IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 953 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government 

of the People’s Republic of China has violated internationally recognized 

human rights and legal due process standards by carrying out executions 

after trials marred by procedural abuses and by carrying out arbitrary 

detentions targeting Uyghurs and other individuals in Xinjiang in the 

aftermath of a suppressed demonstration and ensuing mob violence on 

July 5 to 7, 2009. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2009 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. DELAHUNT, and Mr. SMITH of 

New Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the Government of the People’s Republic of China has 

violated internationally recognized human rights and 

legal due process standards by carrying out executions 

after trials marred by procedural abuses and by carrying 

out arbitrary detentions targeting Uyghurs and other 

individuals in Xinjiang in the aftermath of a suppressed 

demonstration and ensuing mob violence on July 5 to 

7, 2009. 

Whereas the July 5, 2009, outbreak of mob violence after an 

initially peaceful demonstration of Uyghurs in Urumqi, 


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Xinjiang, was precipitated by years of institutionalized 

discriminatory policies by the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China against Uyghurs; 

Whereas such policies include the government-promoted mass 

migration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang, which contributes to the eradication of the Uyghur culture and identity, the Chinese Government’s manipulation of the 

threat of terrorism since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to justify human rights violations 

against the Muslim Uyghurs, and restrictions of religious 

and cultural expressions of Uyghurs, including attacks on 

their cultural heritage by the destruction of cultural 

items, books, and buildings; 

Whereas pursuant to a policy of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, government officials recruit 

young Uyghur men and women to work in factories in 

the interior of China, and some workers have reported 

the use of coercion by local officials to gain their participation under exploitative working conditions; 

Whereas Uyghurs continue to suffer the consequences of environmental degradation in Xinjiang; 

Whereas Uyghurs in Urumqi took to the streets on July 5, 

2009, to protest the government handling of a reported 

mob attack on Uyghur workers by Han workers at a 

Guangdong factory after graphic images appeared on the 

Internet depicting the attack, despite reports that the initial protest started out peacefully, a violent confrontation 

ensued as police authorities cracked down on those protesters; 

Whereas some Uyghurs randomly attacked Han Chinese bystanders and members of the Han Chinese community, 


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and destroyed shops and businesses in the city of 

Urumqi, resulting in deaths; 

Whereas following those events, and despite an overwhelming 

police presence throughout the city at that time, some 

Han Chinese carried out revenge attacks in Uyghur 

neighborhoods, randomly attacking Uyghurs and destroying Uyghur property, resulting in deaths; 

Whereas in the aftermath of events on July 5, 2009, Chinese 

authorities initially reported detaining around 700 people 

in connection with the riots, and later reported hundreds 

of additional detentions; 

Whereas some people detained reportedly had no connection 

to events on July 5, 2009, and family members reported 

receiving no information on the location of people in detention, and the whereabouts of many of those detainees 

are still unknown; 

Whereas on October 12, 2009, various media outlets reported 

the commencement of trials without the benefits of any 

due process, public observers, or court procedures in violation of international legal standards; 

Whereas those trials were marred by selection of judges considered ‘‘politically reliable’’ and restrictions of the defendants’ rights to retain independent legal defense; 

Whereas on November 9, 2009, international media outlets 

reported the execution of 9 individuals who had been sentenced to death, 8 of whom reportedly were Uyghur and 

1 Han Chinese; and 

Whereas many details about events in July 2009 and subsequent detentions and trials remain unknown in the face 

of ongoing official controls over the free flow of informaVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:12 Dec 09, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR953.IH HR953

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tion from Xinjiang, including an Internet shutdown and 

restricted phone access: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) strongly condemns any violence against in3 nocent individuals regardless of their ethnicity, gen4 der, or religious beliefs, and recognizes that individ5 uals who have committed crimes must be brought to 

6 justice in full compliance with international human 

7 rights and legal standards, including independent 

8 courts, habeas corpus and due process protections, 

9 the free choice of legal defense, and the right to 

10 challenge the accuser and any evidence in court; 

11 (2) recognizes that the government policies of 

12 suppression against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, par13 ticularly the ‘‘Strike Hard’’ campaigns, as well as 

14 government policies regarding other ethnic groups 

15 within the People’s Republic of China have created 

16 an atmosphere of ethnic tension in those areas; 

17 (3) calls on the Government of the People’s Re18 public of China to— 

19 (A) desist from further executions based 

20 on trials that violate international human rights 

21 and due process standards; 

22 (B) ensure that trials are conducted in an 

23 open and transparent manner in accordance 


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1 with the international obligations of the Peo2 ple’s Republic of China; 

3 (C) allow international observers and the 

4 media to attend those trials; 

5 (D) provide a list of all individuals de6 tained or arrested in the aftermath of the July 

7 2009 events in Xinjiang to the International 

8 Committee of the Red Cross and the public, 

9 and to grant access to those individuals for 

10 family members and independent legal counsel; 

11 and 

12 (E) cease all government-sponsored crack13 downs against people in the Xinjiang Uyghur 

14 Autonomous Region, including against people 

15 involved in peaceful protests or religious or po16 litical expression; and 

17 (4) calls on the President of the United States 

18 to— 

19 (A) unequivocally state the strong opposi20 tion of the United States to these legally flawed 

21 trials and executions; 

22 (B) raise those human rights concerns 

23 publicly and in all meetings with Chinese offi24 cials; 


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1 (C) restate the interest of the United 

2 States to open United States consulates in 

3 Lhasa, Tibet, and in Urumqi, Xinjiang; and 

4 (D) as a matter of policy, direct the 

5 United States Embassy in Beijing to automati6 cally request permission from the appropriate 

7 Chinese authorities for United States Embassy 

8 staff to observe trials if credible reasons exist 

9 that such trials may not meet internationally 

10 recognized human rights and legal standards. 

Æ 


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