Unjustly jailed
Human Rights Watch, 24 October 2016
Human Rights Watch — Prominent ethnic Uighur economist Ilham Tohti has consistently and unambiguously advocated peacefully for greater understanding and dialogue between various communities, and with China’s government.
Tohti was taken into police custody in Beijing on January 15, 2014, and in September a court sentenced him to life in prison for “separatism.” Tohti was accused of being the head of an “eight-member separatist criminal organization” that incited “ethnic hatred.” The charge was based on articles Tohti published on UighurOnline, his interviews with foreign media, and his university lectures.
Tohti’s case was marked by ill-treatment in detention and legal procedure violations. He was denied access to his lawyers for over five months. His lawyers said that Tohti described being denied food for 10 days and twice being shackled as punishment for at least a month.
Authorities also confiscated all of Tohti’s assets, leaving his family facing financial hardship. They also arbitrarily limit his family’s visitation rights: although Chinese prisons generally allow for visits once a month, Tohti has had only four visits over almost two years, most recently in July 2016. In October 2016, Tohti was selected as the Martin Ennals Award laureate, a prize given to human rights defenders who face great personal risk.