Addressing Religious Inequalities as a Means of Preventing Atrocity Crimes: The Case of the Uyghur Genocide

There is a big distance between religious inequalities and atrocity crimes. Indeed, religious inequalities do not necessarily lead to atrocity crimes; however, in certain cases they can. Examples of cases that portray this progression are those of Yazidis and Christian minorities in Iraq, and the Rohingya community in Myanmar. In certain situations, analysing religious inequalities can help to identify risk factors of genocidal atrocities, so a question that naturally arises is: can addressing religious inequalities help to mitigate and prevent atrocity crimes based on religion or belief? This paper focuses on the situation of the Uyghur population in China, where they are being persecuted for their religion or belief. It considers the law on freedom of religion or belief and other laws affecting the enjoyment of rights by Uyghurs in China as the foundation of religious inequalities. The paper further considers the deterioration of the Uyghurs’ circumstances by analysing some of the recent reported treatment of them against frameworks relevant to atrocity crimes, namely the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights Compilation of Risk Factors and Legal Norms for the Prevention of Genocide.

Alignment and Alienation: The Ambivalent Modernisations of Uyghur Marriage in the 21st Century

Uyghur marriages in Xinjiang in the 2010s have been characterised by various, sometimes seemingly contradictory trends of modernisation, such as monetisation, simplification, emphasis on ethnic symbolism, displays of piety and the active integration of both Turkish, Western and Chinese elements. This article views these trends as complex, inter-related reactions to the region’s socio-economic transformations and political campaigns. It analyses how these transformations and campaigns affect everyday decisions at the local level. The study of marriage provides a good insight into the effects of economic and political transformations on the ground. In such studies, we argue for a distinction between trends on the level of symbolic positioning and identity display from trends on a deeper structural level pertaining to social relations, economic integration and household strategies. In the case of Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang these two levels have shown opposite trends. On a surface level of symbolic display, the relatively open years of 2010-2014 allowed for the flourishing of trends that did not follow the Party-State line, such as Islamic piety and a strengthened Uyghur ethno-national identity. Yet, on a deeper structural level these trends signified improved integration into modern Chinese society. In contrast, the increased state violence of 2015-2020 enforced a strong symbolic alignment with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology but at the same time alienated the Uyghur population from this society effectively necessitating the development of forms of organisation that the CCP deems backwards and undesirable.

Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus is associated with osteosarcoma in Xinjiang populations

Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant tumor of bone predominately affecting adolescents and young adults. Based on animal studies, a viral etiology of osteosarcoma was proposed more than a half-century ago, but no viral association with human osteosarcoma has been found. The Uyghur ethnic population in Xinjiang, China, has an unusually high prevalence of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection and elevated incidence of osteosarcoma. In the current study, we explored the possible association of KSHV infection and osteosarcoma occurrence. Our seroepidemiological study revealed that KSHV prevalence was significantly elevated in Uyghur osteosarcoma patients versus the general Uyghur population (OR, 10.23; 95%CI, 4.25, 18.89). The KSHV DNA genome and viral latent nuclear antigen LANA were detected in most osteosarcoma tumor cells. Gene expression profiling analysis showed that KSHV-positive osteosarcoma represents a distinct subtype of osteosarcomas with viral gene-activated signaling pathways important for osteosarcoma development. We conclude that KSHV infection is a risk factor for osteosarcoma, and KSHV is associated with some osteosarcomas, representing a newly identified viral-associated endemic cancer.

Kaposi's Sarcoma Herpesvirus Is Associated with Osteosarcoma in Xinjiang Uyghur Population

Osteosarcoma is the most common malignant tumor of bone predominately affecting adolescents and young adults. Viral etiology of osteosarcoma has been proposed more than a half-century ago but never been proven by identifying any virus authentically associated with human osteosarcoma. The Uyghur ethnic population in Xinjiang China has an unusually high prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) infection and elevated incidence of osteosarcoma. In the current study, we explored the possible association of KSHV infection and osteosarcoma occurrence. Our seroepidemiological study revealed that KSHV prevalence was significantly elevated in osteosarcoma patients versus the general population in the Xinjiang Uyghur population (OR, 10.23; 95%CI, 4.25, 18.89). The KSHV DNA genome and viral latent nuclear antigen LANA were detected in most osteosarcoma tumor cells. Gene expression profiling analysis showed that KSHV positive osteosarcoma represents a distinct subtype of osteosarcomas with viral gene-driven signaling pathways that are important for osteosarcoma development. We conclude that KSHV infection is a risk factor for osteosarcoma and KSHV is associated with some osteosarcomas, representing a newly identified viral-associated endemic cancer. Significance: Viral etiology of osteosarcoma was proposed previously but has never been proven by identifying any virus that is authentically associated with human osteosarcoma. The current study revealed an association of human osteosarcoma with KSHV infection in Uyghur osteosarcoma patients. First, this study provides the first evidence that supports the possible viral etiology of human osteosarcoma. The gene expression profiling study showed that KSHV-positive osteosarcoma represents a distinct subtype of osteosarcomas, which is of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance. Second, KSHV-associated osteosarcomas preferentially occur in children and young adults, predicting that KSHV-positive children in KSHV endemic region may be at great risk for osteosarcoma. Third, the finding extended the range of human cancers associated with viruses.

Occurrence and probiotic properties of Lactobacillus spp. of maternal breast milk in the Uyghur, Xinjiang China, at different lactation stages

BackgroundAs a secure vehicle of probiotics, breast milk can provide babies with the Lactobacillus which can not only colonize and inhibit the pathogenic bacterial infection in infant's intestines. The purpose of this study was to assess the occurrence and probiotic properties of Lactobacillus spp. of maternal breast milk in the Uyghur population, Xinjiang China, by using culture method. Results Based on repetitive genomic fingerprinting PCR (rep-PCR), a total of 198 isolates of L actobacill us from 31 different lactation of breast milk samples of Uighur in kashi region of Xinjiang were classified into 11 genotypes, which were identified as Lactobacillus fermentum (82 isolates, prevalence: 61.3%, mean relative abundance: 45.4%, genotype: 3), Lactobacillus brevis (75, 41.9%, 38.1%, 4), Lactobacillus oris (37, 32.3%, 15.1%, 3) and rare Lactobacillus vaginalis (4, 9.7%, 1.4%, 1). From colostrum to mature milk, the number and species of Lactobacillus showed an uptrend, from mature milk to late milk, a downside was found in Lactobacillus. The relative abundance of L. fermentum decreased throughout lactation, while L . brevis showed an opposite trend. Three isolates were randomly selected for each genotype to estimate antimicrobial activity (33 isolates in total). Among the isolates, 20 isolates exhibited broad antibacterial spectrum with inhibition halos >10 mm against most indicator pathogens, which were selected for assessing probiotic properties. Nineteen isolates showed the resistance to vancomycin and co-trimoxazole, and KM66 ( L . brevis ) was resistant up to 5/8 antibiotics. KM147 ( L. brevis ) and Y3 ( L. fermentum ) strains were selected as potential probiotics by combining lysozyme, acid and bile salt tolerance. Conclusion Species composition and prevalence of Lactobacillus varied with the study subjects throughout lactation phase. The deliberately selected Lactobacillus strains from breast milk may have a great potential as probiotics to inhibit pathogen infection in infants.

RIPK1 Polymorphisms Alter the Susceptibility to Cervical Cancer among the Uyghur population in China

Background: RIPK1 (receptor-interacting protein kinase-1) plays a role in cancer development, whereas no clear studies focused on the cervical cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between RIPK1 polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk among the Uyghur population. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 342 cervical cancer patients and 498 age-matched healthy controls. Four RIPK1 genetic variants (rs6907943, rs2077681, rs9503400 and rs17548629) were genotyped with Agena MassARRAY platform. The associations between RIPK1 polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk were assessed under Binary logistic regression models. False discovery rate (FDR) was used to improve the results reliability. Results: The results showed rs2077681 was significantly associated with cervical cancer risk under various genetic models (codominant: OR = 3.14, 95% CI = 1.40-7.07, p = 0.006, FDR- p = 0.018; recessive: OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.43-7.16, p = 0.005, FDR-0.018). The stratified analysis indicated that the relationships of rs6907946, rs9503400 and rs17548629 with cervical cancer risk were statistically significant in the subgroup of clinical stage ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that RIPK1 polymorphisms were associated with cervical cancer susceptibility among the Uyghur population in China, and RIPK1 polymorphisms might be involved in the development of cervical cancer.

RIPK1 Polymorphisms Alter the Susceptibility to Cervical Cancer among the Uyghur population in China

Background: RIPK1 (receptor-interacting protein kinase-1) plays a role in cancer development, whereas no clear studies focused on the cervical cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between RIPK1 polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk among the Uyghur population. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 342 cervical cancer patients and 498 age-matched healthy controls. Five RIPK1 genetic variants (rs6907943, rs3736724, rs2077681, rs9503400 and rs17548629) were genotyped with Agena MassARRAY platform. The associations between RIPK1 polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk were assessed under multivariate logistic regression models. Results: The results showed rs3736724 and rs2077681 were significantly associated with cervical cancer risk under various genetic models ( p < 0.05). The stratified analysis indicated that the relationships of rs2077681 and rs17548629 with cervical cancer risk were statistically significant in the subgroups of elderly individuals (age > 43 years) and stage. Additional, rs3736724 decreased the cervical cancer risk among the subjects aged ≤ 43 years in codominant model ( p = 0.043). Rs6907943 and rs9503400 could influence the susceptibility of cervical cancer for the patients with different stage ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that RIPK1 polymorphisms are associated with cervical cancer susceptibility among the Uyghur population in China, and may be involved in the development of cervical cancer.