Exiled Uighur activist calls on Australia to stand up to China

Melbourne, Aug.7 (ANI): Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer has called on the Kevin Rudd Government to put pressure China to reveal the truth about the bloody riots in the country's west.

Delivering an impassioned address to about 100 protesters outside the Chinese consulate in Melbourne today, Kadeer said the Chinese Government had massacred hundreds of peaceful Uighur protesters under the cloak of darkness when they took to the streets to air legitimate grievances.

She said after the violence, the Chinese Government said 197 people were killed but the true number was much higher.

"We'd like to call on the international community, the United Nations and also the Australian Government, to call on the Chinese Government to reveal the truth of the people who were killed, wounded, injured, imprisoned and those who died in Chinese government custody. There should be an immediate independent investigation of what transpired on July the 5th," she said

Sixty-two-year-old Kadeer spent six years in a Chinese prison before being exiled to the US, where she now lives in Washington.

She is currently in Australia for the screening of a film about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Saturday.

Festival organizers have confirmed there will be an increased security and police presence at the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love at the Melbourne Town Hall tomorrow afternoon.

The Chinese Government has accused Kadeer of instigating riots between the Uighur and Han Chinese on July 5.

She thanked the Australian Government for granting her a visa to visit. (ANI)