Rights group demands inquiry on deadly China raid
BEIJING (AFP) — A US-based rights group called Wednesday for an independent investigation into the police killings of two suspected Muslim separatists and the arrest of 15 others in China's restive Xinjiang region.
The incident occurred on January 27 when Chinese police raided the home of a suspected ethnic Uighur separatist group in the city of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, a region ruled by China that borders mainly-Muslim Central Asia.
"We call on the leaders in Beijing to facilitate an investigation into the alleged terrorist activities in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) by an independent outside commission, such as... the United Nations," Uighur American Association president Rebiya Kadeer said in a statement.
"(Chinese) authorities must allow independent scrutiny of any evidence they have for the claims they are making."
The rights group cited a lack of evidence or independent witnesses to previous Chinese police actions against Uighurs that have also resulted in numerous fatalities.
East Turkestan refers to two short-lived republics established in Xinjiang between 1930 and 1949 by the Muslim Uighur minority, which continues to harbour independence ambitions.
Nearly 10 million Uighurs live in Xinjiang, making up nearly half of China's officially recognised 18-million-strong Muslim population.
China's state-controlled media first reported on the raid on Monday adding that five police officers were injured when three homemade grenades were thrown at them.
The Global Times newspaper characterised the incident as the biggest anti-terrorism move by police in the past year.
Xinhua news agency said the group was suspected of collaborating with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which the United Nations has designated a terrorist organisation.
Hong Kong press reports have said that up to 18 suspected Muslim separatists were killed in the raid, but local police in Urumqi refused to comment on the action when queried by AFP.
Eighteen alleged terrorists were killed and 17 captured in an army raid in January 2007 on what Beijing said was an ETIM training camp.
