Rashida Dawut, a long-time member of the Xinjiang Muqam Troupe in the XUAR capital Urumqi who produced popular solo albums in the 1990s, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for “separatism” by the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court in late 2019, a source claiming to have close knowledge of the situation recently told RFA’s Uyghur Service
The mother and daughter of a wealthy Uyghur family in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms related to their overseas connections, according to family members who live abroad and local officials. Earlier this year, a Uyghur exile in Turkey named Zohre Abduhemit posted video testimony as part …
A Sunday school in a northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. is teaching the Uighur language and culture to Uighur-American youngsters as a way to counter the repression in China against Uighurs in Xinjiang Province. The school, Ana Care & Education, was founded in 2017 and was the first Sunday school in the U.S. to offer these courses
Muhammad, who lives in exile in Boston, recently spoke with RFA’s Uyghur Service to explain how she had learned of Ayup’s detention, as well as the efforts she has since made to determine where he is and if he is still living
A five-year-old Uyghur boy who was left in the care of grandparents because his parents are incarcerated for religious and political reasons was found frozen to death in a ditch in Hotan (Hetian, in Chinese) prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), residents told RFA’s Uyghur Service. RFA confirmed that both parents of Nesrulla Yusuptohti, …
Continue reading “Uyghur Boy Dies in Ditch in Hotan While Parents in Jail, Internment Camp”
Uyghurs in exile say that the charges against Ayup and his partners were politically motivated, after the U.S.-educated linguist’s essays and lectures on maintaining the Uyghur language in schools drew widespread support in China’s Uyghur community
The Chinese government has detained more than one million individuals in internment camps in Xinjiang since April 2017,” said Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan
Though Beijing initially denied the existence of re-education camps, China has tried to change the discussion, describing the facilities as “boarding schools” that provide vocational training for Uyghurs, discourage radicalization and help protect the country from terrorism
Rights groups say detainees in the camps face death, torture and various abuses such as being forced to renounce Islam and consume pork and alcohol. The groups repeatedly criticize the international community for not doing enough to hold Chinese authorities accountable.
Though Beijing initially denied the existence of re-education camps, Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the XUAR, told China’s official Xinhua news agency in October 2018 that the facilities are an effective tool to protect the country from terrorism and provide vocational training for Uyghurs