| Ghulja Incident | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Xinjiang conflict | |||
| Date | February 3, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-02-03) February 3–5, 1997 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | |||
| Goals | Autonomy | ||
| Methods | Protests, rioting | ||
| Resulted in | Crowd dispersed by police[1] | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) |
| ||
| Injuries | 198 | ||
| Arrested | 1,600+ (dissident claims) | ||
The Yining incident (Chinese: 伊寧事件, Yīníng Shìjiàn) was the culmination of the Ghulja protests of 1997, a series of demonstrations[3] in the city of Yining—known as Ghulja in Uyghur—in the Xinjiang autonomous regionofChina.
During the 1980s, the practice of meshrep had become increasing popular in Xinjiang amongst Uyghur youth. The cultural practice, which involves music, dance, and poetry, was seen by the state as a positive influence in the region.
Among the causes of this incident was the arrest of a group of women taking part in a meshrep on 3 February 1997.
At around 9:00 am on 5 February 1997, demonstrations occurred during which the a crowd had marched shouting "God is great".
According to a local police official, the crowd initially numbered in the dozens, but quickly swelled in size.[4] A video of the incident taken at the time reportedly showed individuals chanting similar slogans as well as burning their identification documents.[5]
At noon, the demonstrations escalated as the crowd, numbering at about 1,000,[1] began to riot, attacking police and local residents, as well as burning shops and vehicles.[6][1][7]
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,[4][1][8] while dissident sources claim that more than 100 were killed.[8] 198 people including security forces were injured.[9]
According to a police investigation, a number of participants in the demonstration and riots had arrived from Kashgar and Hotan.[5] 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 campinCuba.[10] During incarceration, Chinese officials have visited Guantanamo to participate in interrogations.[10]
Exile sources claimed that 1,600 people[8] were arrested in a crackdown[11] carried out in the years immediately following the incident in Xinjiang.
