Gulja Incident

The Ghulja, Gulja, or Yining incident ( zh, , ''Yīníng Shìjiàn''), also known as the Ghulja massacre, was the culmination of the Ghulja protests of 1997, a series of protests in the city of Yiningknown as Ghulja in Uyghurin the Xinjiang autonomous region of China.

Background

The region of Xinjiang in China has been subject to armed clashes and terrorist attacks throughout the 1990s by separatist militants particularly the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). These include a string of bombings in Ürümqi and Kuqa in 1992, with attacks escalating in 1995.

In 1996, the government of the People's Republic of China initiated a "Strike Hard" campaign to crack down on suspected separatist activity. The ''meshrep'' practice became a target of the "Strike Hard" campaign.

Incident

On February 5, 1997, demonstrations occurred during which the a crowd had marched shouting " God is great" and "independence for Xinjiang". Local Uyghurs reported that the march came in response to a government prohibition against gathering for the ''meshrep''.

According to a local police official, the crowd initially numbered in the dozens, but quickly swelled in size. According to ''Sanlian Lifeweek'', a video of the incident taken at the time reportedly showed individuals chanting similar slogans as well as burning their identification documents.

At noon, the demonstrations escalated as the crowd, numbering at about 1,000, began to riot, attacking police and local residents, as well as burning shops and vehicles.

The crowd was reportedly dispersed by police using clubs, water cannon, and tear gas. Official reports stated that 10 people, including a police officer, were killed. 198 people including security forces were injured.

Aftermath

According to ''Sanlian Lifeweek'', a number of participants in the demonstration and riots had arrived from Kashgar and Hotan. Some of the participants in the incident fled from China to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but were detained by the U.S. military and handed over to the Pakistani government during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, and were imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. During incarceration, Chinese officials have visited Guantanamo to participate in interrogations.

Exile sources claimed that 1,600 people were arrested in a crackdown carried out in the years immediately following the incident in Xinjiang. Rebiya Kadeer, who was present during the Ghulja incident, went on to become leader of the World Uyghur Congress.

According to Radio Free Asia, many Uyghurs who were arrested or detained on charges related to the incident have been sent to internment camps since 2017. Witnesses of the incident as well as family members, friends, and associates of those involved have also been allegedly rounded up and imprisoned.

See also

*Xinjiang conflict
*Barin uprising
*List of massacres in China

References

{{Xinjiang unrest

1997 murders in China
1997 riots
Conflicts in 1997
20th century in Xinjiang
Riots and civil disorder in China
Massacres of protesters in China
East Turkestan independence movement
Crime in Xinjiang
Xinjiang conflict
Persecution of Uyghurs
Massacres committed by the People's Republic of China
February 1997 in China
February 1997 crimes
20th-century mass murder in China