Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS November 3, 1997

To Mr. Bill Clinton

President of the United States of America

October 30, 1997

Dear Mr. President,

The World Uighur Youth Congress, encouraged by news dispatches that you will raise the issue of human rights, freedom and democracy during your meeting with the President of the People's Republic of China, wants to bring the plight of the Uighur people to your attention.

Uighurs, the indigenous people of Eastern Turkestan, mostly known in the West as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, has become a target of systematic human rights abuses since the occupation of their country by the Chinese Communists in 1949. The Uighurs, who contributed to the enrichment of Central Asian civilization for more than thousand years, are faced today with the political oppression, cultural assimilation, economic exploitation, cultural destruction and racial discrimination. The population transfer, coercive birth control policy, sinification of the literary language are threatening the very

existence of the Uighurs. The continued treatment of the Uighurs as "dirty", "primitive"and "backward" by the great majority of the common Chinese people have deepened the hostilities between the Uighurs and Chinese.

As a result, fierce anti-Chinese demonstrations broke out throughout Eastern Turkestan in recent years, months and weeks. The latest example is the anti-Chinese demonstration in the city of Guldja (the Chinese renamed the city as Yining ) in early February 1997. In order to disperse the demonstrators, the Chinese armed police have killed 200 Uighurs, wounded several hundred and arrested almost 2000.

Instead of defusing the rising tension in Eastern Turkestan, the Chinese Communist leaders have turned to ruthless and repressive measures aimed at silencing Uighur demands for democracy, respect for human rights and self-determination. At present, Uighurs seeking only to live with dignity are being imprisoned, tortured and executed on political grounds. There are thousands of political prisoners in Eastern Turkestan. Many are reported to have been severely ill-treated. The death penalty is extensively used in Eastern

Turkestan. According to Amnesty International, the number of death sentences imposed in Eastern Turkestan is proportionately much higher than the rest of China. Security forces in the cities, townships and counties have been doubled.

We, the members of the World Uighur Youth Congress and Uighurs living in exile, are in the belief that if the present ruthless repression to silence the just demands of the Uighurs is to be continued it will gradually lead to the intensification of the present tense situation thereby destabilizing the peace and stability in Central Asia as a whole. It is not in the interest of the USA and international community to see another major conflict erupt in that part of the world after Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tajikistan.

Thus, we, the members of the World Uighurs Youth Congress, kindly urge you, as the President of the World's remaining super power and the only nation which has the ability to influence China, to raise the issue of Uighurs and Chinese human rights violations against these people in your meetings with the President of the People's Republic of China.

Sincerely,

Omer Kanat

Chairman of the World Uighur Youth Congress