WRITTEN QUESTION E-0392/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(13 February 2003)

Subject: Situation of Mr Tohti Tunyaz, an ethnic Uighur sentenced to 11 years in prison

Mr Tohti Tunyaz, an ethnic Uighur from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), while visiting XUAR as a postgraduate student at the Tokyo University School of Humanities (Japan) specialising in the history of Chinese Government policy towards minority groups, was arrested on 6 February 1998 for obtaining and copying part of a 50-year-old document, which he obtained with the help of an official librarian.

On 10 November 1998, Mr Tunyaz was officially charged by the Chinese authorities with stealing state secrets for foreign persons and inciting national disunity. The latter charge was based on an allegedly published book in Japan in 1998 entitled The Inside Story of the Silk Road, advocating, according to the Chinese government, ethnic separation, which according to scholars in Tokyo was not written by Mr Tunyaz.

Mr Tunyaz was convicted by the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court on 10 March 1999, and following an appeal, was sentenced by China's Supreme Court on 15 February 2000 to 11 years in prison with an additional two years' deprivation of political rights.

Mr Tohti Tunyaz is currently serving his 11-year sentence in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Prison No 3 in the provincial capital of Urumqi. It is reported that he has exhausted his appeals and will therefore remain incarcerated until his sentence expires on 31 March 2009.

Has the Commission undertaken any initiative concerning the case of Mr Tohti Tunyaz? Does the Commission intend to enforce in any way the December 2001 Declaration of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention granting Mr Tunyaz arbitrarily detained status? More generally, what initiatives does the Commission intend to take in order to create the conditions for a political dialogue on the future status of East Turkistan between the Chinese authorities and the representatives of the East Turkistan opposition movements?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2003)

The Commission thanks the Honourable Member for the information provided on the case of Mr Tohti Tunyaz.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's concern about the human rights situation of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang.

Human rights issues, including freedom of religion and respect for the fundamental rights of ethnic minorities are systematically raised during the EU's regular political contacts, and in particular during its Human Rights Dialogue with the Chinese authorities.

In the context of the preparations for the next round of its Human Rights Dialogue on 5/6 March in Athens, the EU expressed, once again, its concern over the human rights situation in general and insisted particularly on issues of concern to ethnic minorities such as cultural rights and the freedom of expression.

Furthermore, the Commission is urging China at every possible occasion to enhance co-operation with the United Nations' human rights mechanisms. Some progress has been achieved in this area, given that China has agreed to invite the United Nations' rapporteur on religious freedom, on the right to education, the independence of judges and lawyers and the chairperson of the working group on arbitrary detention. Additionally, the new High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is expected to visit China this spring.

The EU will continue to closely monitor the Chinese government's respect for freedom of expression and respect for the civil and political rights of ethnic minorities, including the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, and will continue to express concern about violations of these fundamental rights, including the on-going crackdown in the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region. The next session of the EU-China Human Rights dialogue will offer the first in a series of opportunities to give voice to these concerns in 2003.