Article

2007-04-20 China-Japan-Koreas

Uighur-Canadian jailed in China on terrorism charge

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Posted by Fred 2007-04-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Uighur terrorist receives citizenship in Canada...why am I not surprised...

Posted by gromky 2007-04-20 02:20|| 2007-04-20 02:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Looks like the Uzbeks handed him over:

Canadians have become familiar with the names of a number of Muslim men -- Maher Arar, Ahmed El-Maati, Muayyad Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki, among others -- who have faced being detained and tortured while overseas. Huseyin Celil, a father of six and a resident of Burlington, Ontario, currently faces torture and possible execution unless the Canadian government speaks up strongly and calls for his release.

Born in China in 1969, Mr. Celil advocated for the rights of the minority Uygur people, for which he was arrested and tortured by Chinese authorities. He escaped from prison and received asylum through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. While he settled in Canada and became a citizen, he was unable to be reunited with three of his children, left behind in China.

He recently travelled back to Uzbekistan in the hope that relatives there might be able to facilitate reunification with his three older children (he also has three Canadian children). But on his arrival in that country March 26, he was detained. It appears that Uzbekistan is prepared to hand him over to Chinese authorities, where he faces likely execution for his past support of human rights (an all-too common occurrence in China).

This story is becoming painfully familiar, especially for members of Canada's Muslim community. The government of Canada needs to speak up strongly and demand that Mr. Celil be released and returned home. We certainly hope that Canada's interest in maintaining huge investments in the Chinese economy will not prevent officials in Ottawa from speaking out on behalf of one of their citizens.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2007-04-20 02:40|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2007-04-20 02:40|| Front Page Top

#3 g: Uighur terrorist receives citizenship in Canada...why am I not surprised...

It has been the Chinese practice, since 9/11, to call separatists terrorists. I think all of the Uighurs in American custody at Guantanamo have been released as not being terrorist threats. Unlike many released detainees, no Uighur inmate has been apprehended or killed taking up arms again against US forces.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2007-04-20 02:45|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2007-04-20 02:45|| Front Page Top

#4 Sure, they don't take up arms against the U.S. But I thought it was a global war on terrorism. Stomp it out wherever it appears.

The mushy-soft statement above is about what I expected from the Canadians.

Posted by gromky 2007-04-20 04:32|| 2007-04-20 04:32|| Front Page Top

#5 Well said G.

Posted by Skidmark 2007-04-20 05:50|| 2007-04-20 05:50|| Front Page Top

#6 It is not at all clear that all or even most of what is going on in East Turkestan is terrorism, never mind Islamofascism.
From CFR:
"while some Uighurs want full independence, others simply want greater autonomy and better protection from human rights abuses and discrimination. Many Uighurs, most of whom practice a moderate, Sufi form of Islam, complain of harassment by Chinese authorities, who have reportedly closed mosques in Xinjiang. Experts say that unrest among Uighurs has grown in recent years, but many do not buy China s claims that Xinjiang separatist groups, including the ETIM, really threaten Chinese control of the region; they say that the groups are just too small and dispersed to wage an organized campaign, let alone a violent one."
This is consistent with what limited information I know personally.
I don't have any solid information on Celil, but Rebiya Kadeer, who is most certainly not a terrorist, has come to his defense. China is not known for its honesty in dealing with human rights nor its gentleness in dealing with separatists - from our perspective this case would look the same whether Celil was like Zarkawi or like George Washington. He was convicted for an attack on a Chinese 'delegation' to Xinjiang, which may meet some definitions of terrorism but was actually aimed at a target and not intended simply to create fear through violence. Even if he committed the crime, it was more like assassinating an enemy government official than blowing up a marketplace.
But that would still be treason, to the Chinese, and of no significant difference from terrrorism.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2007-04-20 09:51|| 2007-04-20 09:51|| Front Page Top

#7 He's a ROPer for crying out loud!

Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-20 11:30|| 2007-04-20 11:30|| Front Page Top

#8 Close attention should be paid to this situation. What we have is a rare intersection of two major threats to this world, communism and Islam. In this particular instance, the Islamic factor of this equation seems relatively benign by comparison to the larger communist threat. However, both sides are prone to use distortion for their own purposes. Much as Pakistani or Afghan Muslims frequently settle disputes by claiming their for is a "US spy", China will cheerfully claim the Uighurs are "terrorists" in order to obtain blanket condemnation of them.

Like I said, this is a rare intersection of two unscrupulous players. In the historical long run, China will prove the much larger threat to this globe. Therefore its actions, at least in this particular case, must be viewed with greater skepticism.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-20 12:13|| 2007-04-20 12:13|| Front Page Top

#9 Correction: claiming their foe is a "US spy"

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-04-20 12:16|| 2007-04-20 12:16|| Front Page Top

#10 Zenster, even if you were right about China---which is not now, and probably never was communist---why'd you think FDR and Churchill allied with Stalin?

Posted by gromgoru 2007-04-20 17:39|| 2007-04-20 17:39|| Front Page Top

#11 "If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."
Winston Churchill

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-04-20 17:54|| 2007-04-20 17:54|| Front Page Top

23:50 JosephMendiola
23:45 RD
23:34 trailing wife
23:33 Zenster
23:30 Zenster
23:30 RWV
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23:19 JosephMendiola
23:10 Frank G
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22:57 USN, ret.
22:55 Frank G
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22:50 Ho Chi Snusoper4439
22:49 RD
22:44 Grunter
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22:27 JosephMendiola
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22:18 Zenster