The executions were the first attributed to the Xinjiang violence. The events began on July 5th when Uighurs in the regional capital of Urumqi attacked Han people. Two days later, the Uighurs faced retaliatory attacks.
The Han make up China's dominant ethnicity, while the Uighur minority is a Turkic Muslim ethnic group. The nine had been convicted of murder and other crimes committed during the unrest.
The executions were reported by the official China News Service on Monday. The service did not give a date for the executions, but noted that the nine were executed after a final review of the verdicts by the Supreme People's Court. Those condemned were identified as eight Uighurs and one Han.
It was unclear how the executions were conduction. Most executions in China are carried out by shooting; however, some provinces have begun using lethal injection.
To escape repression, many Uighurs have fled China. Americans captured 22 Uighurs in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 on terrorist charges.
The Uighurs were eventually taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they were held without trial as "enemy combatants" before being ordered freed by a federal court that ruled they were not a threat. Most recently, the island nation of Palau agreed to temporarily take six Uighurs. They had previously been housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They could not return to China as they would face persecution.
Written by Michael Santo
Posted November 9th, 2009 by Michael Santo
