• Burmese
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

China Reduces Sentences for 11 Uighurs, Including Canadian

Gerry Shih by Gerry Shih
February 4, 2016
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
China Reduces Sentences for 11 Uighurs

Ethnic Uighur demonstrators

3.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

BEIJING — A court in western China has reduced the sentences of 11 Uighurs convicted of terrorism and endangering state security, including a naturalized Canadian preacher whose life term had been sharply criticized by Ottawa.

The official Xinhua News Agency characterized the sentence reductions for the Uighurs at Xinjiang’s First Prison as a sign that authorities in the restive western region were making progress de-radicalizing Islamist militants and separatists using a softer touch.

The rare move of clemency, announced after the prisoners took courses and repented their crimes last week, comes at a time when the Chinese government is tightening its grip over the region, expanding its security campaign and ordering cultural assimilation projects and religious restrictions that members of the Turkic-speaking Uighur minority have deemed oppressive.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

July 8, 2025
64
Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

July 8, 2025
437
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

July 8, 2025
251

Among the 11 prisoners with reduced terms is Huseyin Celil, a preacher from Ontario whose life sentence in 2007 sparked a diplomatic row between China and Canada. After fleeing China and gaining refugee status in 2000, Celil lived in Canada until he was arrested in Uzbekistan and extradited to China.

China refused to recognize his Canadian citizenship and convicted him of organizing on behalf of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement militant group.

Aside from the reduction of life sentences to fixed terms, four prisoners, including a man convicted of contacting the ETIP and the Taliban to set up training bases in Afghanistan, saw their lengthy prison terms reduced to six months, Xinhua said in a report Monday.

The new duration of Huseyin Celil’s sentence has not been announced, said San Francisco-based activist John Kamm, who has pressed for Celil’s release on behalf of the Canadian government since 2009.

But Kamm lauded the decision, telling The Associated Press on Wednesday that commuting Celil’s sentence represented “a step in the right direction” and should prompt other Xinjiang prisons to consider mass clemency.

The Canadian Embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress exile group, called the commutations a “political propaganda tool” meant to divert attention from Beijing’s repressive policies.

The long-running Uighur insurgency in Xinjiang has claimed hundreds of lives in recent years despite efforts to pacify and assimilate the region that critics say are exacerbating a cycle of discontent and unrest. China’s “Strike Hard” campaign, which was launched in 2014 in response to an attack on a public market that killed 31 people, will intensify in 2016 with a focus on deploying special forces and technological tools, the Xinjiang region chairman said last month.

William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, said the reduced sentences were intended to show “the Communist Party’s supposed benevolence and mercy” amid the broader crackdown.

“This is probably the proverbial ‘carrot’ to the violent ‘Strike Hard’ campaign’s ‘stick,’” Nee said.

He said that without independent or international oversight of such de-radicalization programs, “it will be impossible to judge to what extent they are effective or in line with international human rights laws and standards.”

Your Thoughts …
Gerry Shih

Gerry Shih

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.8k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.9k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Maung Di: An Artist Guided by Simplicity

Maung Di: An Artist Guided by Simplicity

Ma Thandar: ‘The NLD Will Put People at the Center of Decision-Making’

Ma Thandar: ‘The NLD Will Put People at the Center of Decision-Making’

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

Myanmar Regime Leader Rejects World Bank Economic Forecast as Inaccurate

5 days ago
1.5k
From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

From Foreign Policy Drift to Diplomatic Freefall in Myanmar

1 week ago
2.2k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Timor-Leste Hits Back at Myanmar Junta’s Objection to ASEAN Membership

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Defies Myanmar Junta Push to Cede Shan Towns in China Talks  

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar People Skeptical of Junta’s Promises of Election, Peace

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.