Chinese Court Sentences 6 to Death for Ethnic Riots

Executed were convicted of murder during Xinjiang province unrest

(NEWSER) - Nine people convicted of murder and arson during July riots in China’s Xinjiang province were executed today. Chinese news services did not identify the executed, but previous statements suggest that they are Uighurs. The riots in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, left 197 people dead as Uighurs clashed with Han Chinese. Uighur activists slammed the executions as token measures to appease the Han community’s desire for revenge, the BBC reports. More»

Rights group: Uighurs vanished after being detained by police

(NEWSER) - Dozens of Uighur men and boys rounded up in the wake of the riots that shook China's Xinjiang province over the summer are missing, according to a reports from a human rights group. Interviews with families in Urumqi found evidence that 43 people had vanished since being taken away by security forces, although that number is "likely just the tip of the iceberg," a director of Human Rights Watch told the BBC. More»

Spate of random stabbings unsettle western Urumqi

(NEWSER) - Chinese authorities have arrested nine suspects in connection with the recent spate of syringe attacks in Urumqi, reports state media. Some 531 people had been stabbed with hypodermic needles in Urumqi, most but not all of whom were Han Chinese, according to police. The attacks had set off another round of protests in the restive Xinjiang region, where earlier this year Han and Uighur communities clashed in the worst ethnic unrest in decades. More»

(NEWSER) - Chinese authorities forced mosques in Urumqi to stay closed today and reimposed a curfew in the restive western city, reports the BBC. The curfew was lifted after thousands of troops had seemed to restore order between Han Chinese and Uighur Muslims, who have battled in the worst ethnic violence China has seen in years. Friday is the holiest day of the week in Islam, and at least two mosques held prayers today in defiance of Beijing. More»

Anyone found guilty of murder will be executed, says party head

(NEWSER) - After thousands of troops were deployed to quell ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi, “the situation is under control,” said officials—who vowed to execute anyone behind the riot's 156 deaths. Most of those charged with murder so far have been students, said the city’s Communist Party head, noting that “everyone, and particularly the Han people, should show restraint,” the BBC reports. More»