Fresh protests and mob reaction in China's Xinjiang
Updated
There have been more protests in China's northern province of Xinjiang, where riots on Sunday resulted in more than 150 deaths.
Sections of the mostly Muslim Uighur population, continue to clash with police and military reinforcements sent to the regional capital Urumqi and other cities. Reports are emerging that opposing groups of Han Chinese armed with improvised weapons have also taken to the streets.
Chinese authorities are blaming overseas-based Uighurs for initiating the violence, although such claims are denied by the American-based Uighur Association
Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Nury Turkel, the former president of the Uighur American Association; Roseanne Rife, Amnesty International Deputy director for Asia Pacific
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SNOWDON: Uighur protesters took to the streets for a third day in several cities in Xinjiang province.
Hundreds turned out in the regional capital Urumqi to demand the return of family members they say have been arbitrarily arrested.
Over 14,000 people have been arrested since the riot on Sunday in which officially 156 died and over 800 were injured.
The latest count of injured now stands at more than 1,000.
These figures have not been independently verified and there are no details about how many victims were Uighur or Han Chinese.
Nury Turkel is the former President of the Uighur American Association.
He blames the Chinese authorities for over-reacting to Sunday's demonstration and denies outside agitation was behind it.
TURKEL: Its like a false accusation and its ridiculous. For example last year the Chinese government blamed the Dalai Lama for the riots in Lhasa and similarly this year they are blaming me and I had nothing to do with the event. And its also relatively easy for the Chinese to label the peaceful demonstration participants that have no business whatsoever with the so-called separatists and the other issues. Uighurs are simply demanding justice and the fact that they were carrying Chinese flags in the beginning speaks volumes that they didn't have any intention.
SNOWDON: Xinjiang Province has a Muslim majority which identifies more with central Asia than with the dominant Han Chinese culture.
On Sunday, Uighurs were protesting at the lack of police action last month in Southern China after two Uighurs were killed by a mob incensed at a false report of the rape of two girls.
In Xinjiang's capital Urumqi an unknown number of Han Chinese, were beaten to death, while cars, homes and businesses were burnt.
Uighur anger stems from decades of discrimination in a resource rich province and the suppression of their language and culture, leading to calls by some for a separate state.
As in Tibet, such calls and any sign of trouble lead to an instant crackdown by the Chinese authorities.
Amnesty International has condemned the latest violence and is calling for an independent investigation by Beijing.
Rosanne Rife, Amnesty's Asia Pacific Deputy Director accepts this might be long in coming.
RIFE: Unfortunately based on what we saw last year in the Tibet Autonomous Region I suppose the likelihood of that happening is slim.
SNOWDON: Concerns now are held for those arrested.
RIFE: There's a documented pattern of torture and other ill-treatment in any number of detention facilities in the People's Republic of China. Documented not only by the United Nations but also by the Chinese authorities themselves that recognise this as an issue and have tried to address it. None the less those reports continue.
SNOWDON: With restrictions on the media and the internet there's no way of confirming the official death toll or the make-up of the victims.
Nury Turkel believes video clips that have made it out provide evidence of a disproportionate security response against Uighurs.
TURKEL: You have a lot of gunshots in the background when you watch those video clips and the Uighurs didn't have any weapons. The number of shots in the few minutes of video clips I can easily see that hundreds of Uighurs have died. And we, the Uighur organisations including myself, adamantly oppose any type of violence. But the Chinese government response to peaceful demonstration was unacceptable.
