Chinese security forces patrol a street in Xinjiang, April 5, 2008

CHINA: NINE EXECUTED OVER XINJIANG RIOTS

November 9, 2009: Chinese authorities have executed nine people who had been convicted over riots in the Xinjiang region in July, Chinese officials have said.
Nearly 200 people were killed during riots between ethnic Uighurs and members of China's dominant Han group.
The nine were convicted of murder and other crimes during the riots, the state-owned China News Service said.
Hundreds of people were detained after the riots, the worst ethnic unrest in China for decades.
A spokesman for the Xinjiang government said the executions had been carried out after a review by the Supreme Court.
"The first group of nine people who were sentenced to death recently have already been executed in succession, with the approval of the Supreme Court," Xinjiang government spokesman Hou Hanmin told AFP news agency. (Sources: BBC, 09/11/2009)