UK’s decision to proscribe East Turkestan Islamic Movement ‘ built on robust evidence’
Britain’s decision to proscribe the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was taken “after extensive consideration” and “built on robust evidence,” the British Home Office said.
Britain’s latest list of proscribed terrorist organizations, published on July 15 by the Home Office, has officially proscribed the terrorist group the Turkestan Islamic Party ( TIP), also known as the East Turkestan Islamic Party, East Turkestan Islamic Movement or Hizb al- Islami al-Turkestani.
“Decisions on whether and when to proscribe a particular organization are taken after extensive consideration and in light of a full assessment of available information,” the Home Office said in a written response to a recent Xinhua interview. “It is important that decisions are built on robust evidence, do not adversely impact on any ongoing investigations and support other members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism,” the Home Office added.
The department also noted that TIP has been banned by the UN and is also sanctioned by the US under the Terrorist Exclusion list.
But the Home Office declined to comment on the specific reasons why the British government decided to ban TIP this month, saying, “It would not be appropriate for us to discuss any specific intelligence that informs our decision to proscribe organizations.”
In its updated list of proscribed terrorist groups or organizations, the Home Office says that TIP is an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization founded in 1989 by Uyghur militants in western China.
TIP aims to establish an independent caliphate in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and to name it East Turkestan, says the document.
It is based in Pakistan and operates in China, Central Asia, South Asia and Syria, says the document. “The group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in China, the latest of these being in April 2014. TIP has links to a number of terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda.”
In November, TIP released the 18th issue of its magazine Islamic Turkestan through the Global Islamic Media Front, detailing TIP’s jihad against the Chinese authorities, says the document.
“Video footage from September 2015 shows TIP hosting training camps in areas controlled by the Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan,” it says.
“More recently, TIP has maintained an active and visible presence in the Syrian war and has published a number of video clips of its activities,” says the document. Examples of TIP involvement in Syria from March to April include TIP claiming a joint attack with jihadist group Jund al- Aqsa in the Sahl al- Ghab region and publishing a video of a suicide bomb attack in April.
A video published by the terrorist group in March promotes the victories of TIP in Syria and calls on Muslims to join jihad; and a video slide show published in April 2016 shows fighters and children in training, the Home Office file says.
Earlier this month, British lawmakers debated and passed a draft order to add four terrorist groups, including TIP, to the country’s updated list of proscribed terrorist organizations.
John Hayes, the then minister of state for security at the Home Office, said during the debate, “These groups are particularly relevant to South and Southeast Asia but, significantly, also to the ongoing conflict in Syria.”
He also noted that Britain “must continue to demonstrate our support for other members of the international community in their efforts to tackle terrorism wherever it occurs.”
“Proscription is an important tool in those efforts; it is part of the government’s strategy to disrupt terrorist activity,” he told the British Parliament.