A Uighur family living in the Xinjiang region has been dogged by police surveillance and a series of arrests following the execution of a family member on terror charges almost 20 years ago. The harassment, which some are calling a form of "collective punishment," began after the family's eldest son, Abdulla Muniyaz, was put to death for his alleged involvement in a Feb. 25, 1997, bus bombing in the regional capital Urumqi.Hesen Eysa, a local security chief, said, "Since then, Muniyaz's family has been picked out for surveillance by the public security authorities. We have been closely watching their activities but have seen nothing suspicious in their behavior, as they are all simply struggling to survive because of poverty in our township and the large number of people in their family."
Eysa was therefore surprised, he said, when he learned later that two other brothers in the family had been detained in late 2013 for illegally trying to leave Xinjiang "to wage jihad."
Eysa said, "What I believe is that they were simply trying to go abroad and find work to care for their family."
Shortly after the two brothers were given prison sentences of 17 and 13 years respectively, three younger brothers of the Muniyaz family were jailed for expressing hostile feelings toward Han Chinese migrants to the area, according to a source.
The source said, "Actually, they had only complained about the contracting out of farm work to Han migrants in the township, causing Uighur farmers to lose their jobs and homes. This is a common complaint throughout the Uighur region."