Detention

URGENT ACTION: 30 RELATIVES OF UIGHUR ACTIVIST ARBITRARILY DETAINED

Source: Amnesty International

Chinese authorities have detained up to 30 relatives of Uighur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer, who currently lives in the United States. Among the detained are Kadeer’s sisters, brothers, sons, grandchildren and extended relatives. It is unclear when they were taken away, and they are presumed to be arbitrarily detained at an “education centre”. They are at high risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

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EU Joins US in Criticizing China's Detention of Uyghur Scholar

Ilham Tohti pauses before a classroom lecture in Beijing, June 12, 2010. Photo: AFP

The European Union joined the United States in criticizing China for the detention of outspoken ethnic minority Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti as Beijing maintained its silence on his whereabouts and the specific charges he faces. The Chinese government said the professor at Beijing's Central University for Nationalities was "criminally detained" from his home on Wednesday because he was "under suspicion of committing crimes and violating the law" but it did not give any details.

Uyghur Human Rights Project urges international community to maintain vigilance on the condition of Uyghur academic, Ilham Tohti

Professor Ilham Tohti lecturing in a classroom at Minzu University of China, Beijing

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) expresses its concern for the condition of Ilham Tohti, who was arbitrarily detained by Beijing and Xinjiang police on January 15, 2014. UHRP calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately release Mr. Tohti and to return all personal property, including data, confiscated from Mr. Tohti during the raid on his home in Beijing. UHRP also commends the strong statements issued by the US State Department and European Union regarding Ilham Tohti’s arbitrary detention and asks officials from concerned governments to sustain pressure on China for Mr. Tohti’s unconditional release.

China decries foreign interference in detained academic case

Guzailai Nu'er, the wife of Ilham Tohti, speaks as she has an interview with Reuters by a phone from window of her house in Beijing (KIM KYUNG-HOON, REUTERS / January 17, 2014)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China decried what it called interference in its internal affairs on Friday, after both the United States and European Union voiced concern over the detention of a high-profile ethnic Uighur academic from the restive western region of Xinjiang. Police in Beijing on Wednesday seized Ilham Tohti, a prominent economist who has championed the rights of the Muslim Uighur community, from his home and his whereabouts were unknown, his wife and a close friend told Reuters.

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