Anniversary an opportunity to refocus efforts in realizing human rights for the Uyghur people<\/p>\n
Anniversary an opportunity to refocus efforts in realizing human rights for the Uyghur people<\/em><\/p>\n For immediate release The Uyghur American Association (UAA) honors the human rights work of Uyghur democracy leader Ms. Rebiya Kadeer on the tenth anniversary of her release from notorious Chinese prison Liudaowan. UAA also recognizes the tireless efforts of the United States government and human rights organizations in securing Ms. Kadeer\u2019s freedom.<\/p>\n Ms. Kadeer served as UAA president from 2006 to 2011 and is the president of the World Uyghur Congress. After her release, she founded the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation and has traveled worldwide communicating Uyghur human rights concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Kadeer is a symbol of the Uyghur people\u2019s peaceful resistance to China\u2019s iron-fisted repressive rule in East Turkestan. She has faced down the formidable authoritarian state that is China to tell people from presidents to university students about the brutal repression of the Uyghur people. In order to silence Ms. Kadeer, Chinese officials have targeted her family, put her in prison and labeled her a \u2018terrorist;\u2019 however, she still continues to speak truth to power. The treatment of Ms. Kadeer shows the kind of contempt the Chinese government has for peaceful dissident Uyghur voices,\u201d said UAA president Alim Seytoff.<\/p>\n Mr. Seytoff added: \u201cAlthough we observe Ms. Kadeer\u2019s ten years of freedom, Uyghurs still experience terrible human rights conditions in China. China has made a fanfare about so called \u2018Uyghur terrorism\u2019 without providing much evidence. This spin the Chinese government has put on the tensions in East Turkestan is to convince the international community that repressive measures against Uyghurs are justified. At this perilous time, governments and multi-lateral agencies must strengthen their support for Uyghur rights by treating China\u2019s terror allegations with utmost skepticism and challenging Chinese officials on their appalling human rights record in East Turkestan.\u201d<\/p>\n Uyghurs are routinely imprisoned for the their peaceful advocacy aimed at improving human rights conditions. Professor <\/span>Ilham Tohti<\/a> and webmaster Gulmire Imin<\/a> were jailed for exercising their freedom of speech<\/em><\/strong>. Professor Tohti was particularly outspoken on a number of economic, social and cultural issues<\/em><\/strong> facing the Uyghurs through his Uighurbiz website. The detention of HIV\/AIDS activist, Akbar Imin<\/a> is a further example of the limited space the Uyghurs have to raise social problems with the state.<\/p>\n The case of Uyghur author, Nurmuhammet Yasin<\/a> shows the tight constraints placed on artistic freedom<\/em><\/strong>. The jailing of <\/span>Abdukiram Abduweli<\/a> and Alimjan Yimit<\/a> are demonstrative of the curbs place on religious rights<\/em><\/strong> in East Turkestan.<\/p>\n Brief biography of Ms. Rebiya Kadeer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ms. Rebiya Kadeer is the mother of eleven children, a human rights leader and former businesswoman. She established a multimillion-dollar trading company and a department store in Urumchi. To provide assistance and opportunities to disadvantaged Uyghurs, especially women, Ms. Kadeer started the \u201cThousand Mothers Movement<\/a>\u201d in December 1997, to empower Uyghur women to start their own businesses.<\/p>\n Ms. Kadeer served as a delegate to the National People\u2019s Congress and the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference, as well as a delegate to the United Nation\u2019s Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. Originally held up as a model of Uyghur success and philanthropy, Beijing\u2019s attitude toward Ms. Kadeer changed when she criticized China\u2019s treatment of her people during a National People\u2019s Congress session in March 1997. In her speech, she demanded that the Chinese government honor the autonomy conferred on the Uyghur people and respect their human rights. She also criticized China\u2019s <\/span>harsh crackdown<\/a> <\/span>of a Uyghur demonstration that had taken place a month earlier in Ghulja.<\/p>\n In 1997, Ms. Kadeer was stripped of her membership in both the National People\u2019s Congress and the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference and forbidden to travel overseas. She was <\/span>arrested in 1999<\/a> <\/span>while on her way to meet with a U.S. Congressional delegation that was visiting East Turkestan to investigate the human rights situation there. She was <\/span>sentenced to eight years\u2019 imprisonment in March 2000, following a secret trial<\/a>. Forced to spend two years <\/span>in solitary confinement, she witnessed brutal torture and abuse<\/a>carried out on her fellow prisoners.<\/p>\n Ms. Kadeer\u2019s case received wide international attention as <\/span>Amnesty International<\/a> <\/span>and Human Rights Watch publicized her case and aggressively pursued her freedom. In 2000, <\/span>Human Rights Watch honored Ms. Kadeer<\/a> <\/span>as a human rights monitor. In 2004, Norway\u2019s Rafto Foundation honored her with the <\/span>Rafto Award<\/a>. Then, on March 17, 2005, three days before an official visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, she was <\/span>released from prison<\/a>, ostensibly on medical grounds, and sent to the United States, where she was given refugee status. In <\/span>retaliation<\/a> <\/span>for her human rights advocacy, Chinese authorities have frequentlypersecuted Ms. Kadeer\u2019s children and other family members<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms. Kadeer has actively campaigned for the human rights of the Uyghur people since her arrival in the United States and for her work has been <\/span>nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize<\/a>. In September 2005, Ms. Kadeer founded the <\/span>International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation<\/a> <\/span>in Washington, D.C, which works to promote human rights for Uyghur women and children in East Turkestan. In May 2006, she was elected to the presidency of the Uyghur American Association. In November 2006, she was elected as president of the <\/span>World Uyghur Congress<\/a>, which represents the collective interests of the Uyghur diaspora, both in East Turkestan and in countries throughout the world.<\/p>\n See also:<\/p>\n Dragon Fighter: One Woman\u2019s Epic Struggle For Peace With China
March 16, 2015 11:00 am EST
Contact: Uyghur Human Rights Project +1 (202) 478 1920<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.kalespress.com\/kp\/Dragon.html<\/a><\/p>\n