China tightens anti-terror rules in volatile Xinjiang
Xinjiang is the first provincial-level region in China to have released a regional interpretation of the Anti-Terrorism Law since it was implemented on January 1 this year.
The new regulation is based on China’s Anti-Terrorism Law, giving detailed instructions on how to deal with terror activities, including keeping hard-line radicals away from other prisoners and re-assessing convicts’ risk level before they can be released from prison. (File Photo)
Battling frequent terror attacks by Uyghur militants in Xinjiang, the volatile region has adopted China’s first provincial-level anti-terrorism rules, including “re-educating” ring leaders and hard-line radicals.
The new regulation is based on China’s Anti-Terrorism Law, giving detailed instructions on how to deal with terror activities, including keeping hard-line radicals away from other prisoners and re-assessing convicts’ risk level before they can be released from prison.
The regulation is based on China’s Anti-Terrorism Law that was designed to better suit the situation in Xinjiang. It was approved by the autonomous region’s legislative body on Sunday and went into effect on Monday, state-run Global Times reported.
Xinjiang is the first provincial-level region in China to have released a regional interpretation of the Anti-Terrorism Law since it was implemented on January 1 this year.
The region has been haunted by terror attacks in the past few years that took hundreds of lives. China had blamed at Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the violence.
The regulation stipulates that prison authorities must re-assess the risk level of convicts of terror-related crimes six months before their release.
The assessment reports will be submitted to local courts, which will decide, within a month, whether a convict requires further re-education upon leaving the prison, it said.
Ringleaders of terror organisations, those who incited others to commit crimes while serving jail terms and those who resist education with violent tendencies must be confined in solitary and kept away from other prisoners, it said.
Clause 51 of the regulation states that those who have twisted the concept of “halal,” which usually only applies to food, and expand the concept to all aspects of social life may be subjected to fines of less than 10,000 yuan (USD 1,538) or detention of five to 15 days.
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China has already deployed large number of security forces in Xinjiang which borders Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, (POK) and Afghanistan.
Under the new rule, officials also have the power to suspend ongoing rallies, demonstrations, performances or other activities that have mass participation to prevent terror activities.
It also give authorities the power to temporarily shut down schools, research facilities, enterprises and other organisations and stop the operation of plants or factories that involve explosive, radioactive or biochemical materials.
This specific clause is to prevent the spread of Islamic radicalism in prisons, analysts said quoting reports about prisons in EU where hard-line radicals tend to use jail time to attract disciples and groom petty criminals for greater attacks.
“The Anti-Terrorism Law is more of a general guideline. As the main battleground of China’s anti-terrorism campaign, Xinjiang is in urgent need of a more detailed set of regulations that target the specific form of terrorism the region is facing,” Li Wei, an expert on counter-terrorism at the Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the daily.
Xinjiang’s regulation has also provided a more detailed definition of terror activities than that in the national law.
It further stipulates that recruiting, training or transporting terror-related personnel will be regarded as carrying out terror activities, as will organising or instigating others to illegally cross into another country to participate in terror activities or terror training.
The regulation requires the establishment of a three-tiered anti-terrorism mechanism comprised of agencies at provincial, prefecture and city levels.
Under the new rule, officials also have the power to suspend ongoing rallies, demonstrations, performances or other activities that
have mass participation to prevent terror activities.
It also give authorities the power to temporarily shut down schools, research facilities, enterprises and other organisations and stop the operation of plants or factories that involve explosive, radioactive or biochemical materials.
This specific clause is to prevent the spread of Islamic radicalism in prisons, analysts said quoting reports about prisons in EU where hard-line radicals tend to use jail time to attract disciples and groom petty criminals for greater attacks.
“The Anti-Terrorism Law is more of a general guideline. As the main battleground of China’s anti-terrorism campaign, Xinjiang is in urgent need of a more detailed set of regulations that target the specific form of terrorism the region is facing,” Li Wei, an expert on counter-terrorism at the Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the daily.
Xinjiang’s regulation has also provided a more detailed definition of terror activities than that in the national law. It further stipulates that recruiting, training or transporting terror-related personnel will be regarded as carrying out terror activities, as will organising or
instigating others to illegally cross into another country to participate in terror activities or terror training.
The regulation requires the establishment of a three-tiered anti-terrorism mechanism comprised of agencies at provincial, prefecture and city levels.
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