As the 2008 Olympics near, Uyghur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer has spoken out against the continued oppression by Chinese authorities, who consistently carry out arrests and executions without supplying justification.

Below is a statement written by Rebiya Kadeer and published in The Wall Street Journal:

In 2001, Chinese leaders promised to improve the country's human rights conditions in return for the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics. With the opening ceremonies less than a year away, it's a good time to examine the situation on the ground in farther flung regions that don't enjoy much international attention.

And there's no better place to start than in East Turkestan, an area China calls the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. On Nov. 8 [2007], the Intermediate People's Court of Kashgar sentenced four ethnic Uighurs to death, and another two to life imprisonment, on charges including engaging in "separatist activities," "training at a terrorist camp" and "illegally making explosives." These men were part of a group captured by China's security forces during a raid on an alleged "terrorist camp" last January [2007] near Kosrap, on the Pamir Plateau.

To date, Chinese authorities have not provided documentation of the alleged terrorist camp, and have produced no video confirmation, independent witness statements, or substantiation of the charges from any other source. Except for the sentences, nothing from the trial has been made public -- no transcripts, no evidence, nor even the names of all of the defendants. Under the current government in Beijing, it is very unlikely that we will ever know exactly what happened in the January [2007] raid.

But given China's past behavior, it's possible to guess. We do know that in recent years, in the name of fighting "terrorism," the Chinese government has forcibly oppressed the Uighurs in East Turkestan. While in government custody, Uighurs often suffer from severe mistreatment and are subject to irregular trials in which they are often denied legal representation, access to evidence and the ability to appeal. Numerous Uighurs have been sentenced to death and executed for their "crimes." East Turkestan remains the only part of the People's Republic of China where people are executed for nonviolent crimes of political opposition to the Chinese state.

I personally spent almost six years in a Chinese prison for speaking up against the Chinese government's abuses in East Turkestan. Two of my children sit in prison as I write, their only crime being their relationship to me. But mine is just one of countless Uighur families that have suffered because of the Chinese government's appalling policies. In the past six years, Amnesty International has documented that "tens of thousands of people are reported to have been detained for investigation in the region, and hundreds, possibly thousands, have been charged or sentenced under the Criminal Law." Amnesty also noted that the vague language in China's revised Criminal Law, amended in late December 2001, could possibly be used to punish people peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Sadly, these acts are only the latest incarnations of China's crimes against the Uighur people. In 1955, leaders in Beijing promised the people of East Turkestan, home to 10 million ethnically and culturally Turkic Uighurs, autonomy within the Chinese state. Today, Uighurs have little or no voice in their local government. Leaders 2,000 miles away in Beijing devise and implement repressive policies that are destroying Uighur language, religion and culture. The people of East Turkestan can only watch as the region's rich natural resources are taken to fuel growth on China's eastern coast.

I unequivocally condemn all acts of violence. Positive political change can and should be achieved through peaceful means. However, I also believe in openness and truth. Can we afford to take China at its word? As authorities detain journalists, force people from their homes, strictly control all religious activities, and use force to silence any voice that questions the government, China's broken promises are clear.

Ms. Kadeer is the president of the Uighur American Association and World Uighur Congress, and UNPO Representative for East Turkestan.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)