A/HRC/13/40/Add.1 (b) Response from the Government dated 2 July 2009 40. On 2 July 2009, the Government of China replied to the joint communication of 9 April 2009. Since the Special Rapporteur had not received the response’s translation from the relevant services at the time this report was finalized, she is unfortunately not in a position to summarize in English the content of the Government’s response in the present report. However, a copy of the original response letter is available online at the following address: www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/docs/response020709china.pdf. (c) Observations by the Special Rapporteur 41. The Special Rapporteur is grateful that the Government of China replied to the joint communication of 9 April 2009 and hopes to be able to make observations on the response in the next report. 4. (a) Urgent appeal sent on 23 June 2009 jointly with the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Independent Expert on minority issues, and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Allegations transmitted to the Government 42. The Special Procedures mandate holders brought to the attention of the Government information they had received regarding Mr. Yusufjan (Yuesefujiang) and Mr. Memetjan (Maimatijiang), two ethnic Uighurs belonging to the Muslim Fellowship. On 10 May 2009, Yusufjan and Memetjan, along with five other students of the Muslim Fellowship, held a meeting at Xinjiang University in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, in northwest China. The meeting was broken up by two officers from the local internal security police force, accompanied by more than ten men in plain clothes, who proceeded to take all seven men away for interrogation. The five other students were released after 15 days and fined 5.000 yuan for “holding an illegal gathering”. The current legal status and whereabouts of Mr. Yusufjan and Mr. Memetjan remain unknown. Concern was expressed for their physical and psychological integrity. 43. The Special Procedures mandate holders appealed to the Government to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief in accordance with the principles set forth in the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief and article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. They also recalled that, according to article 2 of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination. The Special Procedures mandate holders requested the Government to provide the full details of any prosecutions which have been undertaken and to explain how the arrest of Mr. Yusufjan and Mr. Memetjan is compatible with international human rights norms and standards, including with the right to freedom of religion or belief, as contained, inter alia, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (b) Response from the Government dated 21 August 2009 44. On 21 August 2009, the Government of China replied to the joint urgent appeal of 23 June 2009. Since the Special Rapporteur had not received the response’s translation from the relevant services at the time this report was finalized, she is unfortunately not in a position to summarize in English the content of the Government’s response in the present 15