State Security Stats Highlight Ethnic Unrest, Lack of Names(Excerpts)

• Author: Duihua

Growth in the number of “endangering state security” (ESS) trials concluded in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) provides evidence of a widespread crackdown on ethnic Uyghurs. The number of trials for the category of crimes often used to suppress speech, association, and assembly increased 10.11 percent year-on-year in 2011, up from 376 trials in 2010, according to the annual work report of courts in the region. (Note: There is not a one-to-one ratio of trials to defendants. Court data from 1998 through 2003 show that, for ESS crimes, there was an average of more than three defendants per trial in Xinjiang.)

In 2009, ethnic riots in Urumqi—during which the Chinese government says 197 people were killed—coincided with a more than 60 percent jump in the number of ESS trials concluded in Xinjiang. In 2011, tensions between Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic group, and Han Chinese, China’s ethnic majority, continued to precipitate smaller scale protests and culminated in a regional “Religious Strike Hard Campaign” beginning on November 20. The campaign will continue until February 22, 2012, and local authorities intend to recruit 8,000 police officers to join “the auxiliary police and militia” in, among other things, “cracking down on illegal religious activities.”

Uyghur Activism

It bears repeating that Xinjiang has been known to account for over 50 percent of China’s ESS trials yet makes up less than 2 percent of China’s population. The obvious question is: Why? The answer, suggested by regional government policies and anecdotal evidence, is Uyghur activism in response to government restrictions on religious and cultural activities and state-sponsored inward migration of Han Chinese. While Han Chinese account for more than 91 percent of China’s population, Uyghurs make up about 40 percent of Xinjiang’s.

In 2010, RFA reported on five Uyghurs convicted of ESS in Xinjiang, with sentences ranging from three years’ to life imprisonment. All were Uyghurs involved in non-violent online activism or speaking to foreign media.

The Chinese government confirmed two of the cases. Gheyret Niyaz was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for “inciting splittism.” RFA reported that Niyaz was persecuted for giving interviews to the foreign media about the Urumqi riots. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Niyaz was still awaiting the verdict of his appeal 16 months after the announcement of his original sentence.

“Splittism” and “inciting...