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104-599: Xinjiang Uyghur (older spellings variously include Sinkiang Uyghur , Sinkiang Uygur , Sinkiang Uighur etc.) may refer to: Uyghurs in Xinjiang The Xinjiang standard of the Uyghur language See also [ edit ] Xinjiang , an autonomous region of China for the Uyghur ethnic minority Autonomous administrative divisions of China Apostolic Prefecture of Xinjiang-Urumqi Topics referred to by

208-628: A Uyghur tribe appears in accounts from the Northern Wei (4th–6th century A.D.), wherein they were named 袁紇 Yuanhe (< MC ZS * ɦʉɐn-ɦət ) and derived from a confederation named 高车 / 高車 ( lit. "High Carts"), read as Gāochē in Mandarin Chinese but originally with the reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation *[kɑutɕʰĭa], later known as the Tiele ( 铁勒 / 鐵勒 , Tiělè ). Gāochē in turn has been connected to

312-583: A genetically isolated local population that "adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert." These mummified individuals were long suspected to have been " Proto-Tocharian -speaking pastoralists", ancestors of the Tocharians , but the authors of this study found no genetic connection with Indo-European -speaking migrants, particularly

416-852: A global network of non-governmental organizations that monitor censorship worldwide. It also co-founded the Cluster Munition Coalition , which brought about an international convention banning the weapons. HRW employs more than 275 staff—country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics—and operates in more than 90 countries around the world. Headquartered in New York City , it has offices in Amsterdam , Beirut , Berlin , Brussels , Chicago , Geneva , Johannesburg , London , Los Angeles , Nairobi , Seoul , Paris , San Francisco , Sydney , Tokyo , Toronto , Washington, D.C. , and Zürich . HRW maintains direct access to

520-777: A link between the Karakhanid and the Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate, although this connection is disputed by others. The Karakhanids converted to Islam in the tenth century beginning with Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan , the first Turkic dynasty to do so. Modern Uyghurs see the Muslim Karakhanids as an important part of their history; however, Islamization of the people of the Tarim Basin was a gradual process. The Indo-Iranian Saka Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan

624-531: A mass membership, as AI is, HRW depends on wealthy donors who like to see the organization's reports make headlines. For this reason, according to Foreman, it may be that organizations like HRW "concentrate too much on places that the media already cares about," especially Israel. For the financial year ending June 2008, HRW reported receiving approximately US$ 44 million in public donations. In 2009, HRW said it received almost 75% of its financial support from North America, 25% from Western Europe and less than 1% from

728-460: A matter of fact there was for centuries no 'national' name for them; people identified themselves with the oasis they came from, such as Kashgar or Turfan. The term "Uyghur" was not used to refer to a specific existing ethnicity in the 19th century: it referred to an 'ancient people'. A late-19th-century encyclopedia entitled The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia said "the Uigur are

832-694: A people European in appearance indicates the migration of a European-looking people into the Tarim area at the beginning of the Bronze Age around 1800 BC. These people may have been of Tocharian origin, and some have suggested them to be the Yuezhi mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. The Tocharians are thought to have developed from the Indo-European speaking Afanasevo culture of Southern Siberia (c. 3500–2500 BC). A study published in 2021 showed that

936-656: A permanent access to attend the organization's assemblies. Bahrain held the IPU Meeting from 11–15 March 2023. Pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Human Rights Watch opposes violations of what the UDHR considers basic human rights . This includes capital punishment and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation . HRW advocates freedoms in connection with fundamental human rights, such as freedom of religion and freedom of

1040-579: A report accusing Israel of apartheid and calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate "systematic discrimination" against Palestinians, becoming the first major international rights NGO to do so. In August 2020, the Chinese government sanctioned HRW executive director Kenneth Roth—along with the heads of four other U.S.-based democracy and human rights organizations and six U.S. Republican lawmakers—for supporting

1144-511: A result of the Chinese sanctions, with the situation in Hong Kong henceforth to be monitored by HRW's China team. The decision to leave came amid a wider crackdown on civil society groups in Hong Kong. On 8 March 2023, Bahrain canceled two HRW staff members' entry permit visas to attend the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly. The permits were issued on 30 January 2023. Holding a constant observer status with IPU, HRW authorities had

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1248-762: A series of oases scattered across the Taklamakan Desert within the Tarim Basin . These oases have historically existed as independent states or were controlled by many civilizations including China , the Mongols , the Tibetans , and various Turkic polities. The Uyghurs gradually started to become Islamized in the 10th century, and most Uyghurs identified as Muslims by the 16th century. Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity. An estimated 80% of Xinjiang's Uyghurs still live in

1352-521: A southwest and northeast differentiation in the population, partially caused by the Tianshan Mountains which form a natural barrier, with gene flows from the east and west. The study identifies four major ancestral components that may have arisen from two earlier admixed groups: one that migrated from the west harbouring a West-Eurasian component associated with European ancestry (25–37%) and a South Asian ancestry component (12–20%) and one from

1456-678: Is a qualified social worker who has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children , and most recently as director of Amnesty International 's Crisis Response Program. Hassan holds honors degrees in social work and law from Australia and a master's degree in international human rights law from Oxford University . Human Rights watch and Amnesty International are both international non-governmental organizations headquartered in

1560-467: Is biased against Israel in its coverage of the Israel–Palestine conflict . In 2014, two Nobel Peace Laureates , Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Mairead Maguire , wrote a letter signed by 100 other human rights activists and scholars criticizing HRW for its revolving-door hiring practices with the U.S. government, its failure to denounce the U.S. practice of extrajudicial rendition , its endorsement of

1664-709: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Uyghurs The Uyghurs , alternatively spelled Uighurs , Uygurs or Uigurs , are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia . The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China . They are one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities . The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited

1768-488: Is usually pronounced in English as / ˈ w iː ɡ ʊər , - ɡ ər / WEE -goor, -⁠gər (and thus may be preceded by the indefinite article "a"), although some Uyghurs advocate the use of a more native pronunciation / ˌ uː i ˈ ɡ ʊər / OO -ee- GOOR instead (which, in contrast, calls for the indefinite article "an"). The term's original meaning is unclear. Old Turkic inscriptions record

1872-522: The Afanasievo or BMAC cultures. The Uighurs are the people whom old Russian travelers called " Sart " (a name they used for sedentary, Turkish-speaking Central Asians in general), while Western travelers called them Turki, in recognition of their language. The Chinese used to call them "Ch'an-t'ou" ('Turbaned Heads') but this term has been dropped, being considered derogatory, and the Chinese, using their own pronunciation, now called them Weiwuerh. As

1976-650: The Chinese government has been accused by various organizations, such as Human Rights Watch of subjecting Uyghurs living in Xinjiang to widespread persecution , including forced sterilization and forced labor. Scholars estimate that at least one million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang internment camps since 2017; Chinese government officials claim that these camps, created under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping 's administration , serve

2080-714: The Dzungar genocide . The Qing "final solution" of genocide to solve the problem of the Dzungar Mongols created a land devoid of Dzungars, which was followed by the Qing sponsored settlement of millions of other people in Dzungaria. In northern Xinjiang, the Qing brought in Han, Hui, Uyghur, Xibe, Daurs, Solons, Turkic Muslim Taranchis and Kazakh colonists, with one third of Xinjiang's total population consisting of Hui and Han in

2184-539: The Kingdom of Qocho and Kara-Khanid Khanate formed after the dissolution of the Uyghur Khaganate. Historians generally agree that the adoption of the term "Uyghur" is based on a decision from a 1921 conference in Tashkent , attended by Turkic Muslims from the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang). There, "Uyghur" was chosen by them as the name of their ethnicity, although they themselves note that they were not to be confused with

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2288-814: The Mongol Empire , but was finally destroyed by the Chagatai Khanate by the end of the 14th century. In the tenth century, the Karluks , Yagmas , Chigils and other Turkic tribes founded the Kara-Khanid Khanate in Semirechye , Western Tian Shan , and Kashgaria and later conquered Transoxiana . The Karakhanid rulers were likely to be Yaghmas who were associated with the Toquz Oghuz and some historians therefore see this as

2392-792: The Rwandan genocide of 1994, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and the excessive breadth of U.S. sex offender registries and their application to juveniles. In the summer of 2004, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York became the depository institution for the Human Rights Watch Archive, an active collection that documents decades of human rights investigations around

2496-658: The Tarim Basin . The rest of Xinjiang's Uyghurs mostly live in Ürümqi , the capital city of Xinjiang , which is located in the historical region of Dzungaria . The largest community of Uyghurs living outside of Xinjiang are the Taoyuan Uyghurs of north-central Hunan 's Taoyuan County . Significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in other Turkic countries such as Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan and Turkey. Smaller communities live in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Russia and Sweden. Since 2014,

2600-710: The Tiele , who lived in the valleys south of Lake Baikal and around the Yenisei River . They overthrew the First Turkic Khaganate and established the Uyghur Khaganate . The Uyghur Khaganate lasted from 744 to 840. It was administered from the imperial capital Ordu-Baliq , one of the biggest ancient cities built in Mongolia. In 840, following a famine and civil war, the Uyghur Khaganate

2704-584: The Toquz Oghuz . The name fell out of use in the 15th century, but was reintroduced in the early 20th century by the Soviet Bolsheviks to replace the previous terms Turk and Turki . The name is currently used to refer to the settled Turkic urban dwellers and farmers of the Tarim Basin who follow traditional Central Asian sedentary practices, distinguishable from the nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. The earliest record of

2808-546: The Uyghur Qangqil ( قاڭقىل or Қаңқил). Throughout its history, the term Uyghur has had an increasingly expansive definition. Initially signifying only a small coalition of Tiele tribes in northern China, Mongolia and the Altai Mountains , it later denoted citizenship in the Uyghur Khaganate . Finally, it was expanded into an ethnicity whose ancestry originates with the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate in

2912-597: The Uyghur Khaganate of medieval history. According to Linda Benson, the Soviets and their client Sheng Shicai intended to foster a Uyghur nationality to divide the Muslim population of Xinjiang, whereas the various Turkic Muslim peoples preferred to identify themselves as "Turki", "East Turkestani" or "Muslim". On the other hand, the ruling regime of China at that time, the Kuomintang , grouped all Muslims, including

3016-569: The World Uyghur Congress claimed a 4,000-year history in East Turkestan. However, the official Chinese view, as documented in the white paper History and Development of Xinjiang , asserts that the Uyghur ethnic group formed after the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840, when the local residents of the Tarim Basin and its surrounding areas were merged with migrants from the khaganate. The name "Uyghur" reappeared after

3120-721: The "Uighur" name for the Turkic people of Xinjiang was criticized and rejected by Turki intellectuals such as Pan-Turkist Jadids and East Turkestan independence activists Muhammad Amin Bughra (Mehmet Emin) and Masud Sabri . They demanded the names "Türk" or "Türki" be used instead as the ethnonyms for their people. Masud Sabri viewed the Hui people as Muslim Han Chinese and separate from his people, while Bughrain criticized Sheng for his designation of Turkic Muslims into different ethnicities which could sow disunion among Turkic Muslims. After

3224-578: The "Yellow Uyghur" ( Sarïq Uyghur ). Some scholars say the Yugurs' culture, language and religion are closer to the original culture of the original Uyghur Karakorum state than is the culture of the modern Uyghur people of Xinjiang. Linguist and ethnographer S. Robert Ramsey argues for inclusion of both the Eastern and Western Yugur and the Salar as sub-groups of the Uyghur based on similar historical roots for

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3328-457: The 1390s, and the Uyghurs there became largely Muslim by the beginning of the 16th century. After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan failed to retain memory of their ancestral legacy and falsely believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" ( Dzungars ) were the ones who built Buddhist structures in their area. From the late 14th through 17th centuries,

3432-537: The 1930s, referring to them by the name "Altishahri" in his article Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism . Thum indicated that Altishahri Turkis did have a sense that they were a distinctive group separate from the Turkic Andijanis to their west, the nomadic Turkic Kirghiz, the nomadic Mongol Qalmaq and the Han Chinese Khitay before they became known as Uyghurs. There

3536-527: The 19th century. The name "Uyghur" reappeared after the Soviet Union took the 9th-century ethnonym from the Uyghur Khaganate , then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. It followed western European orientalists like Julius Klaproth in the 19th century who revived the name and spread the use of the term to local Turkic intellectuals and a 19th-century proposal from Russian historians that modern-day Uyghurs were descended from

3640-520: The 2004 book Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland that there is "scant evidence" to support Uyghur claims that their population within China exceeds 20 million. A study of mitochondrial DNA (2004) (therefore the matrilineal genetic contribution ) found the frequency of Western Eurasian-specific haplogroup in Uyghurs to be 42.6% and East Asian haplogroup to be 57.4%. Uyghurs in Kazakhstan on

3744-549: The 4th century AD. There may also be an Indian component as the founding legend of Khotan suggests that the city was founded by Indians from ancient Taxila during the reign of Ashoka . Other people in the region mentioned in ancient Chinese texts include the Dingling as well as the Xiongnu who fought for supremacy in the region against the Chinese for several hundred years. Some Uyghur nationalists also claimed descent from

3848-825: The Aqtaghlik Afaqi Khoja into exile. In the 17th century, the Buddhist Dzungar Khanate grew in power in Dzungaria . The Dzungar conquest of Altishahr ended the last independent Chagatai Khanate, the Yarkent Khanate , after the Aqtaghlik Afaq Khoja sought aid from the 5th Dalai Lama and his Dzungar Buddhist followers to help him in his struggle against the Qarataghlik Khojas. The Aqtaghlik Khojas in

3952-739: The Communist victory, the Chinese Communist Party under Chairman Mao Zedong continued the Soviet classification, using the term "Uyghur" to describe the modern ethnicity. In current usage, Uyghur refers to settled Turkic-speaking urban dwellers and farmers of the Tarim Basin and Ili who follow traditional Central Asian sedentary practices, as distinguished from nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. However, Chinese government agents designate as "Uyghur" certain peoples with significantly divergent histories and ancestries from

4056-587: The Dzungar conflict, two Aqtaghlik brothers, the so-called "Younger Khoja" ( Chinese : 霍集佔 ), also known as Khwāja-i Jahān, and his sibling, the Elder Khoja ( Chinese : 波羅尼都 ), also known as Burhān al-Dīn, after being appointed as vassals in the Tarim Basin by the Dzungars, first joined the Qing and rebelled against Dzungar rule until the final Qing victory over the Dzungars, then they rebelled against

4160-471: The First and Second Göktürk Khaganates (AD   630–684). The Old History of the Five Dynasties records that in 788 or 809, the Chinese acceded to a Uyghur request and emended their transcription to 回鹘 / 回鶻 (Mandarin: Huíhú , but [ɣuɒiɣuət] in Middle Chinese). Modern etymological explanations for the name Uyghur range from derivation from the verb "follow, accommodate oneself" and adjective "non-rebellious" (i.e., from Turkic uy/uð- ) to

4264-416: The HRW archive are not open to researchers or to the public, including the records of the meetings of the board of directors, the executive committee, and the various subcommittees, limiting historians' ability to understand the organization's internal decision-making. HRW has been criticized for perceived bias by the national governments it has investigated for human rights abuses. Some sources allege HRW

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4368-442: The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests . The five organizations' leaders saw the sanctioning, whose details were unspecified, as a tit-for-tat measure in response to the earlier U.S. sanctioning of 11 Hong Kong officials. The latter step had in turn been a reaction to the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in June. In October 2021, The New York Times reported that HRW left Hong Kong as

4472-844: The North Atlantic Anglosphere that report on global human rights violations. The major differences lie in the groups' structures and methods for promoting change. Amnesty International is a mass-membership organization. Mobilization of those members is the organization's central advocacy tool. Human Rights Watch's main products are its crisis-directed research and lengthy reports, whereas Amnesty International lobbies and writes detailed reports but also focuses on mass letter-writing campaigns, adopting individuals as " prisoners of conscience " and lobbying for their release. HRW openly lobbies for specific actions for other governments to take against human rights offenders, including naming specific individuals for arrest, or sanctions to be levied against certain countries, such as calling for punitive sanctions against

4576-402: The Qing in the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas (1757–1759), an action which prompted the invasion and conquest of the Tarim Basin by the Qing in 1759. The Uyghurs of Turfan and Hami such as Emin Khoja were allies of the Qing in this conflict, and these Uyghurs also helped the Qing rule the Altishahr Uyghurs in the Tarim Basin. The final campaign against the Dzungars in the 1750s ended with

4680-448: The Soviet Union took the 9th-century ethnonym from the Uyghur Khaganate, then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. Many contemporary western scholars, however, do not consider the modern Uyghurs to be of direct linear descent from the old Uyghur Khaganate of Mongolia. Rather, they consider them to be descendants of a number of peoples, one of them the ancient Uyghurs. Discovery of well-preserved Tarim mummies of

4784-417: The Tarim Basin and Turfan in the 17th century. The Khojas however split into two rival factions, the Aqtaghlik ("White Mountainers") Khojas (also called the Afaqiyya ) and the Qarataghlik ("Black Mountainers") Khojas (also called the Ishaqiyya). The legacy of the Khojas lasted until the 19th century. The Qarataghlik Khojas seized power in Yarkand where the Chagatai Khans ruled in the Yarkent Khanate, forcing

4888-401: The Tarim Basin then became vassals to the Dzungars. The expansion of the Dzungars into Khalkha Mongol territory in Mongolia brought them into direct conflict with Qing China in the late 17th century, and in the process also brought Chinese presence back into the region a thousand years after Tang China lost control of the Western Regions . The Dzungar–Qing War lasted a decade. During

4992-428: The Turkic Muslims of the region as "Turki" in their books. Use of the term Uyghur was unknown in Xinjiang until 1934. The area governor, Sheng Shicai , came to power, adopting the Soviet ethnographic classification instead of the Kuomintang's and became the first to promulgate the official use of the term "Uyghur" to describe the Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. "Uyghur" replaced "rag-head". Sheng Shicai's introduction of

5096-427: The Turkic-speaking people of Xinjiang, into the " Hui nationality ". The Qing dynasty and the Kuomintang generally referred to the sedentary oasis-dwelling Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang as "turban-headed Hui" to differentiate them from other predominantly Muslim ethnicities in China. In the 1930s, foreigners travelers in Xinjiang such as George W. Hunter , Peter Fleming , Ella Maillart and Sven Hedin , referred to

5200-413: The U.S. 2011 military intervention in Libya , and its silence during the 2004 Haitian coup d'état . In 2020, HRW's board of directors discovered that HRW accepted a $ 470,000 donation from Saudi real estate magnate Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber , owner of a company HRW "had previously identified as complicit in labor rights abuse", under the condition that the donation not be used to support LGBT advocacy in

5304-422: The Uyghurs as the original inhabitants of Xinjiang with a long history. Uyghur politician and historian Muhammad Amin Bughra wrote in his book A History of East Turkestan , stressing the Turkic aspects of his people, that the Turks have a continuous 9000-year-old history, while historian Turghun Almas incorporated discoveries of Tarim mummies to conclude that Uyghurs have over 6400 years of continuous history, and

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5408-399: The Xinjiang region became further subdivided into Moghulistan in the north, Altishahr (Kashgar and the Tarim Basin), and the Turfan area, each often ruled separately by competing Chagatayid descendants, the Dughlats , and later the Khojas . Islam was also spread by the Sufis , and branches of its Naqshbandi order were the Khojas who seized control of political and military affairs in

5512-426: The Xiongnu (according to the Chinese historical text the Book of Wei , the founder of the Uyghurs was descended from a Xiongnu ruler), but the view is contested by modern Chinese scholars. The Yuezhi were driven away by the Xiongnu but founded the Kushan Empire , which exerted some influence in the Tarim Basin, where Kharosthi texts have been found in Loulan , Niya and Khotan . Loulan and Khotan were some of

5616-535: The Yugur and on perceived linguistic similarities for the Salar. " Turkistani " is used as an alternate ethnonym by some Uyghurs. For example, the Uyghur diaspora in Arabia, adopted the identity " Turkistani ". Some Uyghurs in Saudi Arabia adopted the Arabic nisba of their home city, such as " Al- Kashgari " from Kashgar . Saudi-born Uyghur Hamza Kashgari 's family originated from Kashgar. The Uyghur population within China generally remains centered in Xinjiang region with some smaller subpopulations elsewhere in

5720-455: The affected countries, Americas Watch also examined the role played by foreign governments, particularly the United States government , in providing military and political support to abusive regimes. Asia Watch (1985), Africa Watch (1988) and Middle East Watch (1989) were added to what was known as "The Watch Committees". In 1988, these committees united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch. In April 2021, Human Rights Watch released

5824-596: The basis for drawing international attention to abuses and pressuring governments and international organizations to reform. Researchers conduct fact-finding missions to investigate suspect situations, also using diplomacy, staying in touch with victims, making files about public and individuals, providing required security for them in critical situations, and generating local and international media coverage. Issues HRW raises in its reports include social and gender discrimination , torture , military use of children , political corruption , abuses in criminal justice systems, and

5928-445: The conquest. The settled population of these cities later merged with the incoming Turkic people, including the Uyghurs of Uyghur Khaganate, to form the modern Uyghurs. The Indo-European Tocharian language later disappeared as the urban population switched to a Turkic language such as the Old Uyghur language . The early Turkic peoples descended from agricultural communities in Northeast Asia who moved westwards into Mongolia in

6032-415: The country, such as in Taoyuan County where an estimated 5,000–10,000 live. The size of the Uyghur population, particularly in China, has been the subject of dispute. Chinese authorities place the Uyghur population within the Xinjiang region to be just over 12 million, comprising approximately half of the total regional population. As early as 2003, however, some Uyghur groups wrote that their population

6136-421: The current edition, World Report 2020 , was released in January 2020, and covers events of 2019. World Report 2020 , HRW's 30th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, includes reviews of human rights practices and trends in nearly 100 countries, and an introductory essay by Executive Director Kenneth Roth, "China's Global Threat to Human Rights". HRW has reported extensively on subjects such as

6240-521: The death of Genghis Khan in 1227, Transoxiana and Kashgar became the domain of his second son, Chagatai Khan . The Chagatai Khanate split into two in the 1340s, and the area of the Chagatai Khanate where the modern Uyghurs live became part of Moghulistan , which meant "land of the Mongols". In the 14th century, a Chagatayid khan Tughluq Temür converted to Islam, Genghisid Mongol nobilities also followed him to convert to Islam. His son Khizr Khoja conquered Qocho and Turfan (the core of Uyghuristan) in

6344-401: The descendants of a number of peoples, including the ancient Uyghurs of Mongolia migrating into the Tarim Basin after the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate, Iranic Saka tribes and other Indo-European peoples inhabiting the Tarim Basin before the arrival of the Turkic Uyghurs. Uyghur activists identify with the Tarim mummies , remains of an ancient people inhabiting the region, but research into

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6448-454: The diversity of cytochrome B further suggests Uyghurs are closer to Chinese and Siberian populations than to various Caucasoid groups in West Asia or Europe. However, there is significant genetic distance between the Xinjiang's southern Uyghurs and Chinese population, but not between the northern Uyghurs and Chinese. A Study (2016) of Uyghur males living in southern Xinjiang used high-resolution 26 Y-STR loci system high-resolution to infer

6552-538: The earliest Tarim Basin cultures had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry, with smaller admixture from Northeast Asians . Uyghur activist Turgun Almas claimed that Tarim mummies were Uyghurs because the earliest Uyghurs practiced shamanism and the buried mummies' orientation suggests that they had been shamanists; meanwhile, Qurban Wäli claimed words written in Kharosthi and Sogdian scripts as "Uyghur" rather than Sogdian words absorbed into Uyghur according to other linguists. Later migrations brought peoples from

6656-764: The early 20th century they identified themselves by different names to different peoples and in response to different inquiries: they called themselves Sarts in front of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz while they called themselves "Chantou" if asked about their identity after first identifying as a Muslim. The term "Chantou" ( 纏頭 ; Chántóu , meaning "Turban Head") was used to refer to the Turkic Muslims of Altishahr (now Southern Xinjiang ), including by Hui (Tungan) people. These groups of peoples often identify themselves by their originating oasis instead of an ethnicity; for example those from Kashgar may refer to themselves as Kashgarliq or Kashgari , while those from Hotan identity themselves as "Hotani". Other Central Asians once called all

6760-400: The east, harbouring a Siberian ancestry component (15–17%) and an East Asian ancestry component (29–47%). In total, Uyghurs on average are 33.3% West Eurasian, 32.9% East Asian, 17.9% South Asian, and 16% Siberian. Western parts of Xinjiang are more West Eurasian components than East Eurasian. It suggests at least two major waves of admixture, one ~3,750 years ago coinciding with the age range of

6864-454: The genetic relationships between the Uyghur population and European and Asian populations. The results showed the Uyghur population of southern Xinjiang exhibited a genetic admixture of Eastern Asian and European populations but with slightly closer relationship with European populations than to Eastern Asian populations. An extensive genome study in 2017 analyzed 951 samples of Uyghurs from 14 geographical subpopulations in Xinjiang and observed

6968-527: The genetics of ancient Tarim mummies and their links with modern Uyghurs remains problematic, both to Chinese government officials concerned with ethnic separatism and to Uyghur activists concerned the research could affect their indigenous claim. A genomic study published in 2021 found that these early mummies had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from Ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, about 28%), but no detectable Western Steppe-related ancestry . They formed

7072-480: The goals of ensuring adherence to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology, preventing separatism , fighting terrorism , and providing vocational training to Uyghurs. Various scholars, human rights organizations and governments consider abuses perpetrated against the Uyghurs to amount to crimes against humanity , or even genocide . In the Uyghur language , the ethnonym is written ئۇيغۇر in Arabic script , Уйғур in Uyghur Cyrillic and Uyghur or Uygur (as

7176-407: The inhabitants of Xinjiang's Southern oases Kashgari, a term still used in some regions of Pakistan. The Turkic people also used "Musulman", which means "Muslim", to describe themselves. Rian Thum explored the concepts of identity among the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs in Altishahr (the native Uyghur name for Eastern Turkestan or Southern Xinjiang) before the adoption of the name "Uyghur" in

7280-532: The international spotlight on human rights violations in the Soviet Union and its European partners, it contributed to the region's democratic transformations in the late 1980s. Americas Watch was founded in 1981 while bloody civil wars engulfed Central America. Relying on extensive on-the-ground fact-finding, Americas Watch not only addressed perceived abuses by government forces but also applied international humanitarian law to investigate and expose war crimes by rebel groups. In addition to raising concerns in

7384-402: The late 3rd millennium BC, where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle. By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become equestrian nomads . In subsequent centuries, the steppe populations of Central Asia appear to have been progressively Turkified by East Asian nomadic Turks, moving out of Mongolia. The Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate were part of a Turkic confederation called

7488-495: The legalization of abortion . HRW has documented and reported various violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law , most recently in Yemen. Human Rights Watch also supports writers worldwide who are persecuted for their work and in need of financial assistance. The Hellman/Hammett grants are financed by the estate of the playwright Lillian Hellman in funds set up in her name and that of her longtime companion,

7592-682: The main group. These include the Lopliks of Ruoqiang County and the Dolan people , thought to be closer to the Oirat Mongols and the Kyrgyz . The use of the term Uyghur led to anachronisms when describing the history of the people. In one of his books, the term Uyghur was deliberately not used by James Millward. Another ethnicity, the Western Yugur of Gansu , identify themselves as

7696-524: The majority of countries it reports on. Cuba , North Korea , Sudan , Iran , Israel , Egypt , the United Arab Emirates , Uzbekistan and Venezuela are among the handful of countries that have blocked HRW staff members' access. HRW's former executive director is Kenneth Roth , who held the position from 1993 to 2022. Roth conducted investigations on abuses in Poland after martial law

7800-787: The many city-states that existed in the Xinjiang region during the Han dynasty ; others include Kucha , Turfan , Karasahr and Kashgar . These kingdoms in the Tarim Basin came under the control of China during the Han and Tang dynasties. During the Tang dynasty they were conquered and placed under the control of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West , and the Indo-European cultures of these kingdoms never recovered from Tang rule after thousands of their inhabitants were killed during

7904-414: The maximum four as of 2016. The Better Business Bureau said HRW meets its standards for charity accountability. Some notable current and former staff members of Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Watch publishes reports on many different topics and compiles an annual World Report presenting an overview of the worldwide state of human rights. It has been published by Seven Stories Press since 2006;

8008-683: The most ancient of Turkish tribes and formerly inhabited a part of Chinese Tartary (Xinjiang), now occupied by a mixed population of Turk, Mongol and Kalmuck ". Before 1921/1934, Western writers called the Turkic-speaking Muslims of the oases "Turki" and the Turkic Muslims who had migrated from the Tarim Basin to Ili , Ürümqi and Dzungaria in the northern portion of Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty were known as " Taranchi ", meaning "farmer". The Russians and other foreigners referred to them as "Sart", "Turk" or "Turki". In

8112-440: The mummies with European feature found in Xinjiang, and another occurring around 750 years ago. A 2018 study of 206 Uyghur samples from Xinjiang, using the ancestry-informative SNP (AISNP) analysis, found that the average genetic ancestry of Uyghurs is 63.7% East Asian-related and 36.3% European-related. The history of the Uyghur people, as with the ethnic origin of the people, is a matter of contention. Uyghur historians viewed

8216-535: The ninth to the fourteenth century and proved to be longer-lasting than any power in the region, before or since. The Uyghurs were originally Tengrists , shamanists, and Manichaean , but converted to Buddhism during this period. Qocho accepted the Qara Khitai as its overlord in the 1130s, and in 1209 submitted voluntarily to the rising Mongol Empire . The Uyghurs of Kingdom of Qocho were allowed significant autonomy and played an important role as civil servants to

8320-754: The northern Uyghur population. A different study by Li et al. (2009) used a larger sample of individuals from a wider area and found a higher East Asian component of about 70% on average, while the European/West Asian component was about 30%. Overall, Uyghur show relative more similarity to "Western East Asians" than to "Eastern East Asians". The authors also cite anthropologic studies which also estimate about 30% "Western proportions", which are in agreement with their genetic results. A study (2013) based on autosomal DNA shows that average Uyghurs are closest to other Turkic people in Central Asia and China as well as various Chinese populations. The analysis of

8424-685: The northern area, while around two thirds were Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin. In Dzungaria, the Qing established new cities like Ürümqi and Yining. The Dzungarian basin itself is now inhabited by many Kazakhs. The Qing therefore unified Xinjiang and changed its demographic composition as well. The crushing of the Buddhist Dzungars by the Qing led to the empowerment of the Muslim Begs in southern Xinjiang, migration of Muslim Taranchis to northern Xinjiang, and increasing Turkic Muslim power, with Turkic Muslim culture and identity

8528-635: The novelist Dashiell Hammett . In addition to providing financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants help raise international awareness of activists who have been silenced for speaking out in defence of human rights. Each year, Human Rights Watch presents the Human Rights Defenders Award to activists who demonstrate leadership and courage in defending human rights. The award winners work closely with HRW to investigate and expose human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch

8632-532: The organization has to be seen as more international, less an American organization." He continued, "Human Rights Watch is one of the most effective organizations I support. Human rights underpin our greatest aspirations: they're at the heart of open societies." The donation, the largest in HRW's history, increased its operating staff of 300 by 120 people. Charity Navigator gave HRW a three-star rating for 2018. Its financial rating increased from three stars in 2015 to

8736-495: The other hand were shown to have 55% European/Western Eurasian maternal mtDNA. A study based on paternal DNA (2005) shows West Eurasian haplogroups (J and R) in Uyghurs make up 65% to 70% and East Asian haplogroups (C, N, D and O) 30% to 35%. One study by Xu et al. (2008), using samples from Hetian ( Hotan ) only, found Uyghurs have about an average of 60% European or West Asian (Western Eurasian) ancestry and about 40% East Asian or Siberian ancestry (Eastern Eurasian). From

8840-570: The press . It seeks to achieve change by publicly pressuring governments and their policymakers to curb human rights abuses, and by convincing more powerful governments to use their influence on governments that violate human rights. Human Rights Watch publishes research reports on violations of international human rights norms as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what it perceives to be other internationally accepted human-rights norms. These reports are used as

8944-536: The rest of the world. According to a 2008 financial assessment, HRW reports that it does not accept any direct or indirect funding from governments and is financed through contributions from private individuals and foundations. Financier George Soros of the Open Society Foundations announced in 2010 his intention to grant US$ 100 million to HRW over ten years to help it expand its efforts internationally: "to be more effective", he said, "I think

9048-475: The same area, it is found that the proportion of Uyghur individuals with European/West Asian ancestry ranges individually from 40.3% to 84.3% while their East Asian/Siberian ancestry ranges individually from 15.7% to 59.7%. Further study by the same team showed an average of slightly greater European/West Asian component at 52% (ranging individually from 44.9% to 63.1%) in the Uyghur population in southern Xinjiang but only 47% (ranging individually from 30% to 55%) in

9152-427: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Xinjiang Uyghur . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xinjiang_Uyghur&oldid=1025619238 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

9256-511: The standard Chinese romanization , GB 3304–1991) in Latin ; they are all pronounced as [ʔʊjˈʁʊːr] . In Chinese , this is transcribed into characters as 维吾尔 / 維吾爾 , which is romanized in pinyin as Wéiwú'ěr . In English, the name is officially spelled Uyghur by the Xinjiang government but also appears as Uighur , Uigur and Uygur (these reflect the various Cyrillic spellings Уиғур, Уигур and Уйгур). The name

9360-764: The top leaders in Sudan who oversaw a killing campaign in Darfur . The group also called for human rights activists who had been detained in Sudan to be released. HRW's documentations of human rights abuses often include extensive analyses of conflicts' political and historical backgrounds, some of which have been published in academic journals. AI's reports, on the other hand, tend to contain less analysis, instead focusing on specific abuses of rights. In 2010, Jonathan Foreman wrote that HRW had "all but eclipsed" Amnesty International. According to Foreman, instead of being supported by

9464-454: The verb meaning "wake, rouse or stir" (i.e., from Turkic oðğur- ). None of these is thought to be satisfactory because the sound shift of /ð/ and /ḏ/ to /j/ does not appear to be in place by this time. The etymology therefore cannot be conclusively determined and its referent is also difficult to fix. The "Huihe" and "Huihu" seem to be a political rather than a tribal designation or it may be one group among several others collectively known as

9568-642: The west and northwest to the Xinjiang region, probably speakers of various Iranian languages such as the Saka tribes, who were closely related to the European Scythians and descended from the earlier Andronovo culture , and who may have been present in the Khotan and Kashgar area in the first millennium BC, as well as the Sogdians who formed networks of trading communities across the Tarim Basin from

9672-531: The word uyɣur (Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰖𐰍𐰆𐰺 ); an example is found on the Sudzi inscription, "I am khan ata of Yaglaqar , came from the Uigur land." (Old Turkic: Uyγur jerinte Yaγlaqar qan ata keltim ). It is transcribed into Tang annals as 回纥 / 回紇 (Mandarin: Huíhé , but probably *[ɣuɒiɣət] in Middle Chinese ). It was used as the name of one of the Turkic polities formed in the interim between

9776-728: The world. The archive was transferred from the Norlin Library at the University of Colorado, Boulder . It includes administrative files, public relations documents, and case and country files. With some exceptions for security considerations, the Columbia University community and the public have access to field notes, taped and transcribed interviews with alleged victims of human rights violations, video and audiotapes, and other materials documenting HRW's activities since its founding in 1978 as Helsinki Watch. Some parts of

9880-514: The year 842, causing Uyghur migration from Mongolia into the Tarim Basin. The Uyghurs who moved to the Tarim Basin mixed with the local Tocharians , and converted to the Tocharian religion, and adopted their culture of oasis agriculture. The fluid definition of Uyghur and the diverse ancestry of modern Uyghurs create confusion as to what constitutes true Uyghur ethnography and ethnogenesis . Contemporary scholars consider modern Uyghurs to be

9984-524: Was being vastly undercounted by Chinese authorities, claiming that their population actually exceeded 20 million. Population disputes have continued into the present, with some activists and groups such as the World Uyghur Congress and Uyghur American Association claiming that the Uyghur population ranges between 20 and 30 million. Some have even claimed that the real number of Uyghurs is actually 35 million. Scholars, however, have generally rejected these claims, with Professor Dru C. Gladney writing in

10088-477: Was co-founded by Robert L. Bernstein , Jeri Laber , and Aryeh Neier as a private American NGO in 1978, under the name Helsinki Watch , to monitor the then- Soviet Union 's compliance with the Helsinki Accords . Helsinki Watch adopted a practice of publicly " naming and shaming " abusive governments through media coverage and direct exchanges with policymakers. Helsinki Watch says that, by shining

10192-550: Was conquered by the Turkic Muslim Karakhanids from Kashgar in the early 11th century, but Uyghur Qocho remained mainly Buddhist until the 15th century, and the conversion of the Uyghur people to Islam was not completed until the 17th century. The 12th and 13th century saw the domination by non-Muslim powers: first the Kara-Khitans in the 12th century, followed by the Mongols in the 13th century. After

10296-464: Was declared 1981. He later focused on Haiti , which had just emerged from the Duvalier dictatorship but continued to be plagued with problems. Roth's awareness of the importance of human rights began with stories his father had told about escaping Nazi Germany in 1938. He graduated from Yale Law School and Brown University . Tirana Hassan became the group's executive director in 2023. Hassan

10400-616: Was no single name used for their identity; various native names Altishahris used for identify were Altishahrlik (Altishahr person), yerlik (local), Turki and Musulmān (Muslim); the term Musulmān in this situation did not signify religious connotations, because the Altishahris exclude other Muslim peoples like the Kirghiz while identifying themselves as Musulmān. Dr. Laura J Newby says the sedentary Altishahri Turkic people considered themselves separate from other Turkic Muslims since at least

10504-746: Was one of six international NGOs that founded the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 1998. It is also the co-chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines , a global coalition of civil society groups that successfully lobbied to introduce the Ottawa Treaty , which prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines. Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange ,

10608-531: Was overrun by the Yenisei Kirghiz , another Turkic people. As a result, the majority of tribal groups formerly under Uyghur control dispersed and moved out of Mongolia. The Uyghurs who founded the Uyghur Khaganate dispersed after the fall of the Khaganate, to live among the Karluks and to places such as Jimsar , Turpan and Gansu . These Uyghurs soon founded two kingdoms and the easternmost state

10712-738: Was the Ganzhou Kingdom (870–1036) which ruled parts of Xinjiang, with its capital near present-day Zhangye , Gansu, China. The modern Yugurs are believed to be descendants of these Uyghurs. Ganzhou was absorbed by the Western Xia in 1036. The second Uyghur kingdom, the Kingdom of Qocho ruled a larger section of Xinjiang, also known as Uyghuristan in its later period, was founded in the Turpan area with its capital in Qocho (modern Gaochang ) and Beshbalik . The Kingdom of Qocho lasted from

10816-590: Was tolerated or even promoted by the Qing. It was therefore argued by Henry Schwarz that "the Qing victory was, in a certain sense, a victory for Islam". Human Rights Watch In 1997, Human Rights Watch shared the Nobel Peace Prize as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines . It played a leading role in the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions . HRW's annual expenses totaled $ 50.6 million in 2011, $ 69.2 million in 2014, and $ 75.5 million in 2017. Human Rights Watch

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