Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS, 10 September 1997

Eastern Turkistan information center, 8/26/97

By Rabiye Yakub and Rakhim Aitbayev

[ETIC, 8/26/97] Following an initiative of the Chinese Embassy in Kirgyzstan, journalists of several Kyrgyzstani newspapers toured Eastern Turkistan on August 26. The media in Kyrgyzstan had recently been covering human rights violations in Eastern Turkistan. It is believed that the Chinese authorities organized this tour to demonstrate to the media that there are now human rights violations in the region.

Nevertheless, an access to the region for the international journalists is strictly restricted. Earlier this year, a BBC crew was expelled from Eastern Turkistan by the Chinese authorities for attempts to gather information about recent clashes in Gulje.

International journalists stationed in China, being afraid of expelling from the country, restrain themselves from going to Eastern Turkistan despite numerous witnesses reports on human rights violations and ethnic unrest.

[Rabiye Yakub, Rakhim Aitbayev]