Press Release – For immediate release
18 December 2019
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress applauds the decision of the European Parliament to award the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to imprisoned Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti. The Sakharov Prize is the top human rights award bestowed by the Parliament and the decision to award Ilham Tohti this year is a symbolically important act of support for the Uyghur people from the European Parliament.

Ilham Tohti, a renowned Uyghur economics professor and advocate for the rights of the Uyghur people, constructively raised numerous issues facing the Uyghur people and worked diligently to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Han for over two decades. Professor Tohti established the Uyghurbiz.net in 2006, a website that encouraged conversation between Uyghurs and Chinese as a means of reconciliation between the two groups.

He was arrested in January, 2014, and sentenced to life in prison in September for “inciting separatism” after just a two-day trial—a trial and legal process marred by irregularities including restricting his access to legal representation for six months following detention, denial of the presentation of evidence by prosecutors, and the denial of witnesses called to testify on his behalf.

“This is a huge victory for the Uyghur community and we are grateful to the European Parliament for awarding Ilham Tohti the Sakharov Prize,” said WUC President Dolkun Isa. “His life and ideals are an inspiration to the Uyghur people. His treatment was a precursor to the crimes against humanity that the Chinese government have been subjecting the Uyghur people since then.”

The award was received by Jewher Ilham, on behalf of her father Ilham Tohti, on December 18, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. WUC President, Dolkun Isa was also be present at the ceremony.

As the six-year anniversary of his detention is approaching, Ilham Tohti still remains an inspirational figure for the Uyghur community and a symbol of the peaceful struggle for basic rights. His arrest and life imprisonment proved to be a tragic turning point in how the Chinese government has reacted to dissident voices. China’s decision demonstrated their absolute refusal to consider the concerns of the Uyghur people.

Since 2014, the situation in the Uyghur region has deteriorated significantly. Uyghurs have been subjected to an unprecedented crackdown and a suppression of their most fundamental human rights, culminating in the mass arbitrary detention of an estimated 1-3 million in internment camps. This was confirmed in November, with the significant leak of Chinese Communist Party documents, including high level speeches and directives. The 403 pages long internal documents provide a much clearer picture of the origin and nature of China’s policy of mass internment, as part of a broader campaign to socially reengineer and assimilate the Uyghur population.

Uyghur academics, scholars and professors have been targeted in particular—the Uyghur Human Rights Project has documented over 435 cases of Uyghur intellectuals interned, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared since April 2017. Tashpolat Teyip, President of Xinjiang University, and Halmurat Ghopur, former President of the Xinjiang Medical University Hospital, were both part of the Chinese government’s campaign targeting ‘Two-Faced’ Uyghurs who stray from or who are not fully committed to the party doctrine. These cases demonstrate the stringent restrictions Uyghurs in East Turkestan are placed under and lack of basic rights, as even those who cooperate with the Chinese government are being targeted and arbitrarily detained for perceived disloyalty, due to their ethnicity.

Professor Tohti’s detention proved to be a warning to all Uyghur academics that criticism, or mere conversation, about state policy was off limits and seen as a challenge to Party power.

Rather than listening to moderate, critical voices, and engaging in constructive dialogue, the Chinese government is pursuing a path of complete repression and assimilation. Instead of respecting Uyghur culture and identity, the Chinese government continues to attack and erode the core of the Uyghur identity through brutal and repressive means.

In this context, the WUC is deeply grateful to the European Parliament for bestowing this prestigious award on Ilham Tohti. It gives hope and reassurance that the EU and the international community has not abandoned the Uyghur people and will hold China accountable for its abuses.

On this occasion, the WUC again urges the Chinese government to immediately release Ilham Tohti and all those held in arbitrary detention in China. We urge the Chinese government to listen to the words and message of Ilham Tohti and to the voices of the Uyghur people demanding human rights.