Methodology

This report is based on information collected by Human Rights Watch researchers in the aftermath of the July protests. The researchers spoke to many dozens of Urumqi residents, both Han Chinese and Uighur, as well as to others who happened to be in the city during the protests and witnessed the incidents of violence. The interviews were conducted with the help of Uighur and Chinese translators.

In Urumqi, there are no local human rights groups or other organizations where the victims’ families could turn for help and register their cases. Thus, cases documented in this report were collected through random interviews. Virtually every Uighur with whom HRW spoke had knowledge of young men—often their relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, or local vendors and business owners they knew—who “disappeared” after security forces had taken them away.

However, only a limited number of witnesses agreed to provide detailed accounts of the “disappearances” that could be included in this report. All of the witnesses were scared. Many said they were afraid to discuss the circumstances of the arrests even with their neighbors. Interviewees spoke about plain-clothes or uniformed patrols, as well as CCTV cameras monitoring them. None of the witnesses seemed hopeful to ever find any information about the missing, which also affected their willingness to talk about the incidents.

In order to protect witnesses and victims, all names in this report have been changed and the exact dates and locations of interviews withheld.

On August 24, 2009, Human Rights Watch sent a request for information to the Chinese embassy in the United States, asking Chinese authorities to provide information about the number, procedural status, and ethnic breakdown of the detainees as well as other details about them. The request remains unanswered. A copy of the letter can be found in the Appendix to this report.