Category: Americas

Read RFA coverage of this story in Uyghur. More than two dozen Uyghur teachers at a college in Xinjiang were arrested by Chinese authorities in 2017 and are currently still serving jail sentences, Radio Free Asia was able to confirm with officials at the school. Their arrests eight years ago occurred at a time when authorities in the northwestern region began rounding up Uyghur intellectuals, educators, businesspeople and cultural figures en masse and incarcerating them in re-education camps to prevent what China said was terrorism and religious extremism. Last week, RFA Uyghur reported that prominent historian Ghojaniyaz Yollugh Tekin, 59, who taught the Aksu Education Institute in the city of Aksu, had been arrested in 2017 and sentenced to 17 years in prison in late 2018 for his research, writings and views that Uyghurs are part of the Turkic world — and not Chinese. Upon further investigation, RFA learned that authorities also arrested and detained 25 other educators from the same school in 2017. But RFA could not determine the reasons for their arrests or the lengths of their sentences. Established in 1985, the college currently has about 220 staff members — more than half of whom are Uyghurs — and 3,000 students. During the early 2000s, there were 100-150 Uyghur teachers, according to Uyghur activist Tuyghun Abduweli, who hails from Aksu but now lives in Canada. A Chinese national flag flies over a vehicle entrance to the inmate detention area at the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng, western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Apr. 23, 2021.(Mark Schiefelbein/AP) A person who works at the institute but who requested anonymity for safety reasons, said more than 20 teachers from the school were taken away in several groups in 2017. Their cases were filed by Aksu prefecture security agents, and the institute’s political affairs department and police station collaborated with them during the arrests and interrogations, the person said. Held in a Bingtuan prison A police officer who works at the institute told RFA that 26 teachers — mostly men — were arrested and are serving jail sentences. He said he was involved in the cases of three of the teachers arrested — Mutellip Mamut, Eli Qasim and Eziz Memet, the last of whom was about 47 years old at the time. Another police officer named two other imprisoned teachers — Abdusalam Eziz and Abdurahman Rozi — and said he assisted in their arrests as well as the arrest of Mutellip Mamut. Those arrested were initially taken to Aksu Prison, but were later transferred to a detention center run by the Bingtuan at its headquarters in Shihezi in northern Xinjiang, the police officer said. The Bingtuan is a state-run economic and paramilitary organization of mostly Han Chinese who develop land, secure borders and maintain stability in Xinjiang. RELATED STORIES Prominent Uyghur historian sentenced to 17 years in prison Uyghur lecturer said to be detained for not signing allegiance oath to CCP Uyghur literature professor confirmed detained in Xinjiang Uyghur linguistics professor serving 15-year sentence in Xinjiang New details emerge about Uyghur college teacher sentenced in China’s Xinjiang “Mutellip Mamut is currently at the Shihezi prison,” the police officer told RFA. Authorities held secret trials for the teachers, and institute leaders and staffers who collaborated on the cases were not allowed to attend, he added. Interrogated because of religious practices According to a person familiar with the situation in Aksu, a literature teacher named Abdusalam had been interrogated by authorities many times because of his religious practices and was eventually suspended from work. “His wife wore a hijab, and he himself prayed every Friday at home,” the person said. “He was frequently called out by the school because of this, and his wife was also suspended from her job.” Abdusalam was among those detained and jailed in 2017. A security officer from the school’s legal department confirmed the arrests and detentions of the teachers, but said he could not disclose their identities because of confidentiality requirements. About 10% of the institute’s teachers had been arrested, said another staffer. “They’re all in prison now,” said Tuyghun Abduweli. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Once Hong Kong’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Party has announced plans to disband amid a political crackdown in the city under two security laws. “It is a decision that we made based on our understanding of the overall political environment,” Chairman Lo Kin-hei told journalists following a meeting of the party’s central committee on Thursday. “Developing democracy in Hong Kong is always difficult, and it’s been especially difficult in the past few years,” Lo told reporters in the party’s headquarters, adding: “This is not what we wanted to see.” Lo said he hoped that Hong Kong would return to the values ​​of “diversity, tolerance and democracy” that were the cornerstones of the city’s past success. The move is widely seen as the symbolic end of any formal political opposition in Hong Kong, where critics of the authorities can face prosecution under security legislation brought in to quell dissent in the wake of the 2019 protests. It follows repeated calls for the party’s dissolution in Chinese Communist Party-backed media like the Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po. The news came just weeks after a court in Hong Kong sentenced 45 democratic politicians and activists to jail terms of up to 10 years for “subversion” after they took part in a democratic primary in the summer of 2020. The ongoing political crackdown has already seen the dissolution of the Civic Party, which disbanded in May 2023 after its lawmakers were barred from running for re-election in the wake of the 2020 National Security Law. The pro-democracy youth activist party Demosisto disbanded in June 2020. ‘That light has faded’ Lo said the disbandment couldn’t go ahead without a vote from a general meeting attended by 75% of the party’s members. He said he will chair a three-person working group to handle the process following what he called a “collective decision” by the Central Committee. Lo declined to comment on reports that party members had been harassed or threatened by people acting as messengers for the Chinese government. He said the party wasn’t in financial difficulty. Founding party member Fred Li said the Democratic Party had “done its duty and shone its light on Hong Kong.” “But we can see today that that light has faded,” Li said in comments reported by the Hong Kong Free Press. Martin Lee, known as the “father of democracy” in Hong Kong, April 26, 2021.(Anthony Wallace/AFP) He said its death would mark the end of democratic party politics in Hong Kong. “The Democratic Party was once the most important party when it came to gauging public opinion, so its death actually represents the ultimate death of public opinion [as a political force] in Hong Kong,” Wong said. ‘We must be vigilant’ He said fears that Hong Kong would become a base for opposition to Chinese Communist Party rule had led Beijing to break its promise that the city could keep its freedoms for 50 years after the 1997 handover. He warned that Beijing was trying to undermine Taiwan’s democracy by placing its supporters in positions of power, much as it did in Hong Kong. “Taiwanese people must be vigilant and must not believe the Chinese Communist Party’s promises to Taiwan that it can keep its freedoms if it submits to Beijing’s rule,” Wong said. “We must be vigilant, and we must resist.” Political commentator Sang Pu said the Democratic Party would never be allowed to field candidates under the current system in Hong Kong. “A political party that doesn’t run for election has no way to raise funds,” Sang said. “They get rejected [by venues] even when they try to hold party events … for spurious reasons like chefs getting into a fight or broken water meters.” “They are being badly suppressed, so at this point it’s probably better to give up,” he said. Recent electoral reforms now ensure that almost nobody in the city’s once-vibrant opposition camp will stand for election again, amid the jailing of dozens of pro-democracy figures and rule changes requiring political vetting. The last directly elected District Council, which saw a landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates amid record turnout that was widely seen as a ringing public endorsement of the 2019 protest movement. The first Legislative Council election after the rule change saw plummeting turnout, while Chief Executive John Lee was given the top job after an “election” in which he was the only candidate. Since Beijing imposed the two national security laws banning public opposition and dissent in the city and blamed “hostile foreign forces” for the resulting protests, hundreds of thousands have voted with their feet amid plummeting human rights rankings, shrinking press freedom and widespread government propaganda in schools. The government has blamed several waves of pro-democracy protests in recent years on “foreign forces” trying to instigate a democratic revolution in Hong Kong. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. Chinese authorities have expelled over 1,000 Tibetan monks and nuns from the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in the latest blow to the major center of Tibetan Buddhist learning, sources inside Tibet with knowledge of the situation said. Citing a lack of proper residency documentation, officials said they need to reduce the number of Buddhist clergy residing at the academy from 6,000 to 5,000, the sources said. The move is the latest in a long series of steps taken by China to destroy and shrink the academy, which by the early 2000’s was home to about 40,000 Buddhist monastics. In 2016, Chinese authorities destroyed half the compound and sent away thousands of monks and nuns. At the time, county authorities issued an order that spelled out the plans for the 2016-2017 demolitions and forced expulsions. In December 2024, about 400 officials and police were deployed to Larung Gar, which is in Serthar county (Seda in Chinese) within the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province. Officials have pressured hundreds of Buddhist clergy to leave voluntarily, the sources said. “Those expelled have been ordered to leave under the pretext of lacking proper residency documents,” he said. “And to avoid drawing public attention, more than 1,000 monks and nuns have been gradually forced out over the past month.” An aerial view of Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Serthar county of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, July 23, 2015.(China Stringer Network/Reuters) The source said that government officials have been stationed at the academy, imposing strict controls on the movement of monks, nuns, pilgrims and tourists. “They are strictly prohibited from taking photos freely and are only allowed to visit designated areas within the monastery.” Many of the residences of expelled Buddhist clergy have been marked for demolition, although they have not been destroyed yet, he said. Plans are in place to build a road through the monastery in April, leading to further demolitions, he said. Part of broader strategy The latest crackdown is seen as part of Beijing’s broader strategy to reduce the size and influence of religious institutions, particularly those ties to Tibetan Buddhism. While Beijing says such policies are meant to ensure social stability, rights activists argue they they aim to suppress Tibetan culture and religious freedom. Chinese authorities want to roll out a 15-year residency limit for Buddhist clergy at Larung Gar starting this year. They also plan to shrink the academy’s population even more by making registration mandatory, which will force Chinese students to leave, according to a report by Phayul, a news website about Tibet. RELATED STORIES Tibetan Buddhist centers linked to Larung Gar shut down under suspected Chinese pressure Larung Gar Buddhist Academy closes to new enrollment as China tightens controls China bans major prayer festival in Larung Gar for third consecutive year Destruction at Larung Gar greater than earlier reported Larung Gar has long been a symbol of resistance to Chinese control over Tibetan Buddhism — but it has suffered for that. When the Chinese government deployed around 400 troops from Drago county (Luhuo) and other areas to Larung Gar last December, with helicopters flown in to monitor the movement of monks and nuns, the source said. Beginning in 2025, strict restrictions will be enforced, preventing monks and nuns from staying at Larung Gar for more than 15 years, he said. Founded in 1980 by the late Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, Larung Gar, was established as a center for Tibetan Buddhist education and meditation. Unlike traditional monasteries, it welcomed monks, nuns and lay practitioners from diverse backgrounds, fostering a unique blend of inclusivity and scholastic rigor that are now under threat. Larung Gar at one time was home to 40,000 Buddhist nuns and monks, but in 2017, over 4,000 monastics were expelled, and 4,700 dwellings were destroyed. “During that time, Chinese government officials stated that the Chinese Communist Party owned both the land and the sky, giving them the authority to do whatever they wanted with Larung Gar,” a second source said. Translated by Tenzin Palmo and Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika