[5][6][7] Amnesty International reports that "The Chinese government’s use of the term "separatism" refers to a broad range of activities, many of which amount to no more than peaceful opposition or dissent.

[11] In a 2002 Chinese documentary, "On the Spot Report: The Crimes of Eastern Turkestan Terrorist Power," Wang Mingshan, Deputy Director-General of the Yili-Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Public Security Department, claimed that in 1998 Mehmet Emin Hazret, the leader of the ETLO, ordered Hamid Mehmetjan, an Egyptian ETLO member, to go to China to recruit members, receive a delivery of weapons on 6 April, and to compile a list of targets for assassination and bombings in Xinjiang.

In view of the ongoing and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment by police in China, particularly to extract confessions from detained suspects, Amnesty International believes any "evidence" obtained in this way must be treated with deep suspicion.

"[2] In January, Hazret, who avoids public appearances, called into Radio Free Asia to respond that ETLO wishes to work by peaceful means, but spoke of the "inevitability" of a military wing targeting the Chinese government.

[8] He also stated that the principal goal of the ETLO was to pursue independence through peaceful means,[13][14] and denied any participation in terrorist activities or connections to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

[16] The Global Defense Review writes that it is "widely acknowledged" that Al-Qaeda gives funding and training to the ETLO and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.