Chinese government accuses Dolkun Isa of being a terrorist
China expressed dissatisfaction on Saturday at Interpol’s decision to lift a wanted alert for an exile from its Uygur minority, a man China accuses of being a terrorist.
Uygurs are a largely Muslim people who live in the far western region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of people have died in the past few years, mostly in unrest between its 10 million Uygurs and the ethnic majority Han Chinese.
China has blamed much of the unrest on separatist Islamist militants. Rights groups and exiles say anger over tightening Chinese controls on the religion and culture of Uygurs is more to blame.
The London-based rights group Fair Trials said Interpol had confirmed it had deleted a wanted alert, known as a red notice, for Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uygur Congress. A red notice is an international alert for a wanted person but is not an international arrest warrant.
“China expresses its dissatisfaction at Interpol revoking the red notice for Dolkun Isa,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Dolkun Isa is a terrorist as determined by the Chinese government.”
China had full, cast-iron proof of criminality for the issuing of the red notice by Interpol, it added, saying it would have further communication with Interpol on the matter.
