China's anti-terror measures are controversial – the violent deaths of 16 people appear in a new light

Following the violent deaths of 16 people in the Uyghur region of north-western China last Sunday, their identities and the circumstances of their deaths are still disputed. On Thursday, the Society for Threatened Peoples reported that villagers and local Communist Party officials had presented objections to the official explanation published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Ministry claimed that the victims belonged to a "group of terrorists" who attacked the police forces with machetes and explosives during a house search. However, residents of the village Saybagh now declared that 14 of the victims – including six women – were all members of a family preparing for a wedding reception in their home. According to local representatives of the Communist Party, the other two victims were the local Head of State Security in Konasheher District and the Head of the local police station, Memet Sidiq.

Apparently, the fight broke out in the course of an investigation in the house, when Sidiq opened the veil of a Muslim woman against her will. He was beaten to death by her husband and his three brothers. The police opened fire, killing 14 members of the family.

"The different versions about the incident clearly show how important independent international investigations are," said the STP's Asia-consultant, Ulrich Delius. Immediately after the incident became known, the STP had already called for such investigations, emphasizing that most incidents in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region occur due to violations of the religious freedom of the local Muslim Uyghur population, who refer to the region as East Turkestan. For weeks, the authorities have been trying to enforce a ban on wearing veils and beards in the conflict region. Veiled women are not allowed to enter public buildings.

Following the violent deaths of these 16 people, at least six Uyghur villagers were arrested. According to the STP, more than 1,000 Uyghurs were arrested for political reasons in China since March 2013. Most of them are kept detained without formal court procedures. If indicted, most of them face long prison sentences because the courts tend to assume crimes against "national security" when dealing with Uyghurs.