Dozens 'Disappeared' After China 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»

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»

(NEWSER) - Thousands of ethnic Han Chinese rioted in the western city of Urumqi today, destroying shops and property belonging to Muslim Uighurs in retaliation for Han deaths over the weekend, the Guardian reports. Police tried to disperse the mob with tear gas, but many rioters remained, throwing rocks at mosques and threatening Uighur residents. “They attacked us. Now it’s our turn to attack them,” said one rioter. More»

But human rights groups doubt government story

(NEWSER) - Chinese authorities are blaming Muslim extremists with links to Pakistan for the burst of violence in the western region of Xinjiang that killed 11 people Sunday, reports Reuters . Leaders of this latest uprising in the restive region joined the so-called East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) while in Pakistan, says Beijing, and received training in weapons and explosives. "The members of this group all adhere to extremist religious ideas and adamantly support Jihad," wrote the Kashgar government on its website . More»

All the condemned appear to be Uighurs

(AP) - A court in China's far western Xinjiang region sentenced six men to death today over riots between Muslim Uighurs and members of the Han Chinese majority that killed nearly 200 people in July. The sentences—the first for any of the scores of suspects arrested in the rioting—appeared aimed at placating Han Chinese who have rallied in the regional capital of Urumqi calling for swift justice. An overseas Uighur activist, however, said they were only likely to exacerbate the ethnic tensions. More»