Soon after the end of the Olympic Games, the Chinese government has once again launched a massive crackdown backed by its military and security forces, using the recent attacks on Chinese military and government apparatus in the region during the Olympic Games as a pretext for their campaign.

According to the information which was acquired directly from Kucha, the residents of this East Turkistan city, where several attacks to the local government and public security offices took place, are prohibited from travelling outside of the county. At the same time security forces have launched a massive retaliation campaign to arrest innocent Uyghurs.

Disturbing messages are emerging from the troubled region. One of numerous examples is the suffering of Mr. Ehmetjan Tohti’s family. The ten month old baby of Mr. and Mrs. Tohti, both of whom were killed during clashes, has been abducted by the Chinese police and whose whereabouts remains unknown. Local authorities have rejected to give any information about the baby to Tohti relatives.

Despite their innocence of any crimes relating to the incident, Ehmetjan’s 60 year-old father Tohti Tay, mother, younger brother Musajan Tohti, older brother Memet Tohti (who has previously served a two year jail term on charges of “endangering national security”) and sister have all been arrested by Chinese authorities. Although Ehmetjan’s sister has since then been released, the situation of all others remain unknown.

The Chinese police detained Mrs. Tohti’s older sister, a businesswoman who runs the supermarket “Ihlas Soda Baziri” in Kucha. All of her 30 employees were also arrested. Despite the fact that there is no connection between these individuals and the attacks, they are still being held in local Chinese detention centers.

The Deputy Minister of Public Security has set up a special working group in Kucha County, which is leading “sweeping operations” in Kucha and in Kashgar.

Shortly after the attacks on security forces in Kucha and in Kashgar, more than 1000 individuals have been officially arrested, and even more people are temporarily being held in local government building in several villages in the region. Eyewitness reports confirmed that there are several appalling detention centers which have been set up in local villages by the local government. These centers are now full with innocent Uyghur peasants, who are not allowed to go back to their families even for a meal.

One of the prominent figures arrested in Kucha County is Ms. Adil Qarim, who is the Imam for the local Mosque. While he has no personal connection to these attacks, one of the attackers prayed at his mosque. He was subsequently sentenced to life prison by the local court of Kucha county.

Very dense checkpoints have been set up by the Chinese security and military forces in every single village in Kucha. Residents are not allowed to travel freely even within their own towns. According to locals, there are even 5 to 6 check points on the way from surrounding towns to the county center of Kucha.

Additionally, local Chinese authorities ordered its law enforcement agents to check every single individual who visits their mosque for prayer. Also those who make their prayers secretly in their homes have also been targeted for these “political examinations”.