Source : http://www.amnesty.org
February 5, 2010 On 5 February 1997, dozens of people were killed or injured in Gulja in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) when security forces opened fire on ethnic Uighur protesters.
That day, Uighur residentsof Gulja began a peaceful demonstration. They were protesting against the closure of independent religious schools, the banning of “meshreps†(a traditional form of social gathering), the closure of a local Uighur football league and high rates of unemployment among Uighurs.
Security forces carried out house-to-house searches detaining suspected protesters and supporters. Many of those detained were reportedly tortured, some to death.
No independent investigation is known to have taken place into the allegations of serious human rights violations in Gulja.
Violence in 2009
Violence erupted again last year in Urumqi (Chinese: Wulumuqi) and other parts of the XUAR after police cracked down on initially peaceful Uighur demonstrations on 5 July.
In 2009, the demonstrators were protesting against initial inaction following the death of at least two Uighur workers after a violent riot at a factory in southern China (Shaoguan, Guangdong province) on 26 June.
The crackdown included house-to-house searches, widespread detentions and disappearances and was followed by violence on the part of both Uighurs and Han Chinese that lasted for several days.
Official government reports state that 197 people were killed, the majority of which were Han killed by Uighurs, and that more than 1,600 people were injured.
However, eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty International following the unrest contradict the official version of the events. They report witnessing security forces using excessive force against Uighur protesters including beatings, use of tear gas and shooting directly into crowds of protesters, resulting in the deaths of possibly hundreds more.
No independent investigation into the July 2009 violence has taken place to date.
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