China Urgent Action Appeal

[CCADP]

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

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10 April 2006
UA 81/06
Death penalty/Fear of imminent execution

CHINA
Ismail Semed


Ismail Semed, an ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China, is at risk of
imminent execution after being sentenced to death on
political charges.

Ismail Semed was convicted by the Urumqi Intermediate
People's Court on 31 October 2005 for "attempting to split
the motherland" and other charges related to possession of
firearms and explosives. According to Uyghur Human Rights
Project (UHRP), a Washington DC-based human rights
organization, there are unconfirmed reports that his appeal
was heard in a closed session. If his appeal has already
been rejected, he might have been executed. Execution in
China normally takes place soon after the appeal hearing has
concluded. However, given the political nature of the
charges brought against Ismail Semed, his death sentence
should be reviewed by China's Supreme People's Court.

According to UHRP, Ismail Semed first confessed to the
charges during interrogations but then denied them during
the trial. It is possible that the initial confession was
extorted through torture.

The possession of firearms charges against Ismail Semed
appear to have been based on old testimonies taken from
other Uighurs, some of whom were reportedly executed in
1999. It is possible that their testimonies may have been
extracted through torture. The charge of "splittism" was
based on second-hand testimony which stated that Ismail
Semed was a member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM) and attended one ETIM meeting in 1997 in Rawalpindi,
Pakistan. His alleged membership of ETIM and attendance at
that meeting have reportedly been disputed by people who
were present at the meeting. China has highlighted ETIM as
one of the "East Turkestan terrorist organizations". In
2002, after repeated lobbying from China, the United States
and the United Nations classified ETIM as a "terrorist"
organization. The grounds for this decision have not been
substantiated with any credible evidence.

In the 1990s, Ismail Semed reportedly served two prison
terms for participating in demonstrations in the XUAR. He
fled China for Pakistan following a demonstration in
February 1997 in Gulja (Yining). According to local sources,
the peaceful demonstration was sparked by growing levels of
repression of Uighur culture and religion in and around
Gulja and was brutally broken up by Chinese security
sources, killing and seriously injuring dozens. Hundreds,
and possibly thousands, of people died or were seriously
injured in the unrest that occurred the following day when
thousands of people reportedly took to the streets to
protest. Extra police were brought into the city and
reportedly went through the streets arresting and beating
people, including children. In some areas, protesters
reportedly attacked police or Chinese residents and shops
and set fire to some vehicles, while the security forces
reportedly opened fire on protesters and bystanders. The
exact number of people who died remains unknown, and an
unknown number of people remain in prison in connection with
these events. Ismail Semed was deported from Pakistan to
China in 2003.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The political crackdown on the so-called "three evil forces"
of "separatist, terrorist and religious extremists" in the
XUAR is continuing to result in serious and widespread human
rights violations directed against the region's Uighur
community, prompting many of them to flee the country. The
crackdown has only intensified since the 11 September 2001
attacks in the USA, as China uses the international "war on
terror" as a pretext to justify its policies of repression
in the region.

Over recent years, Amnesty International has monitored
growing numbers of forced returns of Uighurs to China from
several of its neighboring countries, including Pakistan.
There is evidence that China has been pressuring these
countries to forcibly return Uighurs, and in some cases, the
Chinese authorities appear to have been actively involved in
effecting such returns. In some recent cases, returnees are
reported to have been subjected to serious human rights
violations, including torture, unfair trials and even
execution.

The death penalty continues to be used extensively and
arbitrarily in China. Amnesty International estimated that
in 2004, over 3,000 people were executed and 6,000 sentenced
to death. The true figures, which are classified as a "state
secret", are believed to be much higher. A Chinese legal
expert was recently quoted as stating the true figure for
executions at approximately 8,000 per year. Except for one
death penalty sentence for political crimes that was given
outside of XUAR, XUAR is the only place in China where
people have been sentenced to death for political crimes in
recent years.


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- urging the authorities to stay the execution of Ismael
Semed;
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence
passed on Ismael Semed;
- calling on the authorities to re-try Ismael Semed in full
accordance with the international fair trial standards;
- expressing concern at reports of extensive human rights
violations in the XUAR;
- urging the authorities to remove the death penalty as a
punishment for non-violent offences, make public full
national statistics on death sentences and executions, and
introduce a moratorium on executions as immediate steps
towards full abolition of the death penalty in law.


APPEALS TO:
President of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional High
People's Court:
MAIMAITI Rouzi Yuanzhang
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Gaoji Renmin Fayuan
81 Dongfenglu
Wulumuqishi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear President

President of the Supreme People's Court of the People's
Republic of China:
XIAO Yang Yuanzhang
Supreme People's Court
27 Dongjiao Minxiang
Beijingshi 100006
People's Republic of China
Fax: [phone] (c/o Ministry of Communication)
Salutation: Dear President

Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China:
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032
People's Republic of China
Fax: [phone] (c/o Ministry of Communication)
Email: [e-mail]
Salutation: Your Excellency


COPIES TO:
Secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regional Party
Committee:
WANG Lequan Shuji
Zhonggong Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu Weiyuanhui
2 Jiankanglu
Wulumuqishi
Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Secretary

Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]


Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent
Action office if sending appeals after 22 May 2006.


Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [e-mail]
www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL