the relative seclusion of the region, making it rather difficult to access by land. Because of its geography and climate, Xinjiang is well suited for producing fruits especially grapes and melons, and other commodities such as wheat, silk and cotton. However, none of these products has the power or value of the natural minerals and oil present in the region. According to China’s estimates, Petroleum reserves have reached 20.9 billion tons (30% of the petroleum on land in China)(CIA World Factbook)


8. Act and Harm Sites: China and China (Xinjiang)
Nation A impacts Nation A

The Act and Harm sites are primarily the same: China. However, there have been a few exceptions as to the locations in China. In early 1997, following the uprising in Yining (i.e. Gulja) in Xinjiang province (as mentioned above) there have been several bombs detonated on buses in Beijing, reportedly an act carried out by Uyghur Muslim separatists. (Though authorities originally denied the act as that of ethnic separatists, their actions proved otherwise, they began to carry out such orders as restricting religious worship activities (MacKinnon).) Perhaps this indicates the potential for the conflict to reach beyond internal (provincial) borders and maybe even international borders if Xinjiang were to further engage activists and/or separatist extremists in Central Asian territories.

Chinese Population Distribution According to Linguistic Groups

courtesy of The General Libraries at University of Texas Austin
Uyghurs make up 8 million of Xinjiang’s 17 million inhabitants. In 1949, Han Chinese made up 6.3% of Xinjiang’s population compared to 38% today (See map on Chinese language disbursement: In Xinjiang, the bright yellow represents Mandarin speakers (Han Chinese) and the tan represents speakers of Turkic languages (including Uyghur) (Lawrence). Not only has the composition of the population in Xinjiang changed but the quantity has changed as well. The oil reserves have produced an influx of people moving to the region for the wrong reasons. Many Han Chinese, who otherwise would not have gone (or subjected themselves to such an extreme climate) have either volunteered or were sent specifically to exploit the area’s natural resources. Not only does this deplete the resources themselves, it adds excessive pressure and strain on the local economy and the natural resources available for day to day living. (i.e. sacrificing agricultural land for urban development.) Therefore, to expound upon how this case was categorized earlier, it is not just the extraction of oil that is important but the unnecessary, extreme depletion of available resources and a loss of habitat (CIA World Factbook).


III. Conflict Aspects

9. Type of Conflict: Civil conflict
The conflict exists between two ethnic groups within Chinese borders.
As with most conflicts that happen internally in China, there is a great degree of conflicting information. Additionally, it is important to clarify that though the single incident in Yining (Gulja) has been highlighted, the overarching conflict between the ethnic Uyghurs and the Han Chinese spans many incidents of resistance and far more casualties.

The conflict originated over the Uyghur people's desire for political and religious independence from the Han Chinese. With this desire for independence, came the struggle for natural resources and local economic sustainability. The exploitation of local oil reserves exacerbated ethnic differences and helped fuel the conflict.


Specifically in regards to what happened in Yining in February of 1997, the numbers of casualties and deaths are estimates at best. Most reports (including Chinese officials’ numbers) range anywhere from nine to twenty dead and hundreds injured. Unofficial witness accounts have claimed anywhere from 30 to 100 to 400 were injured or killed (1). Other sources simply state that hundreds joined the demonstrations that day and when fighting broke out a ‘number of civilians and police officers were killed’. According to still other reports, prior estimates failed to take into account the number of those arrested and subsequently tortured in custody, or those who remain unaccounted for (Tyler, 167-172)(2). Following the incident, and as a direct result of it, Amnesty International asserts that 210 death sentences were subsequently handed down and at least 190 carried out.


(1) Some have given accounts that stated 10-20 separatists were secretly executed fueling the uprising giving rise to incalculable numbers of death and injuries (Oasis Identities, 100)


(2)There were wide reports of torture by subjecting the prisoners to freezing temperatures in public gathering places where many suffered frostbite, amputated limbs or even death. (Amnesty International)


10. Level of Conflict: Low


The level of the intrastate (civil) conflict is low. The small, localized, struggles were quickly and forcefully contained and put down by local Chinese enforcement.


(Prior incidents reporting few casualties: Khotan rising, Dec. 1954; Baren county, April 1990; Yining (first disturbances) April 1995; Aksu county, Feb-April 1996.)


11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities): Low, 30 civilian fatalities (reported).

General Estimate: 30 people killed, at least 100 severely injured
IV. Environment and Conflict Overlap

12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics: Direct/Indirect
The core of the environmental conflict ultimately rests over China’s (or the Chinese government’s) access to oil in the Xinjiang region (the Direct environmental-conflict link). However, a second tier exists within the conflict over the ‘side-effects’ that the Uyghur population is now having to deal with as a result, not only with the decline in oil resources, but also the environmental degradation that has accompanied the influx of the population.
Xinjiang is known for its agricultural land and appropriate climate for producing fruits, especially grapes, and other seasonal products. However, development (land development) has threatened the availability and richness of the land, somewhat paralyzing the region economically as they are unable to adequately compensate for lost sources of revenue. This growing scarcity of resources is an indirect environment-conflict link.

13. Level of Strategic Interest: Sub-state (with the potential to become Regional)
The situation is ‘Sub-state’ in that the conflict over the strategic interests of oil are between two ethnic groups within China. Both the Chinese (Han) and Uyghur populations ultimately want control over the exploration and exploitation of the oil reserves located in Xinjiang. This same situation could also be viewed as a potential regional conflict because the surrounding Central Asian states not only may develop an interest in the oil (though oil suppliers are plentiful in the Middle East, Xinjiang, China does represent a geographically convenient location for importing oil to many of those countries and some have made agreements to allow China to come in and develope oil drilling sites for export back to China (ex: Kazakhstan)) parts of the populations in those Asian states such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazahkstan have Uyghur populations as well and so there is a personal/ethnic tie or desire in seeing or supporting the development of an autonomous Uyghur state.


14. Outcome of Dispute: Stalemate

Winter in Urumqi
Given that the outcome of the dispute is highly dependent upon one’s position within the conflict, this situation is even more complicated in that the description or categorization of this problem depends upon who you ask within the decision-making body (The Chinese government in this case) Some Chinese officials will say the situation in Xinjiang is under control or they will deny the severity (or existence) of the problem to begin with. However, other members within the party will hint at the greater complexity of the problem. They will acknowledge that ethnic clashes still continue and may even intensify due to the increasing importance of oil in the region and increasing awareness of the conflict both within China and internationally.

The conflict has been categorized as a stalemate because though China insists it has controlled the situation, Uyghurs in the region would say the government has managed to suppress the disturbances but only temporarily and that in fact the underlying problems are still very real and very deep.

The imposition of Chinese rule over the largely Muslim region continues to this day in all aspects of life for the Uyghur people. For example, just recently the government announced a plan to impose tougher birth control measures on the Uyghurs which Chinese officials claim will stem the population size which they say is beginning to cancel out the improvements attained through economic development (though most of the population in Xinjiang today is Han Chinese). However, the Uyghur people see this as just another example of excessive Chinese authority in the region which, in the past has led to vast human rights violations(1).

This conflict in Western China is also quickly gaining worldwide attention as several Uyghurs who have been detained at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison for being possible enemy combatants in 2002 are petitioning to be released. The courts have ruled that the prisoners were detained illegally but the courts lack the power to release them (unable to overrule the President). More specifically related to the conflict at hand, the Uyghurs are seeking release and asylum in the US as they have stated that they will likely be persecuted if/when they return to China (2).

These recent cases are evidence that the ethnic conflict between the Chinese government and the Uyghur population in Xinjiang is still very much alive. The environmental aspects of economic development continue to play an important role not only directly (as pertaining to oil resources) but also indirectly as population management becomes a more critical issue.

(1) Bodeen, Christopher. More Birth Control Sought in China Region. The Washington Post online. February 17, 2006.

(2) Leonnig, Carol D. Chinese Detainees’ Lawyers Will Take Case to High Court. The Washington Post. January 17, 2006


V. Related Information and Sources

15. Related ICE and TED Cases
Separatism

Separatism in Mindanao, Philippines Armed separatist movement began in the early 1970s. Islamic rebel groups engaged in armed conflict with government forces for independence. Tensions exist over the exploitation of the island’s resources and economic disparity.

The Acehnese Resistance Movement and Exxon Mobil The resistance movement in the province Aceh began as a religious movement, but acquired a different tone once Mobil Oil Indonesia (MOI) began to exploit the oil and natural gas deposits there.

The Biafran War After gaining independence from Nigeria, one of three ethnic groups in the region wanted individual independence. This was refused by the remaining groups because of the wealth of oil reserves at stake in the region and their desire to maintain access to them.

Ethnic Conflict and the Environment

Civil War in the Sudan: Resources or Religion? The civil war can not only be characterized as religious, ethnic and regional conflicts but economic as well. Deterioration of the ecological system and scarcity of resources is quickly intensifying the situation.

KALIMAN After decades of ethnic and religious conflict in West Kalimantan, the problem has been further complicated by the government which has granted deforestation rights to cultivate palm oil contributing to the destruction of the rainforest and the local tribes’ way of life.

Yadana Gas Pipeline in Burma The joint venture has drawn criticism from both inside and outside of Burma alleging that the deal was made with a government with massive human rights violations and a record of environmental degradation.

Thai and Burmese Timber Trade The growing timber trade has left the peoples of the region to suffer under state sanctioned human rights abuses and the loss of vital environmental resources which their livelihood and tribal practices depend on.

Exploitation of Environmental Resources

JAYAMINE Island of New Guinea, territory of Indonesia, people have suffered at the hands of the military over protests against copper mining operations. Opposition against Indonesia control has existed for several decades now as the indigenous peoples are racially and ethnically different from Indonesians.

Spratly Islands Dispute Control of the Spratly Islands and the various natural resources available there, has been contended by China and several of its neighbors. With China searching for energy resources, it aims to impose its control over neighboring territories rich in oil, gas and other minerals.

OGONIOIL The Ogonis, an ethnic group in the Delta region (Nigeria), have protested that Shell's oil production has not only devastated the local environment, but has destroyed the economic viability of the region for local farmers and producers. The Nigerian Federal Government has also been accused of failing to protect the environment harming protestors.

16. Relevant Websites and Literature
Bodeen, Christopher. More Birth Control Sought in China Region. The Washington Post online. February 17, 2006.


China-Iran Energy Talks Complicate Nuclear Standoff. The Wall Street Journal. February 17, 2006.


Dillon, Michael, Xinjiang—China’s Muslim Far Northwest. Routledge Curzon, New York. 2004.


Lawrence, Susan V. China: Where Beijing Fears Kosovo. Xinjiang Issue, September 7, 2000 Far Eastern Economic Review.


Leonnig, Carol D. Chinese Detainees’ Lawyers Will Take Case to High Court. The Washington Post. January 17, 2006.


MacKinnon, Rebecca. CNN Correspondent. Does China have ethnic unity? Violence indicates 'no;' leaders say 'yes' April 4, 1997.


Tyler, Christian. Wild West China. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, 2004.


Rudelson, Justin Jon. Oasis Identities. Columbia University Press, New York, 1997.


Starr, Frederick. Xinjiang: China’s Muslim Borderland. M.E. Sharpe, New York, 2004.


Human Rights Watch publication: Devastating Blows: Religious Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang http://hrw.org/reports/2005/china0405/index.htm. New York, 2004.


Xinhua General New Service. Xinjiang expected to be new relief for China’s energy resource supply. Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. June 1, 2004.


Xinhua News Agency, China Exclusive: Oil/gas supply line being built along ancient Silk Road in NW China. Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. September 16, 2005.


United Press International, Outside View: China’s Muslims Muazzam Gill. May 7, 2004.
http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/xinjiang.htm#r2

Uighur Minority Rights - Joint Press Statement

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT


CHINA MUST RECOGNIZE AND PROTECT

UIGHUR MINORITY RIGHTS

DEAL UNREST EVEN-HANDEDLY THROUGH INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION

12 TH JULY 2009

We are deeply concerned over the escalating violence in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Reports suggest that the unrest has now spread from Urumqi to the cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Aksu, Khotan and Karamay.

There are conflicting reports from various sources regarding the number of dead in Urumqi, and the cause of these deaths. Official reports say at least 156 have been killed, while other sources put the figure above 1,000. Uighur sources within Xinjiang say that 400 Uighurs have been killed by police. So far, there have been 1,000 injured and 1,434 arrested in relation to the unrest in Xinjiang.

Official reports link the unrest to the death of two Uighur factory workers in June in an ethnic clash at a toy factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong province. However, other reports suggest that more than 100 Uighurs were killed during the incident at the factory. While the Chinese authorities imposed an information black-out on the incident, it was allegedly the rumours of this incident, and the government’s inaction, that sparked an estimated 10,000 Uighur protestors to take to the streets in Urumqi.

Reports suggest police knew in advance protestors would be demonstrating in large numbers and blocked the roads to prevent them from assembling. This, and heavy-handed policing toward Uighurs, is thought to have played a role in turning the initially peaceful protests in Urumqi into violent riots.

It is probable that the substantial influx of Han Chinese to the region has played a role in the current unrest. A drastic ‘in-transfer’ of ethnic Han Chinese has coincided with the government policy of transferring Uighur women from Xinjiang to the urban areas of China’s eastern seaboard for forced labour, significantly changing the region’s demographics.

According to reports in the media China’s Uighurs are undoubtedly amongst the most repressed peoples of the world. Some of the human rights abuses Uighurs face are forced labour, forced abortion, human trafficking, arbitrary arrest and detention, and severe racial and religious persecution and discrimination.


We call on the Chinese government:

1. To carry out an open and independent investigation into the ethnic clash and deaths that took place in Guangdong in late June.

2. To deal with the protestors in a proportionate and even-handed manner and those arrested must receive fair trials in accordance with international standards. Adequate investigations on the circumstances surrounding all deaths should be carried out.

3. To respect, and provide opportunities for Uighurs to enjoy, their human rights including their religious and cultural rights.

4. To abandon the policy of changing the demography of the region through Han migration and trying to assimilate them into the Han community.

5. To recognize and give effect to the right of self-determination of the Uighurs in accordance with international law.

6. To establish inter-ethnic goodwill councils to address inter-ethnic problems and promote unity.

1. Abdul Ghani Samsudin
Chairman ,SHURA

2. S.M. Mohamed Idris
Chairman , Citizens International

3. Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President , TERAS

The CIA And Rioting Uyghurs In Xinjiang

Some of the locals http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khotan-mercado-chicos-d01.jpg

Are the CIA and its friends trying to break up China?

On 6 July 2009, we learn that about 140 people have been killed and more than 800 injured in violence in the city of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang region. (China’s Xinjiang hit by violence)

Relations between the Han Chinese community and the minority Muslim Uyghurs are tense.

The Uyghurs, a Muslim minority from the autonomous region Xinjiang (Western China), are seeking the secession of their region “East Turkestan” from the People’s Republic of China.

Photo of Urumqi by Michael D. Manning, The Opposite End of China(http://china.notspecial.org/).

In 2007, http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56104 had an article about China.

From this we learn:

1. German foreign policy makers have held talks with Chinese separatists.

The Munich based “World Uyghur Congress (WUC)” announced its president, US-based Rebiya Kadeer, was received by the German foreign ministry.

Berlin has been escalating its anti-Beijing secessionist offensive.

Germany – and intelligence circles – have been cultivating relations with Uyghur exiled politicians.

‘Current transatlantic activities promoting anti-Chinese separatism and weakening Beijing, are based on decades of German-US cooperation.’

2. Erkin Alptekin, a Uyghur living in exile, is one of the main players and he has CIA links.

Erkin Alptekin moved to Munich in 1971, where he became “Senior Policy Advisor” to the director of the US station “Radio Liberty”.

It was at that time that the CIA began to establish contacts to Uyghurs seeking secession.

“Some, like Erkin Alptekin, who have worked for the CIA’s Radio Liberty, are – in the meantime – on the forefront of the secessionist movement” writes analyst B. Raman, the former Indian government’s cabinet secretary.



3. In Munich, Alptekin founded the “East Turkestan Union in Europe” in 1991; and in April 2004 he founded the “World Uyghur Congress” and became its founding president.

‘From German territory, the congress is steering numerous Uyghur exile organizations around the world, of which some must be classified as being in the terrorist milieu, according to Chinese government information.’

4. The Munich based exile movement seeks to merge the Uyghur secessionist movement with the Tibetan and the Mongolian movements.

It seeks to break up China.

In 1985, former CIA advisor Alptekin participated in the foundation of the “Allied Committee of the Peoples of East Turkestan, Tibet and Inner Mongolia”.

5. Rebiya Kadeer is continuing Alptekin’s activities – and is also receiving German-US American support.

Her husband works for Radio Free Asia, the Asian counterpart to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, also said to have close links to the CIA.

[1] see also Language Struggle and Ethnic Europe
[2] Erkin Alptekin; www.tibet10march.net/web/redner_alptekin.htm
[3] B. Raman: US and Terrorism in Xinjiang; South Asia Analysis Group, Paper No. 499, 24.07.2002
[4] China Seeks Int’l Support In Counter-Terrorism; People’s Daily Online 16.12.2003
[5] B. Raman: US and Terrorism in Xinjiang; South Asia Analysis Group, Paper No. 499, 24.07.2002

Source : http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-cia-and-rioting-uyghurs-in-xinjiang.html

China bans Friday prayers in Xinjiang region

Source : The Malaysian Insider

URUMQI, July 10 — Chinese authorities banned prayer gatherings at mosques here today, the principal day of prayer for Muslims, as security officials tried to prevent further ethnic violence in the Xinjiang region.

In another principal Xinjiang city, the ancient Silk Road oasis town of Kashgar, foreign journalists and other visitors were instructed to leave.

Chinese soldiers in riot gear guard the entrance of Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the centre of Urumqi today. — Reuters pic

Strictly enforced security was clearly high on the government’s agenda, and the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, said in an editorial today that “to maintain social stability, we need to isolate and crack down hard on a handful of people.” The paper said those who “masterminded, organised and committed serious violence during the riot” should be targeted.

At least 156 people were killed in three days of rioting and unrest that began Sunday in Urumqi, the region’s capital. More than 1,000 were reported injured.

The People’s Daily editorial echoed the remarks of President Hu Jintao, who cut short a visit to the Group of 8 summit meeting in Italy. In a statement issued along with the Communist Party’s senior leaders, Hu called on the authorities to “isolate and deal a blow to the small group” who had a hand in the bloodshed.

“Preserving and maintaining the overall stability of Xinjiang is currently the most urgent task,” said Hu, according to a statement published by the official Chinese news agency.

The party chief of Urumqi, Li Zhi, offered even tougher words: “To those who have committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them.”

The turmoil began at a southern Chinese shoe factory last month after Chinese workers, spurred by false accusations of rape, attacked Uighur co-workers, killing at least two. The government’s failure to aggressively prosecute those involved in the brawl became a rallying cry for Uighur students in Urumqi, who organised the protest last Sunday that turned violent.

Uighurs, who are Turkic-speaking Muslims, form a minority in Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million that has been heavily settled by ethnic Han Chinese from other parts of China. The influx of so many outsiders, and what many describe as Beijing’s heavy-handed rule, have helped foment resentment among Uighurs.

Urumqi appeared to be settling into an uneasy calm, and the ban on Friday prayers apparently was aimed at preventing large gatherings of Uighurs at the city’s mosques.

It was not clear if similar prayer bans were in force elsewhere in Xinjiang today.

As many as 20,000 troops from nearby regions had poured into Urumqi after the rioting began, forming cordons between ethnic Uighur neighborhoods and those dominated by Han Chinese, who had earlier gone on a revenge spree against Uighur residents.

Both Uighur and Han claim to be the predominant victims of the violence, but the government has declined to release a breakdown of the dead.

A nighttime curfew was in place in Urumqi, but shops began to reopen for the first time yesterday as thousands of anxious residents clogged the city’s bus and train stations seeking to escape the city. As helicopters hovered overhead, military vans roamed the streets with loudspeakers blaring slogans like “Maintain stability” and “Protect the people.”

Since the turmoil began on Sunday, China has accused Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled Uighur leader, of fomenting the strife. Kadeer, who lives in Washington DC, has denied the charge.

But on Wednesday, the government for the first time shifted some of the blame to the United States, which it accused of financing Ms. Kadeer’s organisation, the World Uygur Congress, and other groups that advocate human rights and democracy for ethnic Uighurs in China. The accusation appeared in an article in the People’s Daily.

In recent days Turkey, which has cultural and linguistic ties to China’s Uighurs, has stepped into the fray. Yesterday the minister for trade and industry called for a boycott of Chinese goods to protest the crackdown in Xinjiang. “If the country where we consume the goods does not respect human values, we should reconsider our values,” said the minister, Nihat Ergun, according to the Anatolia news agency. — NYT

SHURA demands China to protect rights of indegenous Uighur Muslims

SHURA registers its shock and concern on the recent riot in the Xinjiang Province of West China involving an ethnic clash between the Han Chinese and the Uighur community killing more than 150 people.

The Uighur who are majority Muslims has been the indigenous community of the East Turkestan province and they have for a long while being mistreated by the Beijing regime since China’s occupation of the once independent state in 1949.

The recent clash is a result of the failure of the Chinese authorities to recognise the rights of the Uighur community , by bringing in the Han Chinese to the Xinjiang province creating an uneasy and strain relationship between the communities.

SHURA deplores the inability of the security forces to maintain peace and order and allow the situation to descend into violence of a bloody scale .

As quoted in an article by an historian , Michaiel Dillon “The violence in Xinjiang has not occurred completely out of the blue. Despite economic development, life for some Uighurs is said to be harder .Its root cause is ethnic tension between the Turkic Muslim Uighurs and the Han Chinese. It can be traced back for decades, and even to the conquest of what is now called Xinjiang by the Manchu Qing dynasty in the 18th Century. “

The Uighur Muslim has been under oppression for many years by the Communist regime who has denied the Muslim community to freely exercise their religious practises.

The recent clash was in fact a time bomb waiting to explode when the Uighur community has been cornered to survive under the bias treatment given to the Han Chinese who were brought into the province.

We demand that China grants the Uighur their liberty to practice the Islamic teachings and to treat them with fairness and with equal social and economic opportunities as given to the immigrants of Han Chinese.

The Chinese regime must take note that The Uighur people has been suffering through unjust treatment by the authorities. They have experienced harsher treatment based on religious restriction as compared with other religions.

In the 1940s there was an independent Eastern Turkestan Republic in part of Xinjiang, and many Uighurs feel that this is their birthright.

Instead, they became part of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and Xinjiang was declared one of China’s autonomous regions, in deference to the fact that the majority of the population at the time was Uighur.

This autonomy is not genuine, and – although Xinjiang today has a Uighur governor – the person who wields real power is the regional secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang Lequan, who is a Han Chinese.

SHURA calls on the Chinese to exercise social and economic justice for the Uighur Muslim community and to refrain from curtailing their religious rights to practice Islam.

Abdul Ghani Samsuddin
Chairman SHURA