UNPO
Press Release
[Issued 18/04/2007]

On 17 April 2007 Ablikim Abdureyim, son of prominent Uyghur Human Rights activist and twice Nobel Prize nominee Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for “instigating and engaging in secessionist activities by the People’s Court of Urumchi in north-west China.

Despite Chinese assurances that the rights of Mr. Abdureyim were protected for the duration of the trial, local activists claim the date and location of his trial were kept secret and that friends and family were denied the opportunity to visit and monitor the conditions of his detention as he awaited trial. It is also believed Mr. Abdureyim was denied access to legal representation, and no information has yet been provided about the evidence which justified his conviction.

Uyghur activists are frequently forced to sign “confessions whilst in detention, later used as incontrovertible proof of their crimes during trial. Statements of this nature are however extracted under extreme duress, often torture, and have no part to play in a transparent evaluation of serious charges.

Ms. Rebiya Kadeer was herself imprisoned following a similarly secretive trial in March of 2000, and sentenced to seven years in prison on the basis of her own forced confession. Once a decorated and wealthy business woman, Ms. Kadeer’s fortunes reversed when she joined the cause of local rights groups in her native East Turkestan. An intensive international campaign secured her release, after which she has continued to advocate the human rights of the people of East Turkestan from abroad, despite repeated warnings from Chinese authorities.

Human Rights organisations, including the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), now believe Chinese authorities are translating their warnings into action through the persecution of Ms. Kadeer’s family, many of whom remain under Chinese authority in East Turkestan.

Earlier this month Chinese Officials announced fines of US$ 2.8 million against the Kadeer family businesses, and posted notices of its liquidation. Alim Abdureyim, another of Ms. Kadeer’s sons, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for tax-evasion on 27 November 2006, despite his alleged implication in the subversive activities for which his brother was sentenced. Ms. Kadeer’s eldest son Kahar Abdureyim, and daughter Rushangul Abdureyim, have also at various points been arrested, charged, and harassed by local security services.

We strongly condemn this apparent campaign to punish the family of Ms. Kadeer for her efforts to advocate human rights and democracy for the people of East Turkestan. The most recent imprisonment of Ablikim Abdureyim is not only a violation of his fundamental right to a free and fair trial, but also emphasises the distance China has yet to travel before it becomes a state where there exists genuine freedom, democracy, and human rights. We continue to support the peaceful campaign of Ms. Kadeer and the World Uyghur Congress for the human and democratic rights of the people of East Turkestan - the necessity and legitimacy of which is now more apparent than ever.

Office of the General Secretary
P. O. Box 85878 - 2508 CN The Hague - The Netherlands
Tel: +31(0)70 3646 504 - Fax: +31 (0)70 3646 608 - E-mail: unpo@unpo.org - www.unpo.org