Members of the Uyghur American Association and local Uyghur community members organized a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., on February 5th, to redress the Ghulja Massacre that took place 10 years ago in the west China, a region known both as Xinjiang and East Turkestan.
Demonstrators said that hundreds of Uyghurs were killed, imprisoned or disappeared after taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Ghulja on February 5, 1997.
According to the press release from the Uyghur American Association (UAA), Chinese authorities responded to the appearance of thousands of Uyghurs on the streets of Ghulja by sending fully armed paramilitary police to confront the unarmed demonstrators with batons, tear gas and high-pressure water sprayed from fire trucks.
Eyewitnesses report that Chinese police fired indiscriminately into the crowd, killing as many as 30 Uyghur demonstrators and wounding more than 100.
Ghulja's Uyghurs had organized the street protest shortly after Chinese authorities banned traditional Uyghur gatherings for discussing and resolving community affairs. These gatherings, called Meshrep, were used to address problems in the Uyghur community, such as alcohol and drug abuse among Uyghur youth. But the Chinese authorities did not want any kind of civic organizing by the Uyghurs.
Immediately after the police assault on the demonstrators, the police began to round up the protesters. When they ran out of room to hold them, they allegedly took several hundred demonstrators to a sports stadium and soaked them with cold water from a fire hose.
"Several people developed frostbite in the wintry conditions, and later had to have hands, feet or whole limbs amputated," according to UAA.
"UAA condemns the fact that in the ten years since the Ghulja Massacre, the Chinese authorities have never held anyone in China's security apparatus publicly accountable for the deaths of numerous Uyghurs during and after the demonstration in Ghulja."
Moreover, the Chinese regime has never offered any form of compensation or an apology for people who were injured or bereaved by their security forces, according to the UAA.
Redressing the Ghulja Massacre during last Monday's demonstration was Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, president of the UAA and the World Uyghur Congress. Ms. Kadeer has acted as a goodwill ambassador of the Uyghur people, traveling internationally to appeal on behalf of persecuted Uyghurs in China.
Demonstrators also demanded the release of Ms. Kadeer's children who have recently been jailed by Chinese authorities—an act many feel is intended to silence Ms. Kadeer and Uyghur human rights activists.
Gary Feuerberg contributed to this article.
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