The list of detained & imprisoned scholars in China, comprising ethnic Uyghurs and other minorities, is shown below:
| Entry | Victim’s Name | Chinese name | ID no. | About the Testifier | Relation | About the Victim | Assumed Location | When Detention Took Place | Detention Reason | Victim’s Status | How Testifier Learned of Status | Additional Info | About the Testifier (Translated/Edited) | Relation (Translated/Edited) | About the Victim (Translated/Edited) | Assumed Location (Translated/Edited) | When Detention Took Place (Translated/Edited) | Detention Reason (Translated/Edited) | Victim’s Status (Translated/Edited) | How Testifier Learned of Status (Translated/Edited) | Additional Info (Translated/Edited) | Prison Term (Years) | Age | Gender | Ethnicity | Location | Detention type | Detention time | Detention reason | Official detention reason (1) | Official detention reason (2) | Official detention reason (3) | Health status | Profession |
| 1 | Rahile Dawut | 热依拉·达吾提 | 650103196605202821 | Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by New York Times. (relative) Testimony 2*: Darren Byler, an anthropologist at the University of Colorado. (colleague) Testimony 3: Sarah Tynen, a geography scholar from the United States. (colleague) Testimony 4: Lisa Ross, a photographer living in the United States. (friend) Testimony 5|6|7: Eqide Polat, a student in the United States. (daughter) Testimony 8: Elise Anderson, an ethnomusicologist from the United States. (colleague) Testimony 9: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (former student) Testimony 10: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 11: Eqide Polat, as reported by William Yang. (daughter) |
Professor Rahile Dawut is a scholar of Uyghur folklore and the geography of Uyghur Sufi shrines. She founded the Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center at Xinjiang University where she built an intellectual home for dozens of young researchers. She is widely celebrated for her pathbreaking work as one of the first female Uyghur academics to receive her PhD and rise through the ranks of Chinese academia. | Unknown, it is likely that she is being detained in Urumchi. | Her detention was first made known to her students and colleagues around the world on December 4, 2017. | Unknown, it is likely she was detained both because she is a person of influence and because she researched Uyghur local knowledge and practices. [Testimony 10: a XJ university staff member from the general administration office told RFA that they didn’t know why Rahile was detained.] |
Testimony 11: suspected to be in detention and awaiting a secret trial (as Eqide’s family have been telling her that Rahile is “awaiting results”). | Her students and colleagues first learned of her detention via text messages sent from colleagues in China. | To date, 18,000 people have signed a petition demanding Rahile’s immediate release. The New York Times has also published a story about her detention. Radio Free Asia coverage (Testimony 10) |
Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by New York Times. (relative) Testimony 2*: Darren Byler, an anthropologist at the University of Colorado. (colleague) Testimony 3: Sarah Tynen, a geography scholar from the United States. (colleague) Testimony 4: Lisa Ross, a photographer living in the United States. (friend) Testimony 5|6|7: Eqide Polat, a student in the United States. (daughter) Testimony 8: Elise Anderson, an ethnomusicologist from the United States. (colleague) Testimony 9: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (former student) Testimony 10: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 11: Eqide Polat, as reported by William Yang. (daughter) |
Professor Rahile Dawut is a scholar of Uyghur folklore and the geography of Uyghur Sufi shrines. She founded the Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center at Xinjiang University where she built an intellectual home for dozens of young researchers. She is widely celebrated for her pathbreaking work as one of the first female Uyghur academics to receive her PhD and rise through the ranks of Chinese academia. Address: Urumqi. |
Unknown, but it is likely that she is being detained in Urumqi. | Her detention was first made known to her students and colleagues around the world on December 4, 2017. In a video testimony, Rahile’s daughter says that her mother last contacted her in December 2017, saying that she had been asked to go to Beijing and that she would get in touch once she got there. |
Unknown, but it is likely she was detained both because she is a person of influence and because she researched Uyghur local knowledge and practices. She comes up briefly in a recording of a phone conversation between Radio Free Asia and a Xinjiang University staffer, where the latter says that she doesn’t know why exactly Rahile was detained. While she only says her first name (as opposed to “Rahile Dawut”), given the context and the fact that Rahile Dawut was very well known, it is almost certain that this was said in reference to the victim. |
Missing. Her daughter believes that she is likely in detention and awaiting a secret trial. |
Her daughter learned it from the fact that her mother was supposed to contact her after arriving in Beijing but never did. Her students and colleagues first learned of her detention via text messages sent from colleagues in China. The staff at Xinjiang University who confirmed her detention presumably have more direct information regarding her case. More recently, relatives have told Rahile’s daughter that her mother is “awaiting results”. |
To date, 18,000 people have signed a petition demanding Rahile’s immediate release The New York Times has also published a story about her detention Blog article about the victim and her work Written about in London Review of Books Mention in the Washington Post Mention in the Diplomat Her daughter’s campaign Radio Free Asia investigation This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here. |
35-55 | F | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | other | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||
| 10 | Sajide Tursun | 6529??198?0203??E? | Testimony 1*: Anonymous, identity not verified. (colleague) Testimony 2: Anonymous, but with a verified identity. (acquaintance) Testimony 3: AidET, a grassroots organization in the United States, focusing on the Xinjiang crisis. Testimony 4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
She was a talented, hardworking scholar who was arrested at an airport in XJ after a return trip home to family. She’d spent several years completing her PhD abroad and had funding for another year while she looked for postdocs. Her family were not elite, but she had received a privileged education in China and was a Communist Party member. [according to someone who knows the victim (Testimony 2): she was 33, from Aksu Prefecture, and had done her PhD in anthropology] |
An important town in southwestern Xinjiang | Prior to the 19th party congress [AidET group (Testimony 3): After graduating from Max Planc Institute in Germany in 2017, she came back to see her paralyzed father in Xinjiang and was arrested. Her father died 3 months later.] |
Unknown. | She was jailed after her arrest before being sent to a camp from which she was eventually released, but she cannot leave her city, even for other areas of China. A Chinese institution in another province invited her to a job interview for ex but the local authorities didn’t allow her to go . | Colleague | Academia.edu profile She has also been mentioned in the German paper Tagesspegiel [This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 4), available at here] |
Testimony 1*: Anonymous, identity not verified. (colleague) Testimony 2: Anonymous, but with a verified identity. (acquaintance) Testimony 3: AidET, a grassroots organization in the United States, focusing on the Xinjiang crisis. Testimony 4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Sajide Tursun was a talented, hardworking scholar. She was from the Aksu Prefecture, and was 33 years old [recorded April 2020]. She’d spent several years completing her PhD abroad in anthropology, and had funding for another year while she looked for postdoctoral research. Her family were not elite, but she had received a privileged education in China and was a Communist Party member. | An important town in southwestern Xinjiang [the exact location unknown]. | After graduating from Max Planc Institute in Germany in 2017, Sajide came back on a return trip to see her paralyzed father in Xinjiang. She was arrested in the airport. Her father died 3 months later. Though exact date unknown, her detention happened before the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China [18th-24th November 2017]. She was jailed after her arrest, before being sent to a camp. [It is unclear how long she was jailed for, or what sentence she faced in a camp.] Sajide was “eventually” released, though under surveillance. She cannot leave her city, even for other areas of China. For example, a Chinese institution in another province invited her to a job interview, but the local authorities did not allow her to go. |
Unknown. | [Presumably still under surveillance, in Southwestern Xinjiang.] | They were a colleague of Sajide. | Academia.edu profile [She has also been mentioned in the German paper Tagesspegiel] [This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here] |
18-35 | F | Uyghur | — | house/town arrest | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||
| 222 | Azat Sultan | 6501??1950??????O? | Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 4|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Azat Sultan became the president of Xinjiang Normal University in 2003. In 2011, he was elected president of the Xinjiang Association of Literature and Art. At the time of his arrest, he also served as Xinjiang University’s vice-president and was a literature professor there. | [Presumably in Urumqi.] | Testimony 1: January 2018 | Testimony 3: Prof. Sultan was arrested for “two-faced tendencies.” A staffer for the Xinjiang Association of Literature and Art’s political department said that “[Prof. Sultan’s] approach was against our party – his thoughts showed a separatist tendency. He took advantage of his lecturing position in an uncontaminated place like the university to preach his separatist ideas.” | Testimony 1: In a political re-education camp. Testimony 5: according to a July 25, 2019 post by Abduweli Ayup, he has been released In a March 5, 2020 article, the Global Times (https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1181738.shtml) claimed it got in touch with Liu Zhengjiang, a colleague of Azat Sultan, who claimed he had met Azat ‘a few days ago’. Liu reportedly then contacted Azat, who had been spending the winter in Hainan Island of southern China. [While this should not be taken at face value, it may nevertheless be seen as a potential/partial corroboration of Testimony 5.] |
Testimony 1: Qutluq cites “credible sources in the region.” Testimony 2-3: these are primary sources close to the case. |
Sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09182018151339.html (Testimony 1) https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professor-09242018164800.html (Testimony 2-3) http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180928160408284 Victim’s 2015 piece for the China Daily. This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 4), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 4|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (soft) | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | two-faced | separatism | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 223 | Arslan Abdulla | 阿尔斯兰·阿布都拉 | 6530011946??????O? | Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2|4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (former student) Testimony 3: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Dr. Arslan Abdullah was formerly a professor and dean at the philology department of the Xinjiang University in Urumqi. He was also the head of the XUAR People’s Government Cultural Advisors’ Office. | [Presumably in Urumqi, as this is where he was based.] | Testimony 1: Around February 2018 (“seven or eight months ago”, as of September 2018) Testimony 3: the staff at Xinjiang University said that it had been “a while” since the victim had last worked there (as of September 2018). |
Unknown | Testimony 1: In a political re-education camp. Testimony 3: detained. |
Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas cites “credible sources in the region” Testimony 2+4: unclear Testimony 3: this is a primary source working at the victim’s institution. |
Radio Free Asia coverage (Testimony 1+3): https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09182018151339.html https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/siyaset/uyghur-ziyaliy-lager-09132018143252.html This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 2), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2|4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (former student) Testimony 3: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Dr. Arslan Abdulla was a professor and dean at the philology department of Xinjiang University in Urumqi. He was also the head of the XUAR People’s Government Cultural Advisors’ Office. | [Presumably in Urumqi, as this is where he was based.] | Reported to have been detained in early 2018. | — | Reported by his former colleague, Qutluq Almas, as being at a political re-education camp [though it’s unclear if he is still there now]. | Qutluq Almas cites “credible sources in the region”, while Abduweli Ayup’s sources are unclear. The Xinjiang University staff member who confirmed his detention presumably has more direct access to the information regarding the victim’s case. |
Radio Free Asia coverage: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09182018151339.html https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/siyaset/uyghur-ziyaliy-lager-09132018143252.html This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here. A collection of three tomes on the Uyghur language that he was the chief editor of |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | no news for over a year | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||
| 224 | Abdukerim Rahman | 6531??194112????O? | Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: “Amy Anderson”, a pseudonym of someone from Xinjiang who has previously written for the Living Otherwise blog. (relation unclear) Testimony 3|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 4: Jaudat Abas, an ethnic Tatar from Xinjiang, now residing in Europe. (former student) Testimony 6: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Abdukerim Rahman was born in December 1941 in Kashgar. He studied literature at Xinjiang University from 1959 to 1964. In the 47 years that followed he worked as a literature professor at the his alma mater, until his retirement in 2011. His scholarship – including over 20 books and 150 articles – has become critical to the fields of anthropology, ethnology, literature and folklore study. Among his students, he was also known for his love of literature and his impressive personal library. Despite 40 years as a Communist Party member, working under the Party’s guidance and censorship since the beginning of his career, Mr. Rahman was detained and sent to a “re-education camp” at the age of 77. | Unknown | Jan-18 | Unknown | In a political re-education camp. [According to a July 25, 2019 post by Abduweli Ayup (Testimony 5), he has been released.] |
Testimony 1: Qutluq cites “reliable sources in the region” Testimony 6: this is a primary source who works at the victim’s institution. |
Sources: https://livingotherwise.com/2018/10/02/abdukerim-rahman-surviving-without-books/ (Testimony 2) https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professor-09242018164800.html/ (Testimony 1) https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/siyaset/uyghur-ziyaliy-lager-09132018143252.html (Testimony 6) This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 3), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Qutluq Almas, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: “Amy Anderson”, a pseudonym of someone from Xinjiang who has previously written for the Living Otherwise blog. (relation unclear) Testimony 3|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 4: Jaudat Abas, an ethnic Tatar from Xinjiang, now residing in Europe. (former student) Testimony 6: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Abdukerim Rahman is a well-known Uyghur scholar and professor. After studying literature at Xinjiang University from 1959 to 1964, he would go on to work for 47 years as a literature professor at his alma mater, all the way until his retirement in 2011. His scholarship – including over 20 books and 150 articles – has become critical to the fields of anthropology, ethnology, literature, and folklore study. Among his students, he was also known for his love of literature and his immense personal library. He was a Communist Party member for over 40 years. |
[Presumably in Urumqi, as this is where the victim was based.] | Allegedly taken to a camp in January 2018. In July 25, 2019, it was announced by Abduweli Ayup that he had been released. |
— | Believed to be released from camp, but it is unclear what his current situation is like. | Qutluq cites “reliable sources in the region”. It is not clear how Abduweli heard of the release. The staff at Xinjiang University who confirmed his detention would presumably have more direct knowledge of the case. |
Article on Living Otherwise RFA coverage: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professor-09242018164800.html https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/siyaset/uyghur-ziyaliy-lager-09132018143252.html This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (soft) | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||
| 251 | Erkin Omer | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous Uyghur source with ties to Kashgar University, currently living in exile, and a staff member at Kashgar University’s administration office | Colleagues | Professor Erkin Omer was the President of Kashgar University. | Unknown | Sep-18 | Exhibiting “separatist tendencies” | Unknown | Official news report on the University’s website | According to an official news report on the University’s website, Erkin Omer was removed from his post as University president, along with 3 of his colleagues, based on “a comprehensive probe” and “serious consideration” of their cases during a September 2nd meeting of high-level cadres at Kashgar University. The meeting was led by a disciplinary committee from the Xinjiang Education Supervision Bureau. Sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09192018144118.html This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | — | — | July 2018 – Sep. 2018 | — | separatism | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 252 | Tashpolat Teyip | 塔西甫拉提·特依拜 | 654101195812????O? | Testimony 1: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Asialyst. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Anonymous, as reported by “Amy Anderson”. (friends, family, and students) Testimony 4: Amnesty International, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Nury Teyip, as reported by Los Angeles Times. (brother) Testimony 6: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 7: American Association of Geographers, a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing geography and related fields. (colleague) Testimony 8: Xinjiang University Honghu Net (新疆大学红湖网), a web portal of Xinjiang University. Testimony 9: Chinese government spokesperson, as reported by Science. Testimony 10: Anonymous, as reported by BBC. (colleague) Testimony 11: Nury Teyip, now residing in the United States. (brother) Testimony 12: Nury Teyip, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (brother) |
A geographer with a doctorate degree from Tokyo University of Science, Dr. Tashpolat Teyip served as the President of Xinjiang University and Communist Party deputy secretary since 2010. He is the author of several book contributions and scientific articles on spectroscopy and long-distance sensing, and their applications to measuring land cover and soil types. He also received an honorary degree from one of France’s most prestigious educational institutions, l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes de Paris (EPHE). | He was based in Urumqi for decades, so it is very likely that this is where he is being detained as well. | April/May 2017 Testimony 10: stopped from flying in Beijing and told to return to Urumqi, after which there was no news until the supposed trial. Testimony 11: Nury Teyip says that he was arrested after returning from Germany. |
being labeled “two-faced”, according to the Living Otherwise article | Sentenced to death with 2 year reprieve. His brother, Nuri Teyip, who lives in the U.S., says he has not been able to receive any news regarding Tashpolat or any of his other family members. According to the LA Times, “Nury is unable to reach not only his brother but also his brother’s wife and daughter or their other siblings.” The American Association of Geographers published a letter on Sept 17, 2019 signed by 1300 academics in support of the release of Tashpolat Teyip (Testimony 7): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ie4yxXBdQe3MoNmQCZ07-oqyokEWsxb5/view Testimony 12: Nury says that he heard Tashpolat was sentenced to 20 years, but has not been able to verify this news. |
RFA conducted interviews with multiple sources | Following a meeting of Communist Party cadres on March 31, 2017, during which Dr. Teyip’s replacement was announced, Teyip disappeared from public view. Dr. Teyip’s name was subsequently removed from the official list of Xinjiang University Presidents, which lists every Xinjiang University President since 1924. He had previously been praised on the university’s website for his “commitment to serving the party with complete obedience, including ‘strictly implementing political ideology.'” Sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/university-president-02202018173959.html (Testimony 1) https://asialyst.com/fr/2018/10/19/chine-elite-ouighoure-decapitee-xinjiang/ (Testimony 2) https://livingotherwise.com/2019/01/22/death-sentence-life-service/ (Testimony 3) https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/execution-09102019175637.html/ampRFA (Testimony 4) https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-28/a-uighur-scholar-faces-execution-as-international-pressure-fails-to-budge-chinas-xinjiang-policies (Testimony 5) http://archive.is/MMlVs (Testimony 8) https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/there-s-no-hope-rest-us-uyghur-scientists-swept-china-s-massive-detentions (Testimony 9) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49956088 (Testimony 10) https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/qisqa_xewer/tashpolat-tiyip-12272019172612.html (Testimony 12) This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here (Testimony 6) |
Testimony 1: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Asialyst. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Anonymous, as reported by “Amy Anderson”. (friends, family, and students) Testimony 4: Amnesty International, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Nury Teyip, as reported by Los Angeles Times. (brother) Testimony 6: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 7: American Association of Geographers, a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing geography and related fields. (colleague) Testimony 8: Xinjiang University Honghu Net (新疆大学红湖网), a web portal of Xinjiang University. Testimony 9: Chinese government spokesperson, as reported by Science. Testimony 10: Anonymous, as reported by BBC. (colleague) Testimony 11: Nury Teyip, now residing in the United States. (brother) Testimony 12: Nury Teyip, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (brother) |
A graduate of Xinjiang University (1983) and a geographer with a doctorate degree from the Tokyo University of Science, Dr. Tashpolat Teyip served as the President of Xinjiang University and as a Communist Party deputy secretary from 2010. He is the author of several book contributions and scientific articles on spectroscopy and long-distance sensing, and their applications to measuring land cover and soil types. He has also received an honorary degree from one of France’s most prestigious educational institutions, l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes de Paris (EPHE). Originally from Ghulja City, he had been residing in Urumqi for decades. |
[Presumably in Urumqi.] | He is reported to have been stopped at the Beijing airport in late March 2017 and told to return to Urumqi, while on his way to a conference in Germany, where he was supposed to attend the launch of a joint center to study underground coal fires, a collaboration between Xinjiang University and the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics in Hanover. [There is a contradiction here, as Nury Teyip in his interview to NBC says that Tashpolat was arrested after returning from Germany.] His replacement was announced at a meeting of Communist Party cadres on March 31, 2017, and his name was subsequently removed from the official list of Xinjiang University presidents, which lists every Xinjiang University president since 1924. He had previously been praised on the university’s website for his “commitment to serving the Party with complete obedience, including ‘strictly implementing political ideology'”. At some point after his arrest, he was given a death sentence with 2-year reprieve. The state-run Global Times offers a different view, saying that he was arrested on May 7, 2018 for accepting bribes, and that an open trial for him was held on June 13, 2019 by Urumqi’s intermediate court. A statement of a Chinese government spokesperson in Washington, D.C. mirrors this, saying that he was arrested in May 2018 for corruption. |
According to those who were close to him, he is believed to have been detained on the charge of being “two-faced”. The state-run Global Times reports that he was arrested for accepting bribes, which mirrors the statement by a Chinese spokesperson that he was arrested for corruption. |
Originally reported as sentenced to death with a 2-year reprieve. [However, that the Global Times has given an “update” on his case suggests that this may have changed.] His brother, Nuri Teyip, who lives in the U.S., had previously said that he had not been able to receive any news regarding Tashpolat or any of his other family members. According to the LA Times report, he has been unable to contact any of them. In a more recent RFA report, he is reported as saying that he heard of Tashpolat being given 20 years in prison, but without being able to confirm this. |
Little has been known about his case. His disappearance was reported by those who knew him, with his being relieved from his position as President of Xinjiang University publicly written about on the XJU site. Radio Free Asia was able to confirm some details by contacting XJU directly. Information about his 2-year death sentence reprieve came from the fact that he was allegedly featured in the same state instruction film as many other Uyghur scholars (as reported by those having seen the film, though it is unclear who). That he was allegedly arrested and tried for corruption was reported by Chinese state sources, which presumably have direct knowledge of his case. |
Coverage and sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/university-president-02202018173959.html https://asialyst.com/fr/2018/10/19/chine-elite-ouighoure-decapitee-xinjiang/ https://livingotherwise.com/2019/01/22/death-sentence-life-service/ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/execution-09102019175637.html/ampRFA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashpolat_Tiyip https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-28/a-uighur-scholar-faces-execution-as-international-pressure-fails-to-budge-chinas-xinjiang-policies http://archive.is/b9yX4 http://archive.is/MMlVs https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/there-s-no-hope-rest-us-uyghur-scientists-swept-china-s-massive-detentions https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49956088 https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/qisqa_xewer/tashpolat-tiyip-12272019172612.html (English) The American Association of Geographers published a letter on September 17, 2019, signed by 1300 academics, in support of the release of Tashpolat Teyip Various other academic and human rights institutions have called for Teyip’s release, including the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Amnesty International, PEN America, and Scholars at Risk. This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here Court cases in which Tashpolat Teyip represented Xinjiang University: http://archive.is/nj61l http://archive.is/ViJwf http://archive.is/WtSkz Awarded the Magtymguly International Prize Authored books Statement by French embassy in Beijing State media article praising him |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Jan. 2017 – Mar. 2017 | two-faced | taking bribes | — | — | — | scholar | |||
| 253 | Halmurat Ghopur | 哈木拉提·吾甫尔 | 6501??19600306??O? | Testimony 1: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 2: Local police, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 4|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Halmurat Ghopur (哈木拉提·乌普尔) was President of the Xinjiang Food and Drug Administration’s Department of Inspection and Supervision in Urumqi until the time of his arrest. He previously served as the President of Xinjiang Medical University Hospital. Mr. Ghopur’s legacy includes official acknowledgement for developing a treatment for respiratory illnesses which combined Western and traditional Uyghur medicine. | Likely in Urumqi, as that is where he was born and worked. | Nov-17 | “Exhibiting separatist tendencies” and “plotting to create a Muslim Caliphate” | Two-year suspended death sentence [presumably in a detention house, since that is where those with death sentences are typically kept] | Through official documents and a government-produced film | When the state security police came to arrest Ghopur in late 2017, he demanded to know why. An officer told him that he had exhibited “nationalistic tendencies” and read off some of his conversations on the WeChat app that the police had been monitoring. Officials also confiscated his computer. Mr. Ghopur was later featured, alongside four other high-profile Uyghur intellectuals also sentenced to death or life in prison, in an officially produced “political study” film, which was made required viewing for all government cadres in Xinjiang. The film accuses Mr. Ghopur of plotting to “create a Muslim Caliphate in the region by 2030.” Other sources confirm receiving “an official document” stating that Mr. Ghopur planned to create an independent country and become its leader. Source (Testimony 1-3): https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/sentence-09282018145150.html This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 4), available at here. Uyghur Wikipedia entry: https://ug.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%DB%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%BA%D9%88%D9%BE%DB%87%D8%B1 A leaked audio recording from a lecture at Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics was posted by the Uighur Times. In a pre-lecture speech, a Han Chinese teacher describes the mass detentions of scholars which had occurred earlier in Xinjiang. He mentions Halmurat Ghopur, saying that Halmurat had confessed during trial that he had learned separatist tendencies from his father. The lecturer also said that Halmurat had supposedly gone to Turkey to sign a ‘secret agreement’ which would see him climb up the academia ladder until he would gain enough influence and be declared president of an independent East Turkestan in 2030. The teacher also told a story of how after the Party Secretary Li Jun had finished instructing university students about the religious clothing prohibitions, Halmurat later told the students in Uyghur to not worry about it and continue wearing the garments. |
Testimony 1: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 2: Local police, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 4|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Halmurat Ghopur was the president of the Xinjiang Food and Drug Administration’s Department of Inspection and Supervision in Urumqi. He previously served as the President of Xinjiang Medical University Hospital. His legacy includes official acknowledgement for developing a treatment for respiratory illnesses which combined Western and traditional Uyghur medicine. |
Likely in Urumqi, as that is where he was born and worked. | November 2017. | Exhibiting separatist tendencies and “plotting to create a Muslim caliphate”. When the state security police came to arrest Ghopur in late 2017, he demanded to know why. An officer told him that he had exhibited “nationalistic tendencies” and read off some of his conversations on the WeChat app that the police had been monitoring. Officials also confiscated his computer. Mr. Ghopur was later featured, alongside four other high-profile Uyghur intellectuals also sentenced to death or life in prison, in an officially produced “political study” film, which was made required viewing for all government cadres in Xinjiang. The film accuses Mr. Ghopur of plotting to “create a Muslim Caliphate in the region by 2030.” Other sources confirm receiving “an official document” stating that Mr. Ghopur planned to create an independent country and become its leader. One article on the Chinese internet (source no longer traceable), appears to suggest that the victim was among those accused of splittism through “collaboration with pro-independence forces in China and abroad”. |
Two-year suspended death sentence [presumably in a detention house, since that is where those with death sentences are typically kept]. | Through official documents and a government-produced film. | RFA coverage This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here Uyghur Wikipedia entry His Baidu Baike page Profile by Chinese Academy of Sciences Profile on the Xinjiang Medical University page Legal cases in which he represented the Xinjiang Medical University: http://archive.is/X4IFL http://archive.is/PqHvR http://archive.is/ib0Xi http://archive.is/jeFXZ A leaked audio of a lecture at the Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics has a teacher describe the mass detentions of scholars that had occurred earlier in Xinjiang. He mentions Halmurat Ghopur, saying that Halmurat had confessed during a trial to having learned separatist tendencies from his father. The lecturer also says that Halmurat had supposedly gone to Turkey to sign a “secret agreement”, which would see him climb up the academia ladder until he would gain enough influence and be declared president of an independent East Turkestan in 2030. The teacher also tells a story of how after the Party Secretary Li Jun had finished instructing university students about the religious clothing prohibitions, Halmurat later told the students in Uyghur to not worry about it and continue wearing the garments. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | separatism | — | — | critical | scholar | |||
| 256 | Muhemmed Salih Hajim | 6501??193???????O? | Former neighbor of Muhemmed’s daughter, currently in exile in Turkey (surname Beliqiz), and other official sources cited by RFA | The testifier is the former neighbor of Muhemmed’s daughter | Muhemmed Salih Hajim has been described as one of the most respected and influential Uyghur religious scholars. He is credited with the being the first scholar to translate the Quran into Uyghur in 1986. He did so with the permission of the Chinese government. | Muhemmed Salih Hajim was held in a camp in Urumqi until his death. His body has not been released. | December 25, 2017 | None given | Died in camp | Unclear, but Muhemmed’s status has been confirmed by multiple sources | In December 2017, at the age of 82, Muhemmed Salih Hajim was detained along with his daughter and other relatives by Chinese authorities. He died approximately 40 days later. Many in the Uyghur community suspect he was tortured, but the Chinese government refuses to release Muhemmed’s body to his family on the grounds that it might spark unrest. A former neighbor of Muhemmed’s daughter later confirmed that Muhemmed’s daughter, her husband, and their 19-year-old son were also arrested. It is believed that their three other younger children (Salih’s grandchildren) are now in the custody of state-run orphanages intended for Uyghur youth whose guardians have been detained. Muhemmed’s sister, his brother and his brother’s wife have also all been detained, along with their son. Sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-death-01292018180427.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-09252018145144.html https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/05/31/china-has-turned-xinjiang-into-a-police-state-like-no-other http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=34818 This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | concentration camp | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | — | — | — | deceased | scholar | |||||||||||
| 257 | Gulnar Obul | 姑丽娜尔·吾布力 | 65????19????????E? | Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Official website of Kashgar University, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Kashgar University staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Gulnar Ubul was a professor at Kashgar University until she was removed from her post in September 2018, along with three other professors. | [Presumably in Kashgar.] | Testimony 2: decision was made to expel her from the university during a high-level meeting on September 2, 2018. | Testimony 4: “Two-faced activities,” including publishing an article in 2016 “about Uyghur culture and history that included [her] opinions on religious extremism.” Testimony 2: sacked based on indications that she (and 3 others) exhibited “separatist tendencies” related to their political stance. |
Testimony 1-4: Previously reported as being in detention. Testimony 5: However, the March 1 version of Abduweli Ayup’s list of detained intellectuals noted that she was confirmed as having been released. [While not a testimony, the propaganda piece on March 5, 2020 from the Global Times that uses Obul appears to suggest that she is alive and probably not detained, though without a corresponding video this cannot be confirmed.] |
Testimony 1: had access to Kashgar University’s website. Testimony 2-4: these are sources in Kashgar that are either official or have fairly direct knowledge of the case. |
Obul’s article and justification for her detention is titled “Dialogue on Cultural Formation in Xinjiang” and contains excerpts of a discussion between Obul and Wang Lisheng, a professor with the Economic Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. An official in Kashgar admitted that while Obul’s views were praised [at the time of publication], they were now deemed to “go against government policy.” Source: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09192018144118.html (Testimony 1-4) This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 5), available at here. A March 5, 2020 article from the Global Times claimed it had contacted Gulnar Obul and asked her about the World Uyghur Congress displaying her photo in an exhibition tent describing detained scholars in Xinjiang (in Geneva). The piece mentioned that Gulnar is now working as deputy director of the agricultural machinery bureau in Xinjiang and quoted her saying that she was working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak. She also reportedly threatened to take legal action against the WUC for using her photo to ‘slander China’. |
Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Official website of Kashgar University, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 3: Kashgar University staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
— | F | Uyghur | Kashgar | unclear (soft) | July 2018 – Sep. 2018 | — | two-faced | extremism | separatism | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 295 | Gheyretjan Osman | 65????19????????O? | Justine, French citizen | No relation, information is publicly available in the press. | Pro. Gheyretjan Osman is a Uyghur classic literature researcher at the University of Xinjiang. | — | Probably around january 2018. | When contacted by RFA about multiple professors cases (including Osman), a staffer of Xinjiang University General Supervision Office said that the accusations against them “are all the same, but I don’t know the reasons for their arrests.” | “taken to camp” | Reported in : – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09182018151339.html – http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180928160408284 – https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/UHRP_Disappeared_Forever_.pdf – https://asialyst.com/fr/2018/10/19/chine-elite-ouighoure-decapitee-xinjiang/RFA seems to have gotten the information through Qutluq Almas, a former lecturer at Xinjiang University now living in exile in the U.S., who posted a message on social media saying sources inside the region had confirmed multiple professors detention. |
According to this, his name was removed from the list of Xinjiang Uiversity Professors at the beginning of 2018. “Sources, including Almas, have told RFA’s Uyghur Service that at least 56 Uyghur lecturers and researchers from Xinjiang University are currently held in re-education camps” |
Justine, French citizen. | No relation. This information is publicly available in the press. | Prof. Gheyretjan Osman was a researcher of Uyghur classic literature at Xinjiang University. | — | Probably around January 2018. | When contacted by RFA about different professors’ cases (including Osman’s), a staffer at the Xinjiang University General Supervision Office said that the accusations against them “are all the same, but I don’t know the reasons for their arrests.” | Taken to camp. | Reported in: – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09182018151339.html – http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180928160408284 – https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/UHRP_Disappeared_Forever_.pdf – https://asialyst.com/fr/2018/10/19/chine-elite-ouighoure-decapitee-xinjiang/ RFA seems to have gotten the information through Qutluq Almas, a former lecturer at Xinjiang University now living in exile in the U.S., who posted a message on social media saying sources inside the region had confirmed the professors’ detention. |
According to this, his name was removed from the list of Xinjiang University Professors at the beginning of 2018. “Sources, including Almas, have told RFA’s Uyghur Service that at least 56 Uyghur lecturers and researchers from Xinjiang University are currently held in re-education camps.” This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | — | concentration camp | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||
| 331 | Hamit Himit | 65????19????????O? | Justine, French citizen | No relation, information is publicly available in the press. | Hydrologist at Xinjiang University, Director of the tourism department. Member of the Watarid Project between EPHE (France), University of Teheran (Iran) and Xinjiang University. |
— | Unknown but probably around the same time as Tiyip Taspholat (2017). | — | “Deceased in obscure circumstances after being moved aside from University” | His death is mentioned in the testimony of the President of the EPHE (France) written to condemn the death sentence given to Tiyip Taspholat, also a member of the Watarid Projet : https://www.ephe.fr/documents/fichiers/presse/2018_10_09_communique_tiyip_taspholat_ephe.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0YwH4Az1k59jWItv-YzQZu8vyf2qIph4XIbS3naFalBz1W-6SJ_VnyA9Q. | — | — | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | deceased | scholar | |||||||||||
| 363 | Abdurazaq Sayim | 阿布都热扎克·沙依木 | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: World Uyghur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups. Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the highest national level agency responsible for both prosecution and investigation in the People’s Republic of China. |
Abdurazaq Sayim, former president of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. Member of the Xinjiang Social Sciences Academy’s Party Committee since 2003 | — | Testimony 1: arrested in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison, according to the World Uyghur Congress Testimony 3 (http://archive.is/T0hYK) contradicts this, however, as Chinese official sources – dated to April 2017 – report him as being under investigation for accepting bribes. |
Testimony 3: “accepting bribes” | — | Reported in : – https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/UHRP_Disappeared_Forever_.pdf – http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=35183 (Testimony 1) – http://uyghurvictims.org/index.php?title=Abdurazaq_Sayim – https://twitter.com/search?q=Abdurazaq%20Sayim&src=typd This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at (Testimony 2): shahit.biz/supp/list_003.pdf |
— | Testimony 1: World Uyghur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups. Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the highest national level agency responsible for both prosecution and investigation in the People’s Republic of China. |
— | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | before 2017 | — | taking bribes | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 372 | Abdulehed Mehsum | 6532221930??????O? | “Relatives,” according to the World Uyghur Congress | Relatives (unspecified) | Abdulehed Mehsum was a Uyghur Islamic Scholar who had dedicated his life to teaching the strictly peaceful practice of Islam to younger generations. He was the nephew of Mehmet Emin Bugra, the leader of the First East Turkistan Republic from 1933-1934. From 1950-1958, Mehsum studied Islam in Kashgar and after finishing his studies, returned to Hotan to teach. Six months after his return he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years of “reform through labour.” After finishing his sentence in 1974 and being forced underground to continue teaching, he was arrested again in 1979 along with one thousand Islamic Scholars. He was released one year later. In 2001 he was re-arrested along with his son and released after two months, although he was officially banned from speaking in public. In Janurary 2004 he was arrested for the fourth time and served a five year sentence for teaching Islam to seven students. He spent the rest of his life at home under heavy surveillance until he was arrested at the beginning of November 2017, at the age of 88, along with other family members. He likely died in shortly after his arrest but his death was not reported until May 27, 2018. | Camp in Hotan Prefecture | Nov-17 | Not specified | Died in camp | Unknown | Source: http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=34630 |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Hotan | concentration camp | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | — | — | — | deceased | scholar | |||||||||||
| 554 | Dilmurat Ghopurjan | 迪里木拉提·吾甫尔江 | 650102196301101638 | Testimony 1: Rizwangul Ghopur, born “Rizwangul Abduqadir”, now resides abroad. (sister) Testimony 2: Xinjiang People’s Procuratorate, the official prosecuting government body for Xinjiang. Testimony 3: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
Dilmurat Ghopur was a vice principal at Xinjiang University (XJDX). According to his sister, very principled, hard working, loyal to the rules From publicly available sources: He was a former Party Standing Committee Member of Xinjiang University (新疆大学原党委常委). |
not clear, presumably Ürümchi where he was working | March 2017 along with his superior, Xinjiang University Head Principal Tashpolat Tiiyip (who has reportedly been sentenced to death) According to the Procuratorate (Testimony 2): his case was filed ‘several days’ ago (as of publication of the notice on 2 June 2018), meaning late May/early June 2018, at the XUAR People’s Procuratorate. The Urumchi People’s Procuratorate filed a public persecution case to the Urumchi Intermediate Court. |
Official reason given: he seriously violated the disciplinary rules (intizamgha éghir xilapliq qilghan). According to his sisters testimony her brother was extremely principled and worked very conscientiously. She does not believe that he violated any disciplinary rules. She gives the example of eight years ago, when his own son did not pass the university examination test, he did not accept him into the university even though his colleagues of lower rank helped their relatives get accepted. In the official notice of the People’s Procuratorate (Testimony 2), it is said that he is being indicted for bribery and corruption. |
not clear | Testimony 1: Via the news on WeChat some weeks after the actual detention Testimony 2: this is an official government organ. |
This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 3), available at here. Official notice (Testimony 2) His Baidu Baike Announcement on April 6-7, 2017 stating that he was under investigation: http://archive.is/SJPPT http://archive.is/nRqTY Articles about his visits to different universities: http://archive.is/0tFMJ http://archive.is/vkjfy Announcement (May 2017) of him being removed from his position: http://archive.is/bEdP0 |
Testimony 1: Rizwangul Ghopur, born “Rizwangul Abduqadir”, now resides abroad. (sister) Testimony 2: Xinjiang People’s Procuratorate, the official prosecuting government body for Xinjiang. Testimony 3: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Jan. 2017 – Mar. 2017 | — | breach of Party discipline | taking bribes | corruption | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 661 | Abdusattar Qarahajim | 65292819????????O? | Gülchichek, Aqsu City, woman of about 45-50 yrs, in Turkey since Nov 2001, has been visited by brothers and father and has regularly visited XJ and Aqsu every 4-5 years since, last visit was in 2015 (July–Oct) for 3 months. Testifying about what she saw there with her own eyes. Very upset with what she saw. Many of her relatives were sent to prison during this time. What she describes sounds like a trauma: not being able to breathe, no appetite etc. She attributes it to seeing so much injustice, and from not being able to see so many of her relatives as they had been detained. Stayed with her mother (80years of age). She was afraid to speak up about it, couldn’t even express her shock towards her relatives. They wouldn’t let her into the hospital because she was wearing a headscarf. She walked around carrying and showing her Turkish passport all the time. The Han police officiers have large sticks (shows about an arm’s length) that they beat people with before taking them along and lock tehm up (solumaq). The police was beating someone and she saw this person (male) pay 500 yuan to them in order not to be taken along to the police station afterwards. Reports that in one district (dadöy, kent, 大队) the police had been given the assignment (wezipe) of arresting all men between 18-40. Presumably the Xorchöl District (Gongxi) in Awat county (nahiye) of Aqsu City, where seemingly most of her family lives. | uncle (taghimiz; can also mean more distant relative) | Abdusattar Qarahajim, 80, from Xorchöl District (Gongxi) in Awat county (nahiye) Aqsu prefecture, scholar or intellectual (alim), deceased | Buried in Xorchöl District (Gongxi) in Awat county (nahiye), Aqsu | Feb 2018, “was made a martyr by the Chinese” | He “was made a martyr by the Chinese” which could mean that he had been critical and treated violently or abusive or also just that he had died in custody. | deceased | Heard from others in Istanbul | This video is a good one to text and put out as an example of testimonies: lots of detail, some eyewitness (or at least presence), emotional, feels trustworthy. | 55+ | M | Uyghur | Aksu | — | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | deceased | scholar | |||||||||||
| 899 | Ilham Tohti | 伊力哈木·土赫提 | 65300119691025??O? | Testimony 1: New York Times, a major news outlet based in the United States. Testimony 2: Sydney Morning Herald, a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Testimony 3: The Guardian, a British daily newspaper. Testimony 4|5|6|12: Radio Free Asia Uyghur, the Uyghur-language service of Radio Free Asia. Testimony 7|10: Jewher Ilham, the daughter of Ilham Tohti. She now resides in the United States. (daughter) Testimony 8: Hu Jia, a Chinese human rights activist. (acquaintance) Testimony 9: Li Fangping, as reported by South China Morning Post. (lawyer) Testimony 11: Li Fangping, as reported by RTHK. (lawyer) Testimony 13: BBC, a British public service broadcaster. Testimony 14: World Uyghur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups. |
Ilham Tohti (born in 1969) is a prominent Uyghur economist, writer, and professor at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing. He has long been a well-known advocate for the respect of Uyghurs’ rights and rule of law in Xinjiang, and is considered as a moderate voice promoting dialogue between Han and Uyghur. In 2006, he created his website Uyghur Online (Uyghur Biz) which tackled social issues in Uyghur and Chinese and was designed to promote understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese: the creation of the website seems to have marked the start of authorities’ harrasment towards Ilham Tohti, and the website was later shut down by the authorities. He was first arrested for more than a month in july 2009 following the Urumqi ethnic unrests but eventually released. In january 2014 he was detained again at his home in Beijing and then taken to Xinjiang, where western diplomats were barred from attending his two-day trial in september that year, which led to his sentencing to life in prison. Since then, he has won the 2014 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award and was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for human rights in 2016 a well as the Liberal International’s Prize for Freedom in The Hague in 2017. Since he was incarcerated, Ilham Tohti has been subjected to recurring violations of international human rights standards with regard to detention conditions such as limitations of family visits, intercepted communication, solitary confinement, deprivation of food and intimidation. Ilham Tohti’s family and colleagues have also been subjected to judicial harassment. |
No.1 Prison in Urumqi | In March 26, 2009, he was warned by the police not to speak to foreign media. In 2011, his class on social politics of Xinjiang was called off by the Beijing’s University of Nationalities. In February 2, 2013, he and his daughter were detained at Beijing Airport. Later, his daughter was allowed to board the intended flight to the U.S., while Tohti was forced to stay in China. Detained on 25 January 2014, formally charged with separatism in July 2014 on the basis of his teaching at the university and his writing on his website, Uighur Online. Sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on September 23/24, 2014 (2-day trial). |
Promoting separatism | Condemned to life in prison [From RTHK report: According to the regulations, people sentenced for life on grounds of separatism have the opportunity to have their sentenced reduced 3 years after the deciding trial. However, Ilham Tohti’s lawyer Li Fangping says that since it is also customary for the court to upload such decisions online, it is reasonable to assume the sentence has not changed.] |
His case has been widely publicized, with lawyers, friends, and family all speaking to media. | Multiple sources (but not limited to) : – https://www.smh.com.au/world/uighur-scholar-ilham-tohti-sentenced-to-life-in-jail-by-chinese-court-20140923-10kxgp.html (Testimony 2) – https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/world/asia/15china.html?scp=1&sq=Ilham%20Tohti,&st=cse (Testimony 1) – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/11/ilham-tohti-uighur-china-wins-nobel-martin-ennals-human-rights-award (Testimony 3) – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-09232014091017.html (Testimony 4) – https://www.rfa.org/english/video?v=1_s48jijtq (Testimony 5) – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/awarded-11302017165248.html (Testimony 6) – https://www.rfa.org/english/women/china-tohti-10172016170821.html (Testimony 7) – https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/ilham-tohti-sentenced-life-imprisonment – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/hu-tohti-07272018160529.html (Testimony 8) [additional: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1541335/detained-uygur-economist-ilham-tohti-denied-food-10-days-custody-lawyer (Testimony 9) https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/yq-08282019103216.html https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/daughter-09202019175029.html (Testimony 10) https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1482031-20190923.htm (Testimony 11) https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/award-09302019133018.html (Testimony 12)] [Mentioned in the CECC report In 2019, he was announced as recipient of the seventh Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize. He was awarded the Sakharov prize in late October 2019 (Testimony 13)] Baidu Baike entry Sogou Baike entry Wikipedia entries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilham_Tohti https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/伊力哈木·土赫提 State-media coverage: http://archive.is/GC0Uz http://archive.is/B9DNr http://archive.is/EeXOP Record of court proceedings (not very detailed): http://archive.is/3zy9P |
Testimony 1: New York Times, a major news outlet based in the United States. Testimony 2: Sydney Morning Herald, a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Testimony 3: The Guardian, a British daily newspaper. Testimony 4|5|6|12: Radio Free Asia Uyghur, the Uyghur-language service of Radio Free Asia. Testimony 7|10: Jewher Ilham, the daughter of Ilham Tohti. She now resides in the United States. (daughter) Testimony 8: Hu Jia, a Chinese human rights activist. (acquaintance) Testimony 9: Li Fangping, as reported by South China Morning Post. (lawyer) Testimony 11: Li Fangping, as reported by RTHK. (lawyer) Testimony 13: BBC, a British public service broadcaster. Testimony 14: World Uyghur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups. |
100 | 35-55 | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | sentenced | before 2017 | — | separatism | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||
| 1253 | Ablet Abdureshit Berqi | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. Testimony 2: AidET, a grassroots organization in the United States, focusing on the Xinjiang crisis. Testimony 3: Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. Testimony 4: Nimrod Baranovitch, a professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. (friend) |
name: Ablet Abdurishit Berqi (阿布来提.阿布都热西提.拜尔克) age: unknown ethnicity: Uyghur occupation: Associate Professor, Xinjiang Teacher’s College (新疆教育学院), poet gender: male Berqi studied 20th Century Uyghur literature from 2014-2016 at the University of Haifa in Israel at the graduate level. While in Israel, Berqi wrote a scholarly article titled “Abduhaliq Uyghur”, about the famous Uyghur poet of the 1930s. He also wrote a paper about the short story “The Mustache Dispute” by the famous contemporary Uyghur writer Memtimin Hoshur. According to his professor in Israel, Dr. Baranovitch, there are only a handful of people researching contemporary Uyghur literature, and Dr. Berqi is among them. Testimony 4: Of Berqi’s character, Baranovitch says, “he is a living encyclopedia. We talked about all sorts of things, we got each other thinking and talking. Dr. Berqi is a very serious, rational scholar, but at the same time he has a sense of humor. He has a mischievous wit. We laugh a lot together. I love talking to him. He has a robust personality. On the one hand he has a scholar’s rationality, rigor, and sober analysis, and one the other he has the soul of a poet, full of spirit and feeling.” |
unknown | in or after 2016 AidET: disappeared after his trip to Haifa University in Israel [Testimony 4: During his time in Israel he went back to Xinjiang once (before returning to Israel). Berqi reported that during that trip back, the relevant authorities asked him to “drink tea” and told him not to publish his papers on Uyghur literature.] |
Testimony 5: According to Abduweli Ayup, he was targeted for being one of the scholars to have signed Memtimin Elyar’s 2005 petition for the protection of Uyghur-language education. | disappeared | Testimony 5: The reason for his arrest as given by Abduweli Ayup is speculative. | Testimony 1: List of Uyghur intellectuals imprisoned in China from 2016 to the present (available at here) Testimony 3: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-million-people-are-jailed-at-china-s-gulags-i-escaped-here-s-what-goes-on-inside-1.7994216 Interview with Nimrod Baranovitch (Testimony 4) Testimony 4: While he was in Israel, Dr Berqi reported that, since 2006, he had not felt free to express himself in Xinjiang. He believed that every class of his included a student informant who would report on what he was teaching. Dr. Baranovitch reports that Dr. Berqi was excited and cheerful the whole two years he was in Israel, and it was “the first time he felt free.” Mentioned in Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp (Testimony 5) |
Testimony 1|5: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. Testimony 2: AidET, a grassroots organization in the United States, focusing on the Xinjiang crisis. Testimony 3: Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. Testimony 4: Nimrod Baranovitch, a professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. (friend) |
— | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | nationalism, patriotism | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1293 | Mukhter Abdughopur | 65????19????????O? | H. | information publicly available | name: Mukhter Abdughopur (木合塔尔.阿布都吾甫尔) gender: male ethnicity: Uyghur occupation: vice president of Kashgar University (喀什噶尔大学), instructor Removed from his post and erased from the university’s website on 2 SEPT 2018 |
unknown, possibly Kashgar | probably 2 Sept 2018 | Displaying separatists tendencies, two faced official | not clear whether under house arrest or in a camp | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/professors-09192018144118.html (published 19 SEPT 2018) | List of Uyghur intellectuals imprisoned in China from 2016 to the present (14 November 2018), English version available here (list also available at here) | — | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | — | July 2018 – Sep. 2018 | — | separatism | two-faced | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1295 | Abduqeyum Hoja | 650100194102????O? | H. | information publicly available | name: Abduqeyum Hoja gender: male ethnicity: Uyghur date of birth: 77 (in Feb 2018) occupation: archeology professor He was in hospital when he was arrested and was returned there as well after his release. He is being watched now in hospital. health: he is half paralyzed due to a stroke He is the father of Gulchehra Hoja, reporter for RFA |
a hospital in Urumchi | arrested and released in February 2018 | unknown, probably because his daughter Gulchehra Hoja works as a reporter for RFA | under house arrest in a hospital in Urumchi | https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/uighur-journalists-unbreakable-resolve-to-help-detained-family/ (published 16 March 2018) https://www.businessinsider.com/xianjiang-province-china-police-state-surveillance-2018-7 (31 July 2018) Testimony by Gulchehra Hoja: https://justpaste.it/1hgr4 (published 23 Feb 2018) |
Mention in the CECC report | 55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | house/town arrest | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | relative(s) | — | — | — | has problems | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1492 | Hebibulla Tohti | 65310119????????O? | Testimony 1: Xinjiang Islamic Institute staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Arafat Erkin, as reported by Gene A. Bunin. (relative) |
Habibullah Tohti (海尔布尔·土赫提) is a Uyghur PhD graduate from Al-Azhar University (Egypt). He is also designated in some sources as an “islamic scholar”. He is also a poet, known for his poem “Teklimakan, Horaz we Urumqi”. | Unknown | Authorities first detained Tohti in Urumqi in July 2016, after he returned from Egypt, releasing him in January 2017. He was arrested again in March 2017. | [Most probably related to studying religion in Egypt.] RFA: Tohti’s 2016 detention was linked to his allegedly teaching religion to Uyghur students in Egypt and attending a 2015 religious conference in Saudi Arabia, and to highlighting Uyghur culture in his dissertation. Tohti also reportedly “failed to write or speak out positively about Chinese policies” in the XUAR. |
Arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. | The staff member contacted by RFA presumably had relatively direct knowledge of the case as Tohti applied for a position there. | Online sources: –http://www.iuhrdf.org/content/rebiya-kadeer-china-must-stop-pressuring-egypt-over-uyghur-students – http://www.uysi.org/ug/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/HR_5_24_2018.pdf – https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/din/hebibulla-toxti-06092017150345.html – https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-08092017151559.html (Testimony 1) – https://humanrightscommission.house.gov/sites/humanrightscommission.house.gov/files/documents/Sophie%20Richardson-%20HRW.pdf This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 2), available at here. Mentioned in the CECC report Listing in HRWF database: https://hrwf.eu/hrwf-prisoners-database-china/#hrwf-prisoners-database/china-database-original-upload-221019-sheet1-details/5db6ba55afc9eb177bc1d7eb/ Coverage of his graduation |
Testimony 1: Xinjiang Islamic Institute staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Arafat Erkin, as reported by Gene A. Bunin. (relative) |
10 | — | M | Uyghur | — | sentenced | before 2017 | related to religion | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 1541 | Qurban Osman | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Qurban Osman is a professor of Kashgar University and he has been removed from the University website for exhibiting “two-faced” tendencies. And whether he was in internment camps or detained was unclear. | Unclear | Unclear | Being ” two-faced” | Unclear | UHRP reports and RFA news | RFA report about the victim UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | — | — | — | two-faced | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1543 | Zulpiqar Barat Ozbash | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Zulpiqar Barat Ozbash obtained his Ph.D. degree in Sociology from University of Hawaii in 2007. He was previously employed at Xinjiang University as a professor. He was an active researcher giving speeches and leading debates in the public. He was detained by the local authorities and the reason for detention was still unclear. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP reports and RFA news | RFA news coverage about the vicitm UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1544 | Nebijan Hebibulla | 65322419830504??O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relative) Testimony 3: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Nebijan Hebibulla was an instructor at Xinjiang University and he was detained by the local authorities. Whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. He studied at the Minzu University of China from 2011 to 2015, also visiting and studying at the University of Gottingen in Germany from 2012 to 2014 as part of his PhD thesis. After graduation, he worked as an instructor in the linguistics department at XU. |
[Worked in Urumqi and detained there, so very possibly in Urumqi.] | Testimony 2: Called by police for a chat on February 15, 2018. Missing since. | — | — | Testimony 3: they work at the same university. | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. RFA coverage (Testimony 2) Additional RFA mention (Testimony 3) |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relative) Testimony 3: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | — | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1546 | Batur Eysa | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Batur Eysa is a faculty member of Department of Computer Science, Xinjiang University. He was arrested by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Testimony 2: they work at the same university. | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. RFA coverage (Testimony 2) |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
— | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1548 | Erkin Imirbaqi | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Erkin Imirbaqi is a faculty member from Department of Computer Science, Xinjiang University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP reports | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1549 | Nurbiye Yadikar | 65????19????????E? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
Nurbiye Yadikar is a faculty member from Department of Computer Science, Xinjiang University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Testimony 2: they work at the same university. | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. RFA coverage (Testimony 2) |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang University staff, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) |
— | F | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1550 | Abdubesir Shukri | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1|2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) | Abdubesir Shukri is the dean of Department of Philology, Xinjiang Normal University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | [Presumably in Urumqi, as he was based there.] | Unclear | Testimony 2: According to Abduweli Ayup, he was targeted for being one of the scholars to have signed Memtimin Elyar’s 2005 petition for the protection of Uyghur-language education. | Unclear | Testimony 2: The reason for his arrest as given by Abduweli Ayup is speculative. | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. Mentioned in Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp (Testimony 2) |
Testimony 1|2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) | — | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | nationalism, patriotism | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1551 | Yunus Ebeydulla | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Yunus Ebeydulla is a professor from Xinjiang Normal University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP report | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1554 | Koresh Tahir | ????????????????O? | Testimony 1|4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Rune Steenberg, an anthropologist from Denmark. (friend) Testimony 3: Tahir Hamut, an Uyghur poet and filmmaker, now residing in the United States. (friend) |
Kurash Tahir is a faculty member from Xinjiang Academy of Social Science. He travelled extensively, was a visiting scholar at the University of Bloomington. |
Unclear | Taken by the National Security Police in Urumqi on June 19, 2017. | Testimony 4: According to Abduweli Ayup, he was targeted for being one of the scholars to have signed Memtimin Elyar’s 2005 petition for the protection of Uyghur-language education. | Whereabouts unknown. Presumably in detention. | Testimony 2: shared acquaintances Testimony 4: The reason for his arrest as given by Abduweli Ayup is speculative. |
UHRP report This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. Mentioned in Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp (Testimony 4) |
Testimony 1|4: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Rune Steenberg, an anthropologist from Denmark. (friend) Testimony 3: Tahir Hamut, an Uyghur poet and filmmaker, now residing in the United States. (friend) |
— | M | Uyghur | — | no news for over a year | Apr. 2017 – June 2017 | nationalism, patriotism | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1555 | Erkin Abdurehim Oghuz | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | No relation. | Erkin Oghuz is a retired faculty member of Kashgar University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP report | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1557 | Enwer Qadir | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Enwer Qadir is an associate professor of Kashgar University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP report | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1558 | Enwer Ismayil | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Enwer Ismayil was an associate professor at Kashgar University. He was detained by the local authorities and whereabouts of the victim is still unknown. | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | UHRP report | UHRP report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 1559 | Tunyaz Osman | 65????19????????O? | Anonymous volunteer | None | Tunyaz Osman is a Uyghur writer and legal researcher, and vice secretary at Aksu Prefecture’s Political and Legal Committee, was arrested in 2016. | Unclear | 2016 | Unclear | [Nejmidin Sherif: sentenced to 8 years in prison] | UHRP and World Uyghur Congress report | UHRP report World Uyghur Congress report This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. [Nejmidin Sherif: the victim’s daughter-in-law got a 6 year sentence, while the victim’s son got 8 years.] |
8 | — | M | Uyghur | Aksu | sentenced | before 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 1911 | Nezire Muhemmed Salih | 娜孜拉·买买提·沙力 | 65010?1973??????E? | Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (former neighbor) Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3*|4: Anonymous, as reported by Hanna Burdorf. (friend) |
Nezire Muhammed Salih is the daughter of well-known Uyghur scholar Muhammad Salih Hajim, who died in a re-education camp in Urumqi in January 2018. She is a scholar, like her father, and previously studied abroad in Qatar. She is in her early forties. Nezire and her husband, Uyghur poet Adil Tuniyaz, were both arrested in December of 2017. Their eldest son, Imran (19 years old), was also arrested. It is believed that their three younger children have been placed in state-run orphanages for Uyghur youth whose guardians have been detained. A Chinese officer at a prison in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture’s Miquan county, where another relative is being held, informed family members in February 2018 that they “shouldn’t hold out any hope for Nezire and Adil” because of the seriousness of the accusations against them. |
Unknown | December 25, 2017 Testimony 3: in January 2020, the victim’s friends received info that Nezire was working in a factory in Urumchi (not clear what kind of factory, unclear since when she has been working there), could go home on the weekends. Testimony 4: at the end of March 2020, the victim’s friends received news that she was no longer at the factory and was at home. |
Promoting terrorism and religious extremism | Said to have been released from both detention and forced labor. | Testimony 1: through contacts in the region, presumably. Testimony 2-4: unclear |
Sources: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/scholar-09252018145144.html (Testimony 1) https://twitter.com/penamerican/status/1054776503127498752?lang=en This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 2), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (former neighbor) Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3*|4: Anonymous, as reported by Hanna Burdorf. (friend) |
Nezire Muhemmed Salih is the daughter of the well-known Uyghur scholar Muhemmed Salih Hajim. She is a scholar, like her father, and has previously studied abroad in Qatar. She is married to poet Adil Tuniyaz. |
Believed to be at home in Urumqi. | According to her former neighbor, she was arrested on December 25, 2017, with the authorities telling the family to not hold out much hope for her or her husband because of the serious allegations against them. However, in January 2020, it was reported by her friends abroad that Nezire was no longer in detention but working [presumably coerced] in a factory in Urumqi. They heard that she could go home on the weekends. At the end of March 2020, the victim’s friends received news that she was no longer at the factory and was now at home. |
Promoting terrorism and religious extremism. | Said to have been released from both detention and forced labor. | While the exact information channels are unclear, it is reasonable to assume that the news for all sources came from contacts in the region. | RFA coverage This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here |
35-55 | F | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (soft) | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | terrorism | extremism | — | — | scholar | |||
| 2049 | Adil Ghappar | 阿地力·阿帕尔 | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: Concerned Scholars of Xinjiang, the web account of a group of Xinjiang scholars concerned about the recent crisis. (colleague) Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3*: Eric Schluessel, a Xinjiang scholar from the United States. (colleague) |
Adil Ghappar Karezi (his pen name), 37-38 (as of November 2018), is an anthropologist and scholar at Xinjiang Normal University, or was until recently. His best book is “On the Remnants of the Culture of Uyghur Shamanism” 维吾尔族萨满文化遗存调查, and there is a collection of his shorter writings in Uyghur (https://elkitab.org/adil_ghappar_karizi_maqaliler_toplimi/). I heard from colleagues in summer 2017 that he had left academia to work in Turpan. It would appear that the move was not entirely voluntary–Adil loved his work, was very good at it, and had recently received a new award for ongoing research on Uyghur education in the home (维吾尔族家庭教育与儿童社会化研究). Adil comes from an established family in Turpan–his grandfather was involved in important work in hydrology there. There may be some confusion about Adil’s identity. There is an article online by someone with his Chinese name 阿地力・阿帕尔, also in Turpan, pledging to fight extremism: http://archive.is/of21w. Unclear if it’s the same person, but I think I heard that he had gone into news media. Another article, dated March 2018, archived from a now-inaccessible website suggests it might be someone else: http://www.tlfw.net/Info.aspx?ModelId=1&Id=284410 (http://archive.is/qIHqQ) |
[Presumably in Turpan] | Testimony 1: early 2017 Testimony 3: Late 2017 at the earliest, not early 2017, as the current testimony says. I saw mutual friends in summer 2017 who simply said he had left academia. However, we may hypothesize that Adil had already been sent to reeducation, and that he was released later that year and put in a new position locally, hence the essays on online news portals. |
unknown | detained | Testimony 3: From mutual friends, and confirmed by the list of detained scholars online. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here (Testimony 2) | Testimony 1: Concerned Scholars of Xinjiang, the web account of a group of Xinjiang scholars concerned about the recent crisis. (colleague) Testimony 2: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 3*: Eric Schluessel, a Xinjiang scholar from the United States. (colleague) |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | Turpan | no news for over a year | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 2089 | Enwer Tohti | 65????19????????O? | In Uyghur intellectual list made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Enwer Toxti, Uyghur scholar. He was an instructor at the Uyghur traditional medicine department of Xinjiang Medical University. He is now in detention. Current situation is unknown. | unknown (maybe in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | unknown | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2093 | Alim Pattar | 65????19????????O? | In detained Uyghur intellectuals list made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Alim Pattar, Uyghur scholar. He was a medical doctor and an instructor at Xinjiang Medical University. He’s in detention, current condition is unknown. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | unknown | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2094 | Perhat Behti | 帕尔哈提·拜合提 | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang People’s Procuratorate, the official prosecuting government body for Xinjiang. |
Perhat Bexti, Uyghur scholar. He was vice manager of Hospital branch of Xinjiang Medical University. He is in detention and current situation is unknown. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | According to the People’s Procuratorate of XUAR, Perhat Behti is under investigation because he is suspected of having accepted bribes (涉嫌受贿罪). His case is being reviewed by the People’s Procuratorate of Urumqi. (Publication dated 25 July 2018) In what appears to be a Chinese media article (no longer available), the victim is listed with others and accused of splittism through “collaboration with pro-independence forces in China and abroad”. |
unknown | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. Listing on page where people can rate doctors Summary of an event he took part in. Mentioned in an article about a blood drive. Article about how over 300 hospital directors were sacked for corruption in 2018 all around China, including Perhat |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Xinjiang People’s Procuratorate, the official prosecuting government body for Xinjiang. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | taking bribes | separatism | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 2126 | Alim Ehet | 65292419730614??O? | This victim is in the detained Uyghur scholars’ list made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Alim Ehet, Uyghur scholar. He was born on June 14th, 1973 at Shayar county of Aksu prefecture. He studied at Xinjiang University on Computational mathematics major, and graduated in July, 1996. He was famous software engineer. He was the founder of the software company, Uighursoft, which was the very first software companies founded by Uyghurs. He was one of the ten innovators award winners in Chinese NO.12 period (http://latin.uycnr.com/dpxw_402/201104/t20110426_107901.html). He was a member of Chinese youth association of IT. He was a member of Xinjiang Youth association of technological workers (https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%98%BF%E9%87%8C%E6%9C%A8%C2%B7%E8%89%BE%E6%B5%B7%E6%8F%90). He was a teacher at Xinjiang University mathematics and system sciences. He was one of the most famous contributors for development of Uyghur softwares. He is in detention. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. More detailed information about the victim is available at http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_622cc1a40100sa1v.html and https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%98%BF%E9%87%8C%E6%9C%A8%C2%B7%E8%89%BE%E6%B5%B7%E6%8F%90 |
The victim was added from the list of prominent detained Uyghurs compiled by Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur linguist now residing in Norway. The entry was also bolstered by information from public sources. | [see above] | Alim Ehet is an Uyghur scholar and famous software engineer, best known for being the founder of Uighursoft, the first Uyghur software company. He obtained his degree in computational mathematics from Xinjiang University in 1996, where he later became a teacher of mathematics and system sciences. In addition to being awarded for his innovations, he had also been a member of the Chinese IT Youth Association and the Xinjiang Youth Association of Technological Workers. |
— | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here More information about the victim: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_622cc1a40100sa1v.html https://baike.baidu.com/item/阿里木·艾海提 |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||
| 2199 | Mutellip Sidiq Qahiri | 65312319????????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Kashgar University staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Tahir Mutellip, as reported by Frankfurter Rundschau. (son) Testimony 5: Tahir Mutellip, as reported by Epoch Times. (son) Testimony 6|7|8: Tahir Mutellip, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Germany. (son) |
name: Mutellip Sidiq Qahiri gender: male ethnicity: Uyghur age: 69 (as of September 2019) occupation: scholar of onomastics at Kashgar University (retired in 2010) An Uyghur language professor with 20 publications to his name. Editor of the magazine at Kashgar University. Born in Yengisar County, Kashgar prefecture. His son Tahir Mutellip Qahiri (currently a PhD student in Göttingen, Germany) learnt in the end of November 2018 that his father had been arrested by police in Xinjiang. Mutellip has been a member of the CCP for 34 years. He received a two year suspended sentence with probation and has to pay a fine. |
very possibly in Kashgar | Unclear (but prior to November 2018). By 2017, his linguistic literature had been banned. In May 2018, his son learned that he had been fined 68,000 Chinese Yuan for his research on Uyghur names. He also had his salary cut. Testimony 6-8: His son says that he had no contact with his family between October 18, 2017 and March 1, 2019, and that his father was abducted by the Chinese authorities in mid-2018. On March 1, 2019, his family contacted him to tell him to “not believe the rumors” about his father’s arrest. He was then allowed to contact his father once every two weeks (for a few minutes), until losing touch with him again on August 25, 2019. |
publication of an encyclopaedia on Uyghur names in 2010 which at the time of publication was widely advertised. Recently, it was considered as propaganda for Islam and became the reason for Mutellip’s arrest. | arrested He is already old and needs daily medication. According to an article published by the Epoch Times, the victim’s son got a “proof of life” call from his father on March 1, 2019, telling his son to stop advocating for his freedom. |
http://www.fr.de/politik/uiguren-wo-ist-mein-vater-a-1652098 (Testimony 4) (published 12 JAN 2019) https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/qanun/uyghur-ziyaliy-11222018141657.html (Testimony 2-3) (published 22 NOV 2018) video testimony from the victim’s son (see below) https://www.theepochtimes.com/uyghur-diaspora-receive-proof-of-life-calls-from-the-disappeared-in-xinjiang_2828189.html (Testimony 5) UHRP report: https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/Detained-and-Disappeared-Intellectuals-Under-Assault-in-the-Uyghur-Homeland.pdf |
Since October 18, 2017, Tahir, the victim’s son, has been unable to reach his family. This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 3: Kashgar University staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Tahir Mutellip, as reported by Frankfurter Rundschau. (son) Testimony 5: Tahir Mutellip, as reported by Epoch Times. (son) Testimony 6|7|8: Tahir Mutellip, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Germany. (son) |
Mutellip Sidiq Qahiri – 69 years old as of September 2019 – was a scholar of onomastics, working at Kashgar University prior to his retirement in 2010. He was a professor of the Uyghur language and had 20 publications to his name, in addition to being the editor of a university magazine. He had been a CCP member for over 30 years. He has five children. |
He appears to be in Kashgar. | His linguistic literature had been banned by 2017, and his son reports losing contact with him (and the rest of the family) on October 18, 2017. In May 2018, Tahir learned that his father had been fined 68000 RMB for his research on Uyghur names and had his salary cut. At the end of November 2018, Tahir learned that his father had been arrested by Xinjiang police (at some point in mid-2018), and allegedly received a 2-year suspended sentence with probation and fine. On March 1, 2019, Tahir’s father finally contacted him again, telling him to apologize to the Party and to not “believe the rumors” about his arrest (his father’s head was seen to be shaved at the time of the conversation, suggesting recently having been in detention). After that, Tahir has been allowed to contact his father for a few minutes once every two weeks. In early September 2019, he reported having lost touch with his parents again and made a public video stating this. A few days after the video, he was able to reach his father again, who then told him that he had forgotten his phone at home and hadn’t been able to talk for this reason (an excuse Tahir does not believe). |
The 2010 publication of an encyclopedia of Uyghur names, which at the time of publication was widely advertised. Recently, however, it started to be considered as propaganda for Islam and became the reason for Mutellip’s arrest. | Unclear if in detention with occasional leave or under house/town arrest. He is elderly and requires daily medication. |
It is not clear what Abduweli Ayup based the inclusion of the victim in his list on. However, the staff member at Kashgar University who confirmed the detention presumably had more direct knowledge of the case. The “proof-of-life” phone call that Tahir Mutellip received from his father also provided direct confirmation of the latter’s detention. Tahir Mutellip has also been able to call and talk to his father on a few occasions following his presumed release. |
A number of outlets have covered this case: http://www.fr.de/politik/uiguren-wo-ist-mein-vater-a-1652098 https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/qanun/uyghur-ziyaliy-11222018141657.html https://www.theepochtimes.com/uyghur-diaspora-receive-proof-of-life-calls-from-the-disappeared-in-xinjiang_2828189.html https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/Detained-and-Disappeared-Intellectuals-Under-Assault-in-the-Uyghur-Homeland.pdf https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/tahir-mutellip-09202019233234.html This victim is also included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | — | — | related to religion | — | — | — | has problems | scholar | ||||
| 2293 | Jemile Saqi | 65????19????????E? | Testimony 1: This victim is in detained Uyghur intellectuals list made by Abduweli Ayup. Testimony 2: Babur Jalalidin and Bulbulnaz Jalalidin. |
Testimony 1: none Testimony 2: mother |
Jemile Saqi. She was a professor at Xinjiang Normal University. She is currently in detention (likely to be in concentration camp). She is wife of Abduqadir Jalalidin {254} who was a famous professor at Xinjiang Normal University. Her husband is also in detention. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | Testimony 2: January 2018 RFA report: She was likely detained on January 30, 2018, a day after her husband. She told her children about their father’s detention and urgently sent the children their tuition money, urging them to withdraw it at once. |
unknown | in detention | unclear | RFA coverage This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. |
— | F | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2294 | Ababekri Abdureshit | 65????19????????O? | This victim is in detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Ababekri Abdureshit. He was a Professor at Xinjiang Normal University. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2317 | Tahir Himit | 65????19????????O? | This victim is placed in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Tahir Himit. He was a researcher at the XUAR Committee for Language and Writing. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2353 | Nailjan Turghan | 65????19????????O? | This victim is placed in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Na’iljan Turghan. He was a researcher at XUAR committee for Language and Writing. He is in detention and current situation is unknown. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2356 | Ehmetjan Momin Tarimi | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, but with a verified identity. (acquaintance) Testimony 3: Abdurehim Gheni, an Uyghur activist famous for his solo protests in Amsterdam. (friend) |
Exmetjan Momin Tarimi. He was an academic editor at the Xinjiang People’s Press. He is currently in detention and situation is unknown. [according to someone who knows the victim (Testimony 2): he is in his early 40s – 43, according to Testimony 3] Testimony 3: He was a history theology doctor and director of the department of historical-cultures of Xinjiang People’s Press as well as senior editor. His two books, “Discussion of the Study of Uyghur History” and “Uchturpan: The Ancient Land of Silk Road”, have been published. Also, more than 40 of his academic papers about history have been published on verious journals. In addition, he has translated more than 30 books, including “General History of the World”, into Uyghur language and published. He also edited and published many books such as “History of Han People” and “The Fire in the Heart of Tarim”, including othe hundreds of books. Apart from these, he had been invited to many academic conferences around the world. |
— | Testimony 3: 2017 | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Anonymous, but with a verified identity. (acquaintance) Testimony 3: Abdurehim Gheni, an Uyghur activist famous for his solo protests in Amsterdam. (friend) |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2375 | Kamil Metrehim | 650102195812282114 | Testimony 1|6: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Merhaba Kamil, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (daughter) Testimony 3: Emrulla Ekrem, a student in the US. (relation unclear) Testimony 4|5: Merhaba Kamil, daughter of Kamil Metrehim, now residing in the Netherlands. (daughter) |
Kamil Metrehim (Rehim). He has been working as a principal and professor of the Pedagogical Institute of the Ürümchi Vocational University. He is also the member of textbook editors of the Middle and High schools in XUAR. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | Ten months ago (as of February 2019), according to his daughter’s tweet (approx. April 2018, then). RFA article: He was detained on April 13th, 2018. He was first placed at re-education camps, then around August-September, 2018, he was transferred to NO. 4 prison in Urumqi. |
RFA article: He was detained for being a member of textbook editors in between 2002-2011. Testimony 6: According to Abduweli Ayup, he was targeted for being one of the scholars to have signed Memtimin Elyar’s 2005 petition for the protection of Uyghur-language education. |
In detention. According to his daughter’s metoouyghur post, he has a history of high blood pressure and heart disease. |
unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. He was also mentioned in the video testimony of Emrulla Ekrem (Testimony 3). RFA report (Testimony 2) Mentioned in Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp (Testimony 6) [mentioned incorrectly as “Kamil Tursun”] |
Testimony 1|6: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Merhaba Kamil, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (daughter) Testimony 3: Emrulla Ekrem, a student in the US. (relation unclear) Testimony 4|5: Merhaba Kamil, daughter of Kamil Metrehim, now residing in the Netherlands. (daughter) |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | sentenced | Apr. 2018 – June 2018 | problematic literature | — | — | — | has problems | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2493 | Abbas Burhan | 65????19????????O? | This victim is placed in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abduweli Ayup. | none | Abbas Burhan. He was a researcher at XUAR Educational department and vice principal of Urumqi NO.10 Primary School. He is in detention and current situation is unknown. | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | unknown | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2528 | Gheyret Abdurahman | 6527??19660921??O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Committee of Concerned Scientists, an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. (colleague) Testimony 3: Anonymous letter, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 4: Staff member at Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 6: Elise Anderson, an ethnomusicologist from the United States. (friend) |
Gheyret Abdurahman was a researcher at Xinjiang Academy of social sciences, vice principal of language institute. | [possibly Urumqi, as that’s where he was based] | Testimony 3: He was detained in March 2018. | Testimony 3: He was detained for translating “Otxor Jemet” written by MoYan. | Testimony 3-5: in detention In an article published on March 5, 2020, Global Times [a Chinese propaganda outlet] claimed it got in touch with Mehmet Abduweli, one of the attendees of the human rights conference in Geneva, where the World Uyghur Congress had set up an exhibition booth detailing the cases of various scholars detained in Xinjiang. According to the article, Mehmet said that his colleague Gheyret Abdurahman was ‘living a normal life’ and that the two later contacted via video call. [While this should not be taken at face value, it is at least a strong indicator that the victim is alive and probably not in hard detention.] |
Testimony 4-5: this is presumably a primary source with direct knowledge of the case. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. The Committee of Concerned Scientists has also issued a statement for him (Testimony 2) RFA coverage (Testimony 3) |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Committee of Concerned Scientists, an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world. (colleague) Testimony 3: Anonymous letter, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 4: Staff member at Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 5: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. Testimony 6: Elise Anderson, an ethnomusicologist from the United States. (friend) |
Gheyret Abdurahman was a researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. He was vice principal of the language institute, and a deputy head of the linguistics department. | [Possibly Urumqi, as this is where he was living.] | He was detained in March 2018. | He was detained for translating Mo Yan’s “Otxor Jemet”. [In English, this book is called “The Red Sorghum Clan”.] | Previously reported as detained. In an article published on March 5, 2020, Global Times [a Chinese propaganda outlet] claimed to have gotten in touch with Mehmet Abduweli – one of the attendees of the human rights conference in Geneva, where the World Uyghur Congress had set up an exhibition booth detailing the cases of various scholars detained in Xinjiang. According to the article, Mehmet said that his colleague, Gheyret Abdurahman, was “living a normal life” and that the two later contacted via video call. [While this should not be taken at face value, it is at least a strong indicator that the victim is alive and probably not in hard detention.] |
The confirmation of his detention has come from sources in the region who are familiar with his case. | This victim is included in the list of detained prominent Uyghurs, available at here Statement by the Committee of Concerned Scientists RFA coverage [English version] |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (soft) | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | problematic literature | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||
| 2611 | Abduqeyum Mijit | 65????19????????O? | This victim is placed in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abduweli Ayup. | nonw | Abduqeyum Mijit. He was a researcher at the Minority Research Institute of Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. He was arrested in 2018 and current situation is unknown. https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/qanun/uyghur-ziyaliy-11052018152424.html | unknown (possibly in Urumqi) | in 2018 (exact date is unclear) | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2612 | Abdurehim Rahman | 6522011970??????O? | This victim is placed in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals made by Abdwuweli Ayup. | none | Abdurehim Rahman. He was an associate professor at Xinjiang University. He was studying linguistics of Uyghur language and Uyghur classic literature. He was born in 1970 in Qumul. He was detained in early 2018 (disappeared after 2018 winter break)https://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/maarip/abdurehim-rahman-11072018134849.html. Current situation is unknown. | possibly in Urumqi | early 2018 (likely around late February or March of 2018) | unknown | in detention | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. This victim is also in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals provided by Uyghuraid. |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | Jan. 2018 – Mar. 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2879 | Enwer Sidiq | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Enwer Sidiq, a professor of physics at Xinjiang Normal University. | — | Unclear. | — | Detained. | Unclear. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 2910 | Tahir Abduweli | ????????????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Tahir Abduweli, a researcher and member of the XUAR Language Committee. | — | Unclear. | — | Detained. | Unclear. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3085 | Alisher Qurban | 65????19????????O? | Oghlan G. Kashgaria (user name on twitter) | unknown | Alisher Kurban. He was a professor at University of Chinese academy of sciences. His field was remote sensing and GIS for arid land research, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography. He has won some well-known awards given by chinese officials (http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2017/1/366648.shtm). He is in concentration camp. | possibly Urumqi | unknown | unknown | in concentration camp | unclear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. His Research Gate page His Google Scholar page |
— | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | concentration camp | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3141 | Abdusalam Turdi | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Abdusalam Turdi, a professor at the physics department at Xinjiang Normal University. | — | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3145 | Ababekri Ablet | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Ababekri Ablet, the rector of the Hotan Teachers College. | Likely in Hotan, given his position. | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | Hotan | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3174 | Abdukerem Paltu | 65????19????????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. Testimony 2: Yucel Tanay (Facebook name). |
Testimony 1-2: No known relation. | Abdukerem Paltu, 76, a professor of history at Kashgar University. | Likely in Kashgar, given his position. | 2018. | — | In detention. Testimony 2: In camp. He had previously undergone a surgery and is not in good health. |
Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | 55+ | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | concentration camp | — | — | — | — | — | has problems | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3175 | Abdurehim Mahmut | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Abdurehim Mahmut, a professor at Xinjiang University. | Likely in Urumqi, given his position. | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3183 | Abliz Qarihaji Arqan | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Abliz Qarihaji (Arqan), a writer and religious scholar. | — | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3184 | Azat Eziz | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Azat Eziz, professor and former principal at Kashgar University. | Likely in Kashgar, given his position. | Taken to a camp in October 2017, according to his daughter on Twitter. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | Kashgar | concentration camp | Oct. 2017 – Dec. 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3185 | Gulzar Gheni | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Gulzar Gheni, from Kashgar University. | — | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | F | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3193 | Husenjan Esqer | 玉山江·艾斯卡尔 | 650102196604074032 | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2*|3|6|7|8: Gulruy Esqer, an Uyghur poet, now living in the United States. (sister) Testimony 4: Financial Times, an English-language international daily newspaper, headquartered in London, with a special emphasis on business and economic news. Testimony 5*|10*|11*: Gulruy Esqer, as reported by Gene A. Bunin. (sister) Testimony 9: Eziz Sulayman, originally from Aksu’s Shayar County but now residing in the United States. (brother-in-law) |
Husenjan Esqer (玉山江·艾斯卡尔), 48 years old as of 2018. He was a senior translator and the chair of the terminology office at the XUAR ethnic language committee (新疆维吾尔自治区语言委员会名词术语办公室). [from video testimony: He has published numerous Mandarin to Uyghur dictionaries, including the ones covering law and chemistry terminology. Two years before his arrest, he was assigned to do governmental tours around rural areas in southern Xinjiang.] |
Lived and worked in Urumqi, so very possibly there. | 2018.
[Testimony 5: in December 2019, Gulruy said that she learned that he had been arrested and held in a detention center for some time in September 2018, released, and then disappeared in January 2019] |
Testifier says that the “Chinese Communist Party arrested him because he is a well known Uyghur scholar and linguist.” [from one video testimony: he and his colleagues were taken for working on an Uyghur place names dictionary for places in Xinjiang] |
In some sort of detention. Testimony 10: in March 2020, his sister reported that he appeared to be released and home, though she didn’t know any particulars. Testimony 11: in early May 2020, Gulruy again confirmed that he was released. |
Not stated. [from one video testimony: from a colleague of the victim who’s now abroad] |
Written about in here (Testimony 3) https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77 (Testimony 4) This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals (Testimony 1), available at here. |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2*|3|6|7|8: Gulruy Esqer, an Uyghur poet, now living in the United States. (sister) Testimony 4: Financial Times, an English-language international daily newspaper, headquartered in London, with a special emphasis on business and economic news. Testimony 5*|10*|11*: Gulruy Esqer, as reported by Gene A. Bunin. (sister) Testimony 9: Eziz Sulayman, originally from Aksu’s Shayar County but now residing in the United States. (brother-in-law) |
Husenjan Esqer was a senior translator at – and the chair of – the terminology office at the XUAR Ethnic Language Committee (新疆维吾尔自治区语言委员会名词术语办公室). He has published numerous Mandarin-to-Uyghur dictionaries, including ones covering law and chemistry terminologies. Two years before his arrest, he had been assigned to do government tours around rural areas in southern Xinjiang. Address: Apt. 602, Entrance No. 1, Building No. 3, 37 South Xinhua Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi (乌鲁木齐市天山区新华南路37号3号楼1单元602号). |
Presumably in Urumqi. | He was arrested in September 2018, to be held in a detention center and then released. In January 2019, he was disappeared and was reported by relatives as missing until March 2020, when his sister reported that he appeared to be released and at home, though she didn’t know much more than that. | Detained with six of his colleagues for working on an Uyghur dictionary of place names for places in Xinjiang. | Released from detention. [Unclear what specific restrictions he is under, however.] | From a colleague of the victim who’s now abroad. | One of his books List of books having received a government award (including one of the victim’s) Written about in: http://raisethevoices.org/2019/07/14/missing-loved-ones-in-east-turkestan/ https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77 https://camp-album.com/i-know-that-the-world-will-say-never-again-when-the-last-uyghur-is-killed/ In July-August 2019, a Financial Times journalist visited the offices where the victim had previously worked. He was told that the department had moved to the Education Bureau. This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs, available at here |
35-55 | M | Uyghur | Urumqi | unclear (soft) | July 2018 – Sep. 2018 | other | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||
| 3195 | Hesenjan Abdulla | 6540??19????????O? | Dolunay Evliya – Ethnic Uyghur, Turkish citizen. | Husband | Aishanjiang Abdullamu (Turkish transliteration is Hasancan Abdullah) Scientist (genetics). Knows 5 languages and has academic articles. Got “Golden Elephant” prize from Thailand in 1999 for one of his articles. Got retired in 2015 and moved to Turkey. Got residence permit in Turkey. Chinese authorities have been threatening him with his family. He went to China on April 18, 2017. His documents were confiscated and he was not allowed back to Turkey. Through someone else he let his wife know that scientists were being arrested and he was also afraid about his life. His wife gave a letter to Süleyman Soylu (Minister of Internal Affairs of Turkey) in June 2018 and the Turkish Consulate in Beijing contacted Aishanjiang. Following this, he was detained. His wife has learnt that he is in Boz concentration camp in Kulja. According to the list of detained intellectuals, he was a researcher from the Ili Institute of Agricultural Study. |
Kulja | Documents confiscated upon returning in April 2017. Detained in August 2018. | Possibly living and having family abroad. | Concentration camp. | not clear | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | Ili | concentration camp | Apr. 2017 – June 2017 | related to going abroad | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3649 | Abdusalam Jalalidin | 6540??1962??????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Uyghur Transitional Justice Database, a project documenting the Uyghur victims of the repressions in Xinjiang. |
Abdusalam Jalalidin, born in 1962 in Ghulja. PhD, professor at Xinjiang University. Vice-Dean at Xinjiang University’s Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences. His expertise includes water resources and environment, soil environment and digital mapping. Has a PhD of Agriculture from Hokkaido University, Japan. |
— | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here (Testimony 1) | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: Uyghur Transitional Justice Database, a project documenting the Uyghur victims of the repressions in Xinjiang. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3650 | Hemdulla Abdurahman | 海木都拉·阿布都热合曼 | 6521221957??????O? | Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: “Rana Aybala Yaşar”, an unverified Facebook account. (daughter-in-law) Testimony 3: Yashar Hemdulla, son of renowned linguist Hemdulla Abdurahman. (son) Testimony 4: Yashar Hemdulla, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (son) Testimony 5: Rena, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (daughter-in-law) Testimony 6: Yashar Hemdulla, as reported by Al Jazeera. (son) Testimony 7: @RnaYsrTuran, an unverified Twitter account. (relation unclear) |
Hemdulla Abdurahman, born in Turpan’s Pichan County in 1957. A linguist and a member of the XUAR Languages Committee, also a CCP member. He retired in 2016. From his daughter-in-law: He graduated from Minzu University of China and he had worked for 35 years in the XUAR Languages Committee. He was one of the few prominent intellectuals who studied Chaghatay and Kokturk language and he participated in compiling seven books of Uyghur language explanatory dictionary. He also helped publish some books like “Yaxshilar Baghchisi” (a translated religious book which is collection of authentic Heedith) and participated in compiling Uyghur-Chinese Dictionary and other dictionaries. He was a Turkologist and he taught Japanese and Arabic (not at university). Apart from these, he has published academic articles such as ” About Uyghur People’s Names”, “Dictionary of Handicrafts in Uyghurs” and ” Uyghur words of Chinese origion. |
Testimony 6: Detained in Urumqi [but unclear if held there] | Testimony 4-5: 2018 (April or later) Testimony 6: January 2019 |
Testimony 4-5: for telling his son abroad about his (the victim’s) brother’s detention (Abdulla Abdurahman {5453}). | In detention. Testimony 4-5: taken to a camp. Testimony 3: son cannot contact him still. Testimony 7: still no news as of April 20, 2020 |
Not stated. | RFA coverage (Testimony 4-5) Al Jazeera coverage (Testimony 6) This victim is included in the list of prominent detained Uyghurs (Testimony 1), available at here. He was the chief editor of the fundamental “Annotated Modern Uyghur Language Dictionary” (“hazirqi zaman uyghurtilining izahliq lughiti”): https://archive.vn/l8FpY |
Testimony 1: Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (relation unclear) Testimony 2: “Rana Aybala Yaşar”, an unverified Facebook account. (daughter-in-law) Testimony 3: Yashar Hemdulla, son of renowned linguist Hemdulla Abdurahman. (son) Testimony 4: Yashar Hemdulla, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (son) Testimony 5: Rena, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (daughter-in-law) Testimony 6: Yashar Hemdulla, as reported by Al Jazeera. (son) Testimony 7: @RnaYsrTuran, an unverified Twitter account. (relation unclear) |
55+ | M | Uyghur | — | no news for over a year | — | contact with outside world | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||
| 3651 | Nizamidin Niyaz | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Nizamidin Niyaz, PhD and lecturer at Xinjiang Normal University. | — | Not stated. | Taking part in putting together a textbook that was deemed “problematic”. | Sentenced to 15 years. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | sentenced | — | problematic literature | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 3679 | Tursunjan Behti | 65????1985??????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Tursunjan Behti, born in 1985, was a PhD and linguist who worked as a lecturer at the Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics. | — | Not stated. | — | In detention. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | 18-35 | M | Uyghur | — | unclear (hard) | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 4082 | Tohti Tuniyaz | 吐赫提·土亚兹 | 65????19591001??O? | Testimony 1: Human Rights in China, a New York-based international, Chinese, non-governmental organization. Testimony 2: Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, as reported by Amnesty International. Testimony 3: @UyghurScientist, an unverified Twitter account. (relation unclear) |
Tohti Tunyaz, better known as Tohti Muzart (拓和提·莫扎提), an ethnic Uighur historian and writer arrested for collecting sensitive materials and publishing articles on ethnic relations and ethnic separatism. He was arrested in 1998 for the charge of “illegally acquiring state secrets” referred to a list of 50-year-old documents Tohti Tunyaz obtained with the help of an official librarian in the XUAR. During his trial, the charge of “inciting separatism” was linked with a book entitled “The Inside Story of the Silk Road” that the Chinese authorities claimed Tohti Tunyaz and published in Japan. However, according to his professor, he had not published such a book, or any book that “incites separatism”. He was released in 2009 and served two more years under surveillance in Beijing. He is still restricted in movement and under threat in China. |
Testimony 3: he died in 2015 in Beijing. | Testimony 1: detained on 6-Feb-98, sentenced to 11 years at the Xinjiang No. 4 Prison on March 10, 1999 (Testimony 2: by Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court). Testimony 2: held at No. 3 prison (as of 2006). Testimony 3: he died in Beijing in 2015 [presumably having been released after his sentence]. |
Testimony 1: “inciting separatism and divulging state secrets abroad” | Testimony 3: deceased. | Unclear. | HRI China report mention (Testimony 1) Amnesty International report mention (Testimony 2) His Wikipedia entry |
Testimony 1: Human Rights in China, a New York-based international, Chinese, non-governmental organization. Testimony 2: Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, as reported by Amnesty International. Testimony 3: @UyghurScientist, an unverified Twitter account. (relation unclear) |
55+ | M | Uyghur | inner China | — | before 2017 | — | separatism | revealing “state secrets” | — | deceased | scholar | ||||||||||
| 4266 | Niyaz Kerim Sherqi | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Niyaz Kerim Sherqi, a calligrapher, topographer, toponymist, and professor at the former Xinjiang University of Industry. | — | Not stated. | — | Detained. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 4826 | Abdumijit Abduqadir | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur scholar, linguist, activist now living in Turkey. | No known relation. | Abdumijit Abduqadir, instructor at the Xinjiang Uyghur Medicine College, PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences (Xinjiang Branch). | Likely in Hotan, since that is the location of the college | Not stated. | — | Detained. | Not stated. | This victim is included in the list of detained Uyghur intellectuals, available at here. | — | M | Uyghur | Hotan | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 5014 | Muhter Turghun | 65????19????????O? | World Uyghur Congress | No apparent relation. | Muhter Turghun, Professor & Director of the Research Dep. of Kashgar University | unknown | 2018 | was removed from his post by the Chinese authorities for “two-faced” activities & he was rounded up along w/ other Uyghur professors of the University. | [probably in detention] | Not stated. | — | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | two-faced | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 5024 | Hesenjan Seyit | 65312619????????O? | “George Jefferson” (Facebook name) | The victim appears to be the testifier’s friend. | Hesenjan Seyit is from Kashgar’s Qaghiliq County. He got both his bachelor’s (1995) and master’s (1998) degrees from Xinjiang University, before going to obtain his PhD abroad from Cornell University in 2003. He worked as a professor at both the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and at Durham University. | — | Returned to Xinjiang in 2017. | — | The testifier says that he heard of him being in a concentration camp. | Hearsay. | — | 35-55 | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | |||||||||||
| 5135 | Shireli Qurban | 65????19????????O? | Abduweli Ayup, a linguist, activist, and scholar residing in Norway. | No known relation. | Shir’eli Qurban, a researcher. | — | Not stated. | — | Released from detention. | Not stated. | — | Abduweli Ayup, a linguist, activist, and scholar residing in Norway. | No known relation. | Shir’eli Qurban, a researcher. | — | Not stated. | — | Released from detention. | Not stated. | — | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||
| 5642 | Ablimit Omer Bilge | J. Bagdonas, database volunteer | None | Ablimit Bilge, a researcher of classic literature, holds a PHD | Unclear | Unclear | — | Disappeared | A document available online | — | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||||
| 8482 | Memtimin Elyar | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. | Memtimin Elyar, an IT engineer and web administrator. In 2005, he initiated a campaign focused at the protection of Uyghur language based on rights outlined in the Chinese constitution and the law of the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous Region. He gathered over 1000 signatures and presented the petition to the government, but was arrested instead and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The ones who had signed the petition and had not been arrested in 2005, were arrested later in 2016. | Unclear | 2005 | Promoting the protection of Uyghur language | His prison sentenced has expired, current status unknown | Unclear | Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | before 2017 | nationalism, patriotism | — | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||||
| 8483 | Dilyar Obulqasim | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (colleague) | Dilyar Obulqasim, a scholar who had aimed to promote Uyghur language education by opening kindergartens. The movement centered on the idea that the idea of Uyghur language protection, promised in the Chinese constitution and the Xinjiang law, should be upheld in practice. According to Abduweli Ayup, Dilyar was constantly expressing frustration at the pressure the government was applying to their organization. On February 21, 2013, Abduweli and Dilyar organized a conference on Uyghur language education in celebration of the International Mother Language Day. They later joined Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Mongol scholars in attempts to create a joint campaign, but the movement was crushed by massive arrests. | Unclear | August 19, 2013 | Organizing an Uyghur language movement, accused of separatism | Unclear | He was arrested at the same time. | Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (colleague) | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | before 2017 | nationalism, patriotism | separatism | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||||
| 8484 | Memetsidiq Abdureshit | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (colleague) | Memetsidiq Abdureshit, a scholar who had aimed to promote Uyghur language education by opening kindergartens. The movement centered on the idea that the idea of Uyghur language protection, promised in the Chinese constitution and the Xinjiang law, should be upheld in practice. | Unclear | August 19, 2013 | Promoting the Uyghur language, accused of separatism | Unclear | He was arrested at the same time | Abduweli Ayup’s op-ed for PEN/Opp | Abduweli Ayup, a language activist, linguist, and writer, originally from Kashgar but now residing in Norway. (colleague) | — | M | Uyghur | — | — | before 2017 | nationalism, patriotism | separatism | — | — | — | scholar | ||||||||||||
| 8507 | Memet Eli | Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 2|3: Kumul Normal Institute staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. |
Memet Eli is a literature instructor and calligrapher from Kumul prefecture. He graduated from Xinjiang University in 1987 with a degree in literature. He was an instructor at the Kumul Normal Institute and an instructor of calligraphy at the institute’s Experimental High School. | [Presumably in Hami.] | Victim was detained on March 22, 2019. He had previously been taken by the authorities for questioning in early 2019. | — | Missing | His detention was reported by RFA based on “information recently shared on social media by the Uyghur diaspora.” A source told RFA about his previous questioning (Testimony 1). Employees of the Kumul Normal Institute spoke to RFA and confirmed that he was not at work (Testimony 2-3), but would not provide details. One Han government employee (Testimony 4) said the victim’s case “has to do with social stability.” | Testimony 1-4: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/answers-04062020143223.html | Testimony 1: Anonymous, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (relation unclear) Testimony 2|3: Kumul Normal Institute staff member, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. (colleague) Testimony 4: Local government employee, as reported by Radio Free Asia Uyghur. |
55+ | M | Uyghur | Hami | — | Jan. 2019 – Mar. 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | scholar |
