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Today is the 65th International Human Rights Day. United Nations General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10, 1948. On this special and important day, I call for the Public Security Department of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to stop violating my legal rights and show respect for basic human rights.
I, Mutellip Imin, from Lop County of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, am the master student of IstanbulUniversity, majoring in Sociology. I was illegally intercepted by the customs police of BeijingCapitalInternationalAirport in the name of ‘criminal detention’, on my way back school on July 15, 2013. Officers from the Public Security Department of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region deported me to Urumqi, where I was interrogated and held in three different hotels for 79days, without any legal procedure or notifying my family.
On October 1, I was sent home by police, but my identity documents like Chinese ID Card, Passport, and valuable items like laptop were detained, none of which has been returned to me until now. In these nearly 150 days, my freedom, legitimate rights and interests have been infringed continuously. What’s worse, since all of my identity documents are still in the hands of security officers, my rights to travel and continue education are seriously violated.
Article 9 of the UDHR says, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” Article 11 of this declaration also says, “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trail at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.” Customs Polices took me into custody in the name of ‘criminal detention’, assisting polices from Xinjiang, which is not only against the UDHR, but also forbidden in the laws of PRC.
Law of the People’s Republic of China on Resident Identity Cards (Article 15) says, “No organization or individual may seize any resident identity card.’
In Articles 12 and 13 of the UDHR, there are sayings that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”, “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
In 2012, I got an offer from Turkish Scholarships, which are for the students from all around the world. I finished all legal procedure and examination before went to IstanbulUniversity last year. Now, the school where I was to continue my master study in sociology has started lessons for three months, but I am still ‘trapped’ at home, unable to enjoy my rights to travel or education.
Recently, I have been writing online complaint letter to State Compliant Acceptance Office, Public Security Department of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Public Security Ministry of PRC and other 10 departments, but have not received any reply until now. On December 1, I went to Police Station of Buya Village in LopCounty, where my family live, but police officers refused my request to investigate on these things, saying “you don’t have enough evidence and your household is not here. You have to go to Beijing since the place you registered your household is Beijing.” I also went to the Petition Handling Office in Public Security Bureau of Hotan Prefecture on December 6, but also in vain. A police numbered 170031 said, “You have to go to Urumqi for more details.” However, I cannot leave Hotan legally since my ID card is being detained.
China is one of the countries which signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Being a part of the People’s Republic of China, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region also has the obligation to carry out the contents of the UDHR.
On the International Day of Human Rights in 2013, I call for the Public Security Department of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to stop violating my legal rights and show respect for human rights.
Mutellip Imin
December 10, 2013