2015-02-25
Security forces participate in a military drill in Hetian, northwest China’s Xinjiang region, June 6, 2014.
AFP
During 2014, the ruling Chinese Communist Party intensified its targeting of ethnic minority groups with an “anti-terror” campaign in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang, and ratcheted up controls on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said in its annual global human rights report.
Ethnic minorities including Tibetans, mostly Muslim Uyghurs, and Mongolians faced discrimination and targeting by security forces, the London-based group said in a report published on its website on Wednesday.
The administration of President Xi Jinping last year launched a “strike hard” terror campaign in Xinjiang that targeted legitimate religious activities among the region’s Muslims, according to the report.
“The authorities stepped up already onerous restrictions on Islam with the stated aim of fighting ‘violent terrorism and religious extremism,'” Amnesty International said.
“Uyghurs faced widespread discrimination in employment, education, housing and curtailed religious freedom, as well as political marginalization,” the report said.
It added that county governments had posted notices requiring schoolteachers to feed ethnic minority Uyghur pupils with food and sweets to ensure they couldn’t observe the fasting month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, prohibitions on government employees and Communist Party cadres adhering to any religion were reinforced.
“Several Uyghur officials were punished for downloading religious materials from the Internet or ‘worshipping openly,'” the report said, adding that outward signs of adherence to Islam such as beards or veils were often banned.
‘Strike hard’ campaign
The “strike hard” anti-terror campaign launched by the government last May had raised concerns that more than 200 people accused of membership in “terrorist and extremist groups” would not receive fair trials, Amnesty said.
“Top officials prioritized speed in making arrests and convening trials, while calling for greater “co-operation” between prosecuting authorities and courts,” the report said.
