Many 'missing' after China riots

Dozens of ethnic¹ Uighurs have disappeared since being detained in the wake of the riots(骚乱) in China's Xinjiang region, a human rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch said the 43 men and teenaged boys were taken in police sweeps of Uighur districts of Urumqi, and had since vanished without a trace.

The riots and protests in the city in early July left nearly 200 people dead.

China's central government declined to answer questions about those detained by the authorities in Xinjiang.

It referred questions about the ethnic unrest to the regional government, which also did not respond to enquiries from the BBC.

'Not global leadership'

"The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg²," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The rights group is calling for the Chinese government to give details of everyone it is holding in detention³.

In a report on the disappeared people, HRW said the police had searched two Uighur areas of Urumqi immediately after the riots. At least 43 people were taken away and had not been heard of since.

"According to witnesses, the security forces sealed off entire（整个） neighbourhoods, searching for young Uighur men," the group said.


The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg

Brad Adams
Human Rights Watch
HRW said most of those taken away were young Uighur men in their 20s. The youngest are reported to have been 12 and 14.

In many cases, families had been unable to find out what had happened to their relatives, said Human Rights Watch, whose report was based on interviews with local people.

"China should only use official places of detention so that everyone being held can contact family members and legal counsel," said Mr Adams.

"Disappearing people is not the behaviour of countries aspiring⁴ to global leadership."

Ethnic Uighurs, the original inhabitants of Xinjiang, went on the rampage after reports of Uighur deaths in southern China.

They mainly targeted Urumqi's Han Chinese community - a group that has moved into the western region more recently - killing⁵ scores of people.

Uighurs（维吾尔人） say their culture has been undermined since the arrival of millions of Han people from other parts of China.

Two months after the riots by Uighurs, Hans staged their own protests.

Afterwards, a confused pictured emerged about exactly how many people had been arrested, partly due to a reluctance⁶ by the authorities to provide detailed⁷ figures.

At one point the authorities said more than 1,500 people were in detention, but so far only a handful have been prosecuted（起诉）.

The first trials began last week. A total of nine people have been sentenced to death for their involvement in the riots.

Critics say the trials do not meet international standards. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。