Like US China produces terrorist list to persecute Muslims
uploaded 16 Dec 2003China accuses groups, individuals of terrorism
Critics say list is a pretense for persecution of Muslim minorities
Jim Yardley, New York Times Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Beijing -- China issued its first formal list of terrorists Monday, accusing four Muslim separatist groups and 11 individuals of committing violence and acts of terror, and calling on other nations to help crack down on them.
China's decision to make public an official list of terrorist organizations emulates the list that the United States introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But critics have argued that China is using the pretense of fighting terror to legitimize its harsh treatment of Muslim Uighur minorities that are peacefully seeking a separate state in China's western province of Xinjiang.
Zhao Yongshen, an antiterrorism official in China's Ministry of Public Security, asserted Monday that the groups included on China's list had coordinated bombings and assassinations as part of a campaign to create an independent "East Turkistan" in Xinjiang.
"They have seriously endangered the safety of the life and property of the Chinese people and other ethnic groups and threatened the security and stability of relevant countries in the region," Zhao told reporters at a news briefing, according to news service reports.
Zhao asked that other nations freeze bank accounts and arrest and prosecute those named on the list.
Last year, Chinese officials issued a report asserting that Osama bin Laden and his Qaida terror network had helped finance and train separatists in Xinjiang. China also persuaded the United States to place one group -- the East Turkistan Islamic Movement -- on the American terrorist list last year.
The Uighurs in Xinjiang are Turkic-speaking Muslims who have long sought to maintain their ethnic and cultural identity -- including efforts by some who have advocated an independent state. Advocacy groups for the Uighurs, like the East Turkistan Information Center, have denied any ties to bin Laden. The Information Center, one of the groups China names as a terror organization, is based in Germany and is registered as a political movement.
Other supporters of Uighur independence accuse China of restricting free speech and individual rights of Uighurs in the name of fighting terror. "We're really concerned about this," said Sarah Davis, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York. "Since Sept. 11, China has increasingly been equating peaceful movements for separatism with international terrorism."
The four groups on the list are the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, the Eastern Turkistan Liberation Organization, the World Uighur Youth Congress and the Eastern Turkistan Information Center.
The individuals on the list are mostly leaders of the four groups. Chinese state media listed their names as Hasan Mahsum, Muhanmetemin Hazret, Dolqun Isa, Abudujelili Kalakash, Abudukadir Yapuquan, Abudumijit Muhammatkelim, Abudula Kariaji, Abulimit Turxun, Huadaberdi Haxerbik, Yasen Muhammat, and Atahan Abuduhani.
Source: New York Times
