UAA/UHRP News Update
18-02-05, 12:06
http://www.student.virginia.edu/~critmass/feb05/article2.html
Free Rebiya Kadeer
by jillian willars
It is our moral obligation to help the ones in need, and we must leave no one behind.†These are the words of Rebiya Kadeer, a prisoner of conscience in China. Kadeer, a well-known women’s rights advocate in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, was arrested by Chinese officials in August 1999 and sentenced to eight years in prison under the charge of “providing secret information to foreignersâ€. Rebiya was carrying publically available newspapers when arrested outside a hotel in China where she was scheduled to discuss human rights with visiting United States congressional staff. There is substantial evidence to suggest that she has been ill-treated and is in deteriorating health. Many human rights organizations, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, across the world are lobbying the Chinese government for her unconditional and immediate release.
Kadeer is a member of the Uighur ethnic minority in China, a predominately Muslim group. The Uighur group populates the oil-rich Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and was considered part of the trained and employed citizenry of China until recently. Job discrimination has led to high unemployment rates among the Uighur population. Ethnic tensions began in the late 1980’s and slowly escalated. Uighurs now suffer the oppression of the Chinese government. Many human rights violations have been reported in XUAR, such as arbitrary detention, unfair political trials, restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms, torture, and summary executions. Many living in XUAR are in favor of political independence from China. These supporters of independence have been labeled “separatists†and “terrorists†by the Chinese government, a labeling trend which started just after the 9/11 attack. The Chinese government denied Kadeer the chance to lead her people in this time of struggle.
As a successful businesswoman and mother of eleven, Kadeer founded and directed a trading company in northwest China. Throughout the 1980’s and early to mid-1990’s, the Chinese government recognized Kadeer as a prominent social figure. She was appointed to a prestigious national advisory group-—the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Kadeer represented China in the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women. She was also a standing member of the Xinjiang Chamber of Commerce. In 1997, Kadeer founded the Thousand Mothers Movement, an activist program designed to promote women’s rights and economic security. Kadeer’s great humanitarian contributions were brought to a halt, however, as the Chinese government began to restrict her movement.
Kadeer’s husband left China in 1996 after speaking out against Chinese rule in XUAR. Shortly after her husband’s departure, Kadeer’s passport was confiscated. The police forces began harassing Kadeer and preventing her from speaking openly. In 1998 she was barred from reappointment to the consultative conference. Kadeer was 53 at the time of her arrest. A trial in early 2004 reduced her sentence by one year. Kadeer is scheduled for parole August 12th, 2006.
Kadeer was awarded the Rafto Memorial Prize for 2004, an annual prize sponsored by the Thorlof Rafto Foundation, a human rights group in Norway. The prize is awarded annually to a champion of human rights. Kadeer’s prize was presented November 7th, 2004 in Bergen, Norway. Present at the ceremony was Nury Turkel, President of the Uighur American Association who said of Kadeer:
“Madam Rebiya was not arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison simply because of her so-called separatist activities, but rather because she offered something to the Uighurs that China never has: Hope. Pride and hope. Once praised as a model, Chinese authorities came to realize that all Uighurs revered her too much, that they began to think of her as a national mother, and they could not tolerate such a positive force. She was a voice for poor and powerless. And that is why I believe the Communists felt compelled to silence her†(Nury Turkel, President of Uighur American Association).
There is currently a letter writing campaign to free Rebiya Kadeer. You can find more information at http://www.amnestyusa.org/action/special/kadeer.html
Write a letter! FREE REBIYA KADEER!
Address To:
President of the People’s Republic of China
Hu Jintao
The State Council General Office
Yongneixijie
Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China
Or write to your Senators and Congressmen
Free Rebiya Kadeer
by jillian willars
It is our moral obligation to help the ones in need, and we must leave no one behind.†These are the words of Rebiya Kadeer, a prisoner of conscience in China. Kadeer, a well-known women’s rights advocate in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China, was arrested by Chinese officials in August 1999 and sentenced to eight years in prison under the charge of “providing secret information to foreignersâ€. Rebiya was carrying publically available newspapers when arrested outside a hotel in China where she was scheduled to discuss human rights with visiting United States congressional staff. There is substantial evidence to suggest that she has been ill-treated and is in deteriorating health. Many human rights organizations, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, across the world are lobbying the Chinese government for her unconditional and immediate release.
Kadeer is a member of the Uighur ethnic minority in China, a predominately Muslim group. The Uighur group populates the oil-rich Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and was considered part of the trained and employed citizenry of China until recently. Job discrimination has led to high unemployment rates among the Uighur population. Ethnic tensions began in the late 1980’s and slowly escalated. Uighurs now suffer the oppression of the Chinese government. Many human rights violations have been reported in XUAR, such as arbitrary detention, unfair political trials, restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms, torture, and summary executions. Many living in XUAR are in favor of political independence from China. These supporters of independence have been labeled “separatists†and “terrorists†by the Chinese government, a labeling trend which started just after the 9/11 attack. The Chinese government denied Kadeer the chance to lead her people in this time of struggle.
As a successful businesswoman and mother of eleven, Kadeer founded and directed a trading company in northwest China. Throughout the 1980’s and early to mid-1990’s, the Chinese government recognized Kadeer as a prominent social figure. She was appointed to a prestigious national advisory group-—the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Kadeer represented China in the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women. She was also a standing member of the Xinjiang Chamber of Commerce. In 1997, Kadeer founded the Thousand Mothers Movement, an activist program designed to promote women’s rights and economic security. Kadeer’s great humanitarian contributions were brought to a halt, however, as the Chinese government began to restrict her movement.
Kadeer’s husband left China in 1996 after speaking out against Chinese rule in XUAR. Shortly after her husband’s departure, Kadeer’s passport was confiscated. The police forces began harassing Kadeer and preventing her from speaking openly. In 1998 she was barred from reappointment to the consultative conference. Kadeer was 53 at the time of her arrest. A trial in early 2004 reduced her sentence by one year. Kadeer is scheduled for parole August 12th, 2006.
Kadeer was awarded the Rafto Memorial Prize for 2004, an annual prize sponsored by the Thorlof Rafto Foundation, a human rights group in Norway. The prize is awarded annually to a champion of human rights. Kadeer’s prize was presented November 7th, 2004 in Bergen, Norway. Present at the ceremony was Nury Turkel, President of the Uighur American Association who said of Kadeer:
“Madam Rebiya was not arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison simply because of her so-called separatist activities, but rather because she offered something to the Uighurs that China never has: Hope. Pride and hope. Once praised as a model, Chinese authorities came to realize that all Uighurs revered her too much, that they began to think of her as a national mother, and they could not tolerate such a positive force. She was a voice for poor and powerless. And that is why I believe the Communists felt compelled to silence her†(Nury Turkel, President of Uighur American Association).
There is currently a letter writing campaign to free Rebiya Kadeer. You can find more information at http://www.amnestyusa.org/action/special/kadeer.html
Write a letter! FREE REBIYA KADEER!
Address To:
President of the People’s Republic of China
Hu Jintao
The State Council General Office
Yongneixijie
Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China
Or write to your Senators and Congressmen