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THE START of a crackdown by Chinese security forces in troubled western Xinjiang province has been heralded by an announcement by the authorities that they have executed nine people for their roles in unrest there in July. Turkic Muslim Uighur separatists are blamed for inciting the July riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, in which crowds attacked ethnic Han Chinese and were themselves attacked by Han rioters two days later. Some 197 people, mostly Han, were allegedly killed and 1,600 injured. Now eight of the nine executed are reported to have been Uighur.

Meanwhile, in a report last month, Human Rights Watch claimed some 43 Uighur men and teenage boys remained unaccounted for after being detained – along with hundreds of others – in police sweeps following the July crisis. The group called on the Chinese government to account for all detainees and allow independent investigations into the protests.