The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) solemnly marks the one-year anniversary of the life sentence handed down to Chinese Uighur Muslim scholar Ilham Tohti for \u201cseparatism.\u201d <\/p>\n
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n September 22, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) solemnly marks the one-year anniversary of the life sentence handed down to Chinese Uighur Muslim scholar Ilham Tohti for \u201cseparatism.\u201d USCIRF calls on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release him and seven of his students who also were sentenced after a separate and secret trial. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Chinese court\u2019s sentencing of Ilham Tohti and his students flies in the face of the protections Chinese citizens are entitled to both under the Chinese constitution and its international human rights commitments. And yet there are many other prisoners of conscience in China in addition to Tohti and his students. We urge President Obama in his meeting with President Xi Jinping during his trip to Washington to urge their release. The plight of these prisoners undermines China\u2019s claim to be a country based on the rule of law,<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>said USCIRF Chairman Robert P. George.<\/em><\/p>\n Before his imprisonment, Professor Tohti was an economics professor in Beijing and a peaceful advocate for both Uighur rights and autonomy in Xinjiang. He also encouraged dialogue between Uighurs Muslims and Han Chinese. He was falsely accused of separatism and fanning ethnic tensions and sentenced to life imprisonment in September 2014 after a two-day trial. Seven of his students subsequently were arrested and after a secret trial received prison terms of three to eight years. They were accused of contributing to a website Tohti ran that focused on Uighur issues. Though little information about Professor Tohti\u2019s condition is available, his family reportedly has been denied visits to see him in prison. Little also is known about his students: Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi and Akbar Imin are Uighur Muslims, and the seventh student, Luo Yuwei, is from the Yi ethnic minority.<\/p>\n Since 2009, the Chinese government has instituted sweeping security measures that, among other goals, have sought to weaken Uighur Muslims\u2019 religious adherence and eradicate so-called \u201cillegal\u201d religious gatherings and activities. The Chinese government\u2019s crackdown on religious expression in Xinjiang has led to the detention or deaths of hundreds and possibly thousands of Uighur Muslims as well as instability and insecurity, fueling resentment and the very extremism the government claims it is trying to quell.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>The Chinese government should not treat the peaceful expression of beliefs as criminal conduct, and must end its repressive policies towards Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. These policies include restrictions on Ramadan fasting, confiscation of unofficial Islamic publications, raiding of mosques, and detention and dismissal of \u201cillegal\u201d imams and religious personnel. <\/em><\/strong> The Chinese government should support religious freedom and the peaceful practice and expression of one\u2019s faith,<\/em><\/strong>\u201d <\/em><\/strong>said Chairman George.<\/em><\/p>\n USCIRF again recommended in 2015 that China be designated as a \u201ccountry of particular concern,\u201d or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act for its particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The State Department has designated China as a CPC since 1999, most recently in July 2014. For more information, see the China Chapter (in English<\/a> and Chinese<\/a>) in USCIRF\u2019s 2015 Annual Report. <\/p>\n For more information on China\u2019s prisoners of conscience included in the Defending Freedoms Project, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n