Taipei [Taiwan], July 3 : The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded Chinese authorities release Kazakh journalists - Kairat Domalin and Kuandyk Koben, who have been arrested from Xinjiang region and stop harassing members of the media fraternity.
In a statement, the CPJ said that the Chinese authorities arrested Domalin and Koben in Urumqi a city in Xinjiang in April this year, and the arrests were reported in June by the Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights, a human rights organization based in Kazakhstan. Both of the journalists were employed at the local state-run television network Xinjiang Television in Urumqi.
According to the statement, CPJ has not yet received any information regarding the charges that resulted in the arrest of Domalin and Koben. However, the arrest of Koben might be linked to his work related to historic buildings of Xinjiang that have been intentionally ignored by the Chinese government.
While raising the same matter, Iris Hsu, CPJ's China representative stated, "Chinese authorities must free Kazakh journalists Kairat Domalin and Kuandyk Koben. It's time for China to cease its campaign of harassing and arbitrarily detaining press members of the Muslim ethnic minorities and release all imprisoned journalists."
Domalin was a TV presenter for the program "Zholaushy" (Traveler) on the Xinjiang Television network, and Koben produced, directed, and presented Kazakh-language documentaries and more than 20 award-winning television programs, the CPJ statement claimed. In addition, the call of CPJ to the Public Security Department of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region regarding the safety of the journalists had also gone unanswered.
Previously, CPJ in a report released in 2023 found out that China remains the worst place when it comes to arresting journalists, especially from ethnic minorities.
According to CPJ's latest annual prison census, with at least 44 behind bars as of December 1, 2023. Many journalists held were ethnic Uyghurs from Xinjiang.
Meanwhile, international human rights organisations, the United Nations, and several governments of the state have blamed China and its authorities for its severe crimes against humanity and ongoing genocide in the Xinjiang region, particularly for repressing the region's Muslim ethnic groups.
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