Watchdog

A court in China's northwestern Xinjiang Province has sentenced eight members of the Uyghur community to death on December 8 for two deadly attacks in the region.

The Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, sentenced another five to death with a two-year reprieve, and four others were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

In May, 39 people were killed and 94 injured in an attack on a market in Urumqi.

In April, three people were killed and 79 were injured in an attack at a railway station in the city.

Also on December 8, the AP cited a lawyer of prominent jailed Uyghur professor Ilham Tohti that seven of Tohti's students had been jailed for three to eight years after being convicted of separatism.

Tohti was sentenced to life in prison for separatism in September.

Uyghurs in Xinjiang, a Turkic Muslim people indigenous to the region, have long complained about their treatment under Chinese rule.

Based on reporting by Xinhua and AP

BISHKEK -- The leaders of 43 nongovernmental organizations in Kyrgyzstan have urged President Almazbek Atambaev not to put pressure on NGOs.

A letter addressed to Atambaev on December 8 urges him "not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors."

The NGO leaders were referring to a television interview on December 1 in which Atambaev said some NGO activities may "pose a threat" to national security.

The letter says "two previous presidents who said that NGOs threaten Kyrgyzstan's national security were threatening national security themselves, and as a result were kicked out of the country."

Kyrgyz revolutions in 2005 and 2010 ousted Presidents Askar Akaev and Kurmanbek Bakiev, respectively.

Parliament is considering a controversial bill that would impose "foreign-agent" status on NGOs receiving foreign funds.

Critics say the bill mimics a 2012 law in Russia that was heavily criticized by rights groups and Western governments.