Chinese courts in the far west, ethnic region of Xinjiang have imprisoned 113 people for terrorism or other charges, according to a government-run news portal, according to Reuters.
Regional courts in the Kashgar area held open sessions on Wednesday to sentence the 113, including four who received life terms, in 69 cases, Tianshan.net said in a Sunday report, Reuters reported.
The region, home to Muslim minority Uighurs, has seen a rise in violence in recent months, according to Reuters. Most recently, a May 22 attack in a vegetable market in the regional capital of Urumqi left 43 dead, including four suspected attackers, prompting Beijing to announce a year-long operation to crack down on what it calls terrorism in the region.
Beijing blames the violence on religious extremists with ties to overseas terrorism groups, Reuters reported. Members of the Uighur minority have long complained of repressive ethnic policies and practices, and economic disenfranchisement in their resource-rich land.
Since the crackdown began, Xinjiang courts have held several mass sentencing sessions, according to Reuters. The first came on May 27 when a Chinese court announced guilty verdicts for 55 people on charges of terrorism, separatism and murder in a public rally inside a stadium.
In early June, Xinjiang courts sentenced another 81 people to terror-related charge, Reuters reported. Last week, China announced it had executed 13 people for terrorism and other violent crimes in Xinjiang.
Chinese authorities also said they broke up 32 terror groups and arrested more than 380 suspects in the first month of the crackdown aimed at demonstrating the Beijing's resolve to maintain order in Xinjiang, according to Reuters.
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Uighur rights group World Uyghur Congress, said courts in Xinjiang are in a political race to sentence Uighurs to jail terms amid the crackdown, Reuters reported.
"They have trampled on the rights of the defendants to argue and appeal, accusing Uighurs who are rising against China's suppression and expressing their dissatisfaction of being terrorists," Dilxat Raxi said in a statement, according to Reuters. "It will only lead to extreme forms of resistance when people cannot protest peacefully."
