27 June 2006 Further Information on 100/06 (25 April 2006) Forcible return/torture/death penalty NEW CONCERN: incommunicado detention
KAZAKHSTAN/CHINA Yusuf Kadir Tohti (also known as Erdagan) (m), aged 35 Abdukadir Sidik (m), aged 30
Yusuf Kadir Tohti and Abdukadir Sidik, who are originally from China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), are being held in incommunicado detention in China after being forcibly returned from Kazakhstan on 10 May. They are at risk of serious human rights violations, including torture or other ill-treatment, and possibly the death penalty if their ‘crimes’ are deemed to be ‘serious.’
The Kazakhstani authorities deported the two men from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Urumqi, China following ‘a decision by the specialized administrative court of Almaty for violation of rules of stay in Kazakhstan.'
Yusuf Kadir Tohti reportedly fled from China to Kazakhstan in 1996 and was reportedly arrested on 8 March 2006 by the Kazakhstani authorities. The Chinese authorities reportedly accused him of ‘separatism’ and asked for his extradition. Abdukadir Sidik fled the XUAR in 1999 after he publicly protested against the Chinese authorities’ policy on minorities, particularly their enforcement of the family planning policy which limited the number of children that Uighurs could have. He was charged by the Kazakhstani authorities with illegally crossing the border and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION Over recent years, Amnesty International has monitored growing numbers of forced returns of Uighurs to China from several of its neighboring countries, including those of Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan. In some recent cases, returnees are reported to have been subjected to serious human rights violations, including torture, unfair trials and even execution.
The Chinese authorities have been mounting a crackdown on the ‘three evil forces’ of ‘separatist, terrorist and religious extremists’ in the XUAR. It has resulted in serious and widespread human rights violations directed against the region’s Uighur community, prompting many of them to flee the country.
The death penalty is used extensively and often arbitrarily in China. Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 1,770 people were executed and 3,900 sentenced to death in 2005. The true figures, which are classified as a ‘state secret’, are believed to be much higher. A Chinese legal expert was recently quoted as stating the true figure for executions to be approximately 8,000 per year. Over recent years, Amnesty International has documented several cases of Uighurs being sentenced to death and executed in the XUAR for alleged ‘separatist’ or ‘terrorist’ activities.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible to the Chinese authorities: - expressing concern for the safety of Yusuf Kadir Tohti and Abdukadir Sidik who are being held in incommunicado detention and requesting information about their whereabouts; - calling on the Chinese authorities to guarantee the safety of Yusuf Kadir Tohti and Abdukadir Sidik and to give them access to lawyers of their choice and to members of their family; - calling for guarantees that the men will be treated humanely in detention, and will not be tortured or ill- treated, sentenced to death or executed; - urging that they be released immediately unless charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense
APPEALS TO:
Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China:
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032
People’s Republic of China
Fax: 011 86 10 65292345 (c/o Ministry of Communication)
Email: gazette@mail.gov.cn
Salutation: Your Excellency
Chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional People’s Government:
Ismail TILIWALDI Zhuxi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu
2 Zhongshanlu
Wulumuqishi 830041
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People’s Republic of China
Email: master@xinjiang.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chairman
COPIES TO:
Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328 2582
Email: chinaembassy_us@fmprc.gov.cn
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send final rounds of appeals to the Kasakstani authorities to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing alarm at the forcible return of Yusuf Kadir Tohti and Abdukadir Sidik on 10 May, in contravention of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return in any manner whatsoever of any person to a situation where they would be at risk of torture, persecution or other forms of ill-treatment or punishment; - calling on the authorities to end the forcible return of any person to a country where they are at risk of serious human rights abuses, in accordance with Kazakhstan’s international obligations; - urging the Kazakhstani authorities to request from the Chinese authorities information about the men’s whereabouts and their well-being and to provide you with such information.
APPEALS TO:
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan.
473000 Astana, ul. Beybitshilik 11,
Prezidentu NAZARBAEVU N.
Fax: 011 7 3172 32 40 89
Email: via the President’s website:
http://www.akorda.kz/page.php?page_id=185&lang=2
Salutation: Dear President
COPIES TO:
Chairman of the Kazakhstan. National Security Committee:
Kazakhstan.
Astana, ul. Kenesary 97/98
Komitet natsionalnoi bezopasnosti
Predsedatelyu
Fax: 011 7 3172 32 80 50
Ambassador Kanat B. Saudabayev
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
1401 16th St NW
Washington DC 20036-2201
Fax: 1 202 232 5845
Email: kazakh.embusa@verizon.net
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 8 August 2006.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566