Document - China: Further information on torture / health concern / unfair trial / fear of execution
PUBLICAI Index: ASA 17/28/00
16 June 2000
Further information on EXTRA 77/98 (EUR 57/12/98, 15 October 1998) and follow-ups (EUR 57/02/99, 15 February 1999; EUR 57/04/99, 9 June 1999; EUR 57/05/99, 3 August 1999; ASA 17/28/99, 12 August 1999; ASA 17/38/99, 2 September 1999) - Torture / Health Concern / Unfair Trial / Fear of Execution
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINAHemit Memet (aka Khamit Memet)
Kasim Mahpir
Ilyas Zordun
Zulikar Memet (aka Zulfikar Memet)
Saydakhmet Memet
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by a report which indicates that Zulikar Memet may have been secretly executed on 14 June 2000 in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). He was sentenced to death in July 1999 and afterwards held in incommunicado detention. In view of his secret detention, it is difficult to ascertain what his situation is. Following his trial in July 1999, Zulikar Memet was last known to be detained in Yengi Hayat jail in Gulja (Yining) city, in Ili Prefecture, XUAR.
According to information received by Amnesty International, there has been no retrial or judicial review of Zulikar Memet's case. This is despite international appeals for a review of his case in the light of reports that he was severely tortured during interrogation and that his conviction and sentence were based on a forced "confession". Zulikar Memet stated in court that he was tortured, but the court ignored his statement and sentenced him to death. A Uighur from Gulja, Zulikar Memet was detained in 1998, originally on charges of "helping separatists" - including his brother Hemit Memet - to hide or escape abroad.
There has been no official confirmation of the fate of Hemit Memet (Zulikar's brother), Ilyas Zordun or Kasim Mapir, all of whom were deported from Kazakstan to China in February 1999 and subsequently imprisoned in the XUAR. Hemit Memet was reported to have been sentenced to death at a secret trial in June or July 1999. All three men were reported in late August 1999 to have been executed. However, subsequent reports cast doubts on this news.
The fate of Kasim Mapir remains unknown, but unofficial sources reported in late 1999 that Hemit Memet and Ilyas Zordun were believed to be still imprisoned, though in secret detention. This made it difficult to ascertain what their situation was, but no official notification of their execution is known to have been issued.
In view of the report of Zulikar Memet's execution, it is feared that Hemit Memet and Ilyas Zordun, if still alive, may also be executed imminently.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by the Chinese authorities' continued silence about the fate of these men and by the total disregard for any due legal process manifested in the official handling of their cases.
Background
Executions of Uighur political prisoners, branded as "separatists" or "terrorists" by the Chinese authorities, have continued unabated in the XUAR during the past year. Death sentences in such cases are usually passed after secret or summary trials, with convictions usually based on "confessions" extracted under torture. Among other recent cases, on 14 June 2000, five Uighurs accused of involvement in "separatist" activities were sentenced to death and immediately executed after a "sentencing rally" in Urumqi, the regional capital of the XUAR.
FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/faxes/express/ airmail letters in English, Chinese or your own language or in your own language:
- urging the authorities not to execute Zulikar Memet, Hemet Memet, Ilyas Zordun and Kasim Mahpir, if they are still alive;
- urging the authorities to disclose publicly the fate of each of the four men;
- urging the authorities to disclose the men’s whereabouts, details of their trials and the charges and accusations made against them.
- urging the authorities to release Saydakhmet Memet, who is believed to be arbitrarily imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience.
APPEALS TO:
Premier of the People's Republic of China
ZHU Rongji Zongli
Guowuyuan
9 Xihuangchenggenbeijie
Beijingshi 100032
People's Republic of China
Telegram: Premier Zhu Rongji, Beijing, China
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China
HAN Zhubin Jianchazhang
Zuigao Renmin Jianchayuan
147 Beiheyan Dajie
Donganmen, Dongchengqu
Beijingshi 100726
People's Republic of China
(Please forward to the Procurator-General
Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional Party Committee
WANG Lequan Shuji
Zhonggong Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
Weiyuanhui
Wulumuqishi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Telegram: Secretary of the Regional Party Committee, Wulumuqi, Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu, China
Salutation: Dear Secretary
and to diplomatic representatives of People’s Republic of China accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 28 July 2000.