Secretariat of Amnesty
International
22 June 2007
Pakistan: no to forcible return of Uighurs to China
Ahead of a bilateral meeting between China and Pakistan, Amnesty
International is urging the Pakistan government not to forcibly return 22
unnamed Uighurs to China for fear that they could be at risk of serious
human rights violations.
According to reports, the Chinese authorities have demanded that
Pakistan locate and hand over 22 Uighurs who are said to be hiding in an
unknown tribal area in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao is due to
discuss the issue with Chinese officials at a meeting of the Pakistan-China
Joint Working Group on Terrorism in Beijing on 25 June 2007.
The 22 Uighurs under threat of arrest and deportation from Pakistan are
alleged to be members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, which is
claimed by the Chinese authorities to be an armed secessionist group
with bases in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest
China, as well as in Pakistan. The group was listed as a ‘terrorist
organization’ by both the US and the UN in 2002 after repeated
lobbying from China. The evidence that formed the basis for this decision
remains unclear.
كتبها ET AWAZI في 11:27 مساءً :: لا يوجد تعليق
الاسم: ET AWAZI

