MCLC: attackers may have acted in desperation

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Terry Russell <Terry.Russell at umanitoba.ca>
Subject: attackers may have acted in desperation
***********************************************************

Source: Radio Free Asia (2014/03/03):
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/desperate-03032014224353.html

China Train Station Attackers May Have Acted 'in Desperation'

A group of knife-wielding attackers who went on a weekend slashing spree
at a train station in China's southern Yunnan province may have been
disgruntled ethnic minority Uyghur asylum seekers who felt "trapped"
between violence in their Xinjiang homeland and the inability to flee
across the border into Laos, sources say.

Chinese authorities have labeled the eight assailants accused of killing
29 people and injuring 143 others in the "terror attack" at the railway
station in Yunnan's capital Kunming as separatists from the troubled
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region — more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles)
from the province.

But Uyghur sources in the Yunnan capital said the eight — four of whom
were shot dead and the others captured by police — might have acted in
desperation as they, according to Chinese state media, slashed
indiscriminately at people queuing to buy tickets at the busy railway
terminal on Saturday.

"I believe the attackers may have been a desperate group of Uyghurs who
fled Xinjiang to Yunnan and were trapped there after the Chinese
authorities discovered their plans to get across to Laos," a Uyghur in
Kunming told RFA's Uyghur Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source said he suspects the eight had fled to Yunnan following a
police crackdown in Xinjiang's violence-hit Hanerik township in Hotan
prefecture last year.

The crackdown came after police opened fire at a large crowd of unarmed
Uyghurs protesting the arrest of a young religious leader and the closure
of a mosque in June, leaving at least 15 killed and 50 others injured.

In October, sources had told RFA that Chinese authorities had rounded up
some 100 Uyghurs in Yunnan amid a hunt for seven suspects fleeing to the
Lao border following the Hanerik clashes.

At least 30 Uyghurs were apprehended at the town of Mohan on the border
with Laos in Yunnan’s Mengla county in late September, and scores of
others were detained around the province, a Uyghur merchant who witnessed
the arrest had told RFA.

Some of them were held because they were trying to flee across the border
into Laos without passports.

Laos is among countries bordering China which Uyghurs fleeing violence in
their homeland hope to use as a launching pad for sanctuary in third
countries.

The eight linked to the deadly Kunming attack — including two women — had
likely been placed on the police wanted list after the 30 Uyghurs were
apprehended in Mohan, sources in Kunming said.

“They may have tried to cross the border in their bid for political asylum
but they gave up after the 30 Uyghurs were captured on the Mohan border,”
another Uyghur in Kunming said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

“They cannot go back to Hotan, but they cannot do any business in Kunming
either because they don’t have any ID cards with them and have arrest
warrants issued against them by the regional police department,” the
source said.

With no immediate hope in sight, they may have decided to go on a killing
spree to avenge the death of their compatriots back home in Xinjiang,
according to the source.

“They were likely reacting to the extra-judicial killings that have
occurred about a dozen times last year in Xinjiang," the Uyghur said.
"Their message to the government was, ‘We can do something also.'"

China has intensified a sweeping security crackdown against the mostly
Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uyghurs in recent months in Xinjiang, where
according to official figures about 100 people are believed to have been
killed over the last year — many of them Uyghurs accused by the
authorities of terrorism and separatism.

'East Turkestan flags'

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing
Monday that "some East Turkestan flags were found on the scene" of the
Kunming attack, led by one Abdurehim Kurban.

Hong Kong broadcaster Phoenix TV showed images of a blue flag embroidered
with the Islamic declaration of faith, said to have been found by police.

Many Uyghurs refer to Xinjiang as East Turkestan, as the region had come
under Chinese control following two short-lived East Turkestan republics
in the 1930s and 1940s.

They say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive
religious controls under Beijing’s policies, blaming the problems partly
on the influx of Han Chinese into the region.

Rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to
take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the
authorities' use of force against Uyghurs.

WUC condemns violence

The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said in a statement Monday
that it "unequivocally condemns" the Kunming violence, expressing
condolences to the victims and their families.

It noted that only one named person has been implicated in the attack and
that the ethnicity and identities of the other assailants have not been
disclosed, although Chinese state media has blamed “Xinjiang separatists”
for the attack.

The WUC urged calm on all sides and called on the Chinese government to
provide assurances that Uyghurs will not be subjected to "indiscriminate
reprisals."

“At this time of heightened tensions, it is important the Chinese
government deal with the incident rationally and not set about demonizing
the Uyghur people as state enemies," WUC President Rebiya Kadeer said.

"The Chinese government and state media have a responsibility to not
inflame the emotions of Chinese citizens making the Uyghurs in China
vulnerable to reprisals,” she remarked.

“The fact remains that peaceful dissent against repressive government
policies targeting Uyghurs is legitimate, so the Chinese government must
not conflate this constructive criticism with the events of 1 March. It is
absolutely vital the Chinese government deal with the longstanding and
deteriorating human rights issues facing Uyghurs if tensions are to be
reduced.”

Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Shohret
Hoshur. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.