OMCT Network, 18 July 2011

Case CHN 180711
Forcible return/ Enforced disappearances/ Fear for the safety

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.
Brief description of the situation

TheInternational Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the enforced disappearances of Mr. Ershidin Israel and his brother Mr. Shemshiden Israel,Mr. Abdusalam Nasir and Mr. Abdukerin Dihan, fourUyghur men from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). OMCT is gravely concern about their safety and fears that they may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

According to the information received, Mr. Ershidin Israel, a38 years oldUyghur asylum seeker, was forcibly deported to China from Kazakhstan, on 30 May 2011. The Chinese authorities have reportedly only disclosed that he is being held in custody facing “major terror” charges, without providing information about his fate and whereabouts.

According to the same information received, Mr. Ershidin Israel fled China to Kazakhstan in late September 2009 after having provided information to Radio Free Asia (RFA) about the alleged torture to death of a Uyghur detainee, Mr. Shohret Tursun[1], and the subsequent arrest of two Uyghur men whom the Chinese authorities also accused of providing information on the case to RFA[2]. In Kazakhstan, Mr. Ershidin Israel reportedly applied for asylum to the office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Almaty and received refugee status in mid-March 2010. At the end of March 2010, UNHCR had secured a resettlement offer for Mr. Ershidin Israel from Sweden, where he was supposed to fly to on 1st April 2010. However, the Kazakh authorities reportedly then refused Mr. Ershidin Israel’s application for an exit visa, indicating that his name appeared on an Interpol’s Red Notice and that they wanted to interrogate him. The Kazakh authorities firstly authorised Mr. Ershidin Israel to live in a “safe place” designated by UNHCR and guarded by Kazakh security forces. During several months, he was reportedly interrogated by the authorities about his background and on how he crossed the border into Kazakhstan.

According to the same information, on 23 June 2010, Mr. Ershidin Israel was formally arrested after the Chinese authorities made an extradition request on the basis of terrorism allegations against him. Between June 2010 and May 2011, Kazakh courts reportedly rejected Mr. Ershidin Israel’s applications for asylum and uphold the decision to arrest/extradite him. On 3 May 2011, the UNHCR also withdrew Mr. Ershidin Israel’s refugee status, without providing any information. Mr. Ershidin Israel was extradited to China, without his family and lawyer being informed, on 30 May 2011, and, on 14 June 2011, the Chinese authorities confirmed that Mr. Ershidin Israel was in Chinese custody, facing “terror charges”, but without disclosing his whereabouts.

OMCT has also been informed about the arrest by Chinese security forces, shortly after his extradition to China, of one of Mr. Ershidin Israel’s brother, Mr. Shemshiden Israel, on 13 June 2011, in Urumqi, on alleged irregularities in a car business, as well as of Mr. Abdusalam Nasir and Mr. Abdukerin Dihan, on 9 June 2011, in Suydung (Gulja district). The Chinese authorities have reportedly since then refused to disclose information about their whereabouts, legal statuses or well-being.

According to the same information received, Mr. Abdusalam Nasir, Mr. Abdukerin Dihan and Mr. Enver Israel, another of Mr. Ershidin Israel’s brother, were reportedly among a group of 20 Uyghur men detained in 2009 after Mr. Ershidin Israel provided information about Mr. Shohret Tursun to RFA. They were later released in 2010.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the safety of the abovementioned  Uyghur individuals and their relatives, and accordingly urges the competent Chinese authorities to immediately disclose their whereabouts as well as guarantee their physical and psychological integrity, at all times, in accordance with international human rights law, in particular the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which China is a State party.

Actions Requested

Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China urging them to:

i.                     Take all necessary measures to immediately locate and disclose the whereabouts of the four abovementioned Uyghur;

ii.                   Guarantee, in all circumstances, their physical and psychological integrity;

iii.                  Grant them immediate and unconditional access to a lawyer of their choice and their families, as well as guarantee that they are examined by independent doctors and receive adequate medical care if necessary, in accordance, inter alia, with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

iv.                 Order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial, independent and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;

v.                   Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

Ø      Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Guojia Zongli, The State Council General Office, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Ø      Mr. Wu Aiying, Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345, [email protected] / [email protected]

Ø      Mr. Meng Jianzhu, Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang, Gong’anbu, 14 Dongchang’anjie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100741, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 63099216

Ø      Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: [email protected], Fax : +41 22 793 70 14

Please also write to the embassies of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.

***

Geneva, 18 July 2011

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

[1] According to the information received, in July 2009, after the violent crackdown in Urumqi, hundreds of Uyghur, including Mr. Shohret Tursun, Mr. Ershidin Israel, Mr. Haji Memet and Mr. Abdusalem Nasir were detained, and people were executed for involvement in the rioting. The crackdown was one of the most violent in years with over 200 people killed in Urumqi, the regional capital. Mr. Shohret Tursun’s dead body was reportedly returned by the Chinese authorities to his family in September 2009 covered with wounds and bruises but the authorities claimed he died of a heart attack. His family was forced to bury the body without any inquiry about his death.

[2] Radio Free Asia broadcasted and published stories on this case on 19 September 2009 and 21 September 2009 based on information that Mr. Ershidin Israel and two other witnesses provided.

http://www.omct.org/urgent-campaigns/urgent-interventions/china/2011/07/d21339/