29 January 2010
BBC News
China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had “disappeared into a black hole” on their return to China.
The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals.
In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.
They said the group were likely to face persecution in China.
“Uighur asylum seekers sent back to China by Cambodia have disappeared into a black hole,” said Sophie Richardson of HRW.
“There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment.”
HRW said a number of the group had given detailed accounts of past torture and persecution in China and that threats had been made against their families.
The organisation said China has a history of executing or imposing harsh sentences of Uighurs sent back from abroad and that there were unconfirmed reports some members of a group previously returned had been sentenced to death in western Xinjiang province.
The article continues at BBC.
