Amnesty denounces China executions

AFP

LONDON: Amnesty International condemned China's execution of nine people over deadly ethnic unrest in its Xinjiang region, and expressed fears more could take place.

The London-based rights organisation said on Wednesday the nine had received unfair trials which lasted less than one day, and they were denied legal representation of their choice.

"In hastily executing these individuals after unfair trials, the Chinese authorities are perpetuating some of the very injustices that helped trigger the outburst of violence in the first place," said Roseann Rife, deputy director of Amnesty's Asia-Pacific programme.

China announced the deaths on Monday after their convictions in October over the violence in China's far-western region in July.

The unrest saw fierce clashes between members of the local Muslim Uighur community, who claim they are oppressed, and China's majority Han ethnic group. The ethnic unrest, China's worst in decades, left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to an official toll.

"Given the large number of detentions reported by Chinese officials in connection with the unrest, dozens more trials could take place, possibly leading to more executions," Rife said.

"The Chinese government must ensure that the trials are conducted in line with international human rights standards, with transparency and without recourse to death penalty."

Amnesty called on Chinese authorities to investigate the violence, including possible use of excessive force by security forces against peaceful Uighur protesters.

"A process that fails to openly investigate crimes and acknowledge underlying causes of unrest will only perpetuate tensions and the existing sense of injustice among ethnic minority groups," Rife said.