China has jailed three Uighur website operators as it clamps down on dissent a year after deadly ethnic riots in Xinjiang, according to reports. An exiled activist group, the Uyghur American Association (UAA), said the three men were sentenced to 10, five and three years respectively. They were identified as Dilshat Perhat, webmaster of Diyarim website; Nureli of Salkin website; and Nijat Azat, of Shabnam. The websites, among the most popular in the Uighur language, were blocked by the Chinese authorities last year. UAA quoted a brother of one of the men saying they were sentenced last week. Officials have not confirmed the charges or the sentences. (BBC News, July 30)

Earlier this month, Tibetan environmentalist Rinchen Samdrup was sentenced to five years in prison by a Chinese court, found guilty of inciting separatism by posting a pro-Dalai Lama article on his website. Samdrup, the third brother in his family to be jailed, told the Changdu Intermediate People's Court that he did not post the article himself. His lawyer, Xia Jun, was quoted as saying: "It was a mistake, but not a crime." The website is devoted to protecting the environment in the Himalayan region.

Eyewitness accounts confirm that Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality in the wave of Tibetan protests that began on March 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The report charges that many violations continue today, including disappearances, wrongful convictions and imprisonment, persecution of families, and the targeting of Tibetans suspected of sympathizing with the protest movement.

From Amnesty International, July 2:

Amnesty International has urged the Chinese government to launch an independent investigation into last year's riots in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, after new testimony obtained by the organization has cast further doubt on the official version of events.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization, an alliance of former Soviet republics led by Russia, held an emergency meeting in Moscow June 15 on whether to deploy its rapid-reaction forces to conflicted Kyrgyzstan. CSTO secretary general Nikolai Bordyuzha cautioned that "these measures need to be employed after careful consideration and, most importantly, in an integrated manner." Another senior Russian official, Nikolai Patrushev, said the meeting "did not rule out the use of any means that the CSTO has in its potential, depending on how the situation evolves in Kyrgyzstan." He said a plan had been drafted for approval by the presidents of the member nations.

At least 23 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in ongoing clashes that broke out June 10 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents. Mobs of armed men have reportedly torched Uzbek neighborhoods. A state of emergency has been declared and armored vehicles are patrolling the city's streets. With security forces overwhelmed, Kyrgyzstan's interim government has appealed to retired police and army officers to travel to the southern city to help restore order. "Exchanges of fire are continuing and you can hear them everywhere, several buildings are in flames, people are frightened," a government spokesman told AFP. (AP, AFP, June 12)

At least five protesters, including two women, were injured May 15 as thousands of Tibetan villagers in Markham County, Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), marched in protest of planned mining operations on a mountain they consider sacred. The People's Armed Police Force used tear gas and charged the protesters, who attempted to block mining company personnel from entering the region. Authorities have since initiated talks on the project with local village leaders.

A state of emergency has been declared in southern Kyrgyztsan following what authorities are portraying as ethnic violence. On May 19, several thousand ethnic Kyrgyz tried to storm a private university in Jalal-Abad that serves as a center of the minority Uzbek community, sparking a clash that left at least two people dead and more than 70 wounded. Witnesses said gunfire broke out as crowds approached the building encircled by a cordon of special security forces. It was not clear who opened fire, but health officials said most of the injured appeared to be from the crowd. Many see an effort to restore ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev behind the outburst.