For immediate release
August 4, 2008, 6:45 pm EST
Contact: Uyghur American Association +1 (202) 349 1496

The Xinhua News Agency reported today that 16 military police were killed in East Turkestan (also known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). The military police were allegedly killed at a border post near Kashgar by two Uyghur assailants who drove a truck into a group of military police, and who carried out an attack with grenades and knives.
No independent sources have confirmed the details of the incident, and details remain unclear. The Uyghur American Association (UAA) is currently seeking independent accounts of the incident.

“We condemn all acts of violence. The Uyghur people do not support acts that engender bloodshed,” said Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer. “I urge the Chinese government to refrain from using this incident to crack down further upon peaceful Uyghurs.”

UAA is unequivocally against any form of violence and condemns any violent actions. Events such as the one reported today by the Xinhua News Agency will only serve to increase suppression of the Uyghur people and exacerbate tensions between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.
English-language reports produced by Xinhua have reported that today’s incident was a terror attack, but Chinese-language reports have not made the terror angle a prominent feature and have described the incident as a criminal attack.
 
UAA urges the international community to view Chinese government accounts regarding Uyghur terrorist acts with caution, as government authorities consistently fail to provide evidence to back up their claims. UAA also calls upon the Chinese government to cease using the terror threat to increase repression in East Turkestan. In recent months, in the run-up to the Olympic Games, Uyghurs have experienced higher rates of execution and detention, in addition to forced relocation, police monitoring, passport confiscation, and the destruction of places of worship.