A Conference on Uyghur crisis and professor Ilham Tohti
Posts by ilhamtoh
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PRESS RELEASE: Seventh Anniversary of Prof. Ilham Tohti’s Verdict
Ilham Tohti Initiative e.V. PRESS RELEASE For immediate release: 10:00 CET Date: 23 September 2021 Subject: Seventh Anniversary of Prof. Ilham Tohti’s Verdict Contact: Enver Can, +491738912048, enver.can@web.de The Ilham Tohti Initiative e.V. is commemorating the seventh anniversary of Prof. Ilham Tohti’s life imprisonment with growing concern and sorrow about both mental and physical health of the Uyghur scholar. Prof. Tohti was unjustly sentenced to life in prison for “separatism” – a notion he vehemently opposed in 2014 following a two-day show trial in an Urumchi Intermediate Court. Before his imprisonment, Prof. Tohti was an economist at Nationality (Minzu) University of China and an outspoken critic of relations between Uyghurs and the Han majority. Thus, Christina Rendon from Martin Ennals Foundation says” QUOTE “… Ilham Tohti, was granted the Martin Award for human Rights Defenders in 2016, two years after he was condemned to a life behind bars. China’s Mandela has been convicted for “separatism”, while Tohti relied on pen and paper only to foster dialogue and understanding between China’s Han majority and the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority…“. UNQUOTE In an essay from 2009 focusing on Han Chinese arrogancy, Ilham Tohti wrote: “Diversity and respect and harmonious coexistence in one country is the ideal life that most Uyghurs aspire to. My hunch tells me that Uyghurs are becoming victims of ethnic politics. Some politicians are even using inter-ethnic discord and contradictions to try to divert the main conflict to achieve their ulterior motives. I am afraid that in the future they will probably stir up ethnic conflicts on the structural rocks they think, they need …. creating tragedy.” Some Uyghur observers say, that Ilham Tohti saw the signs of today’s “ethnic genocide” against Uyghur people in advance and warned the Chinese government to take precaution measures accordingly. According to Mr. Enver Can, the founding […]
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Appeal to the European Parliament to award this year’s prize to Jimmy Lai
We were in Strasbourg in December 2019 when Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur Professor sentenced to a life sentence for expressing his opinions, received the Sakharov Prize. By giving the Sakharov Prize to a Uyghur intellectual, the Parliament sent a strong signal to the world. It was a courageous move as it clearly underlined the dreadful situation of the oppressed citizens of all origins in China. We now urge the Parliament to award this year’s prize to Jimmy Lai, who is now in jail too, for having tried to protect the right to a free press in a free society. We all know how brutal and swift the crushing of any kind of dissent has been in Hong Kong in 2020. Numerous young activists, trade union members, lawyers, students have been arrested and sentenced to jail in 2021. Giving the Prize to Jimmy Lai will be a renewal of the strong message to the Chinese regime which has more and more openly violated the Universal values. Jimmy Lai is the Founder of the Apple Daily tabloid and a fierce critic of Beijing. The media tycoon has refused to leave Hong Kong in spite of the pressure increasing around him and his staff. He has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after being found guilty of “unauthorized assembly”. The truth is Jimmy Lai has always been a fierce critic of the Chinese Communist Party. That is his real “crime”. Giving the Prize to Jimmy Lai will also be a very much needed signal to the entire population of Hong Kong, who is reeling under the newly imposed National Security Law. The progress of the Chinese totalitarian is terrifying and must not be allowed to continue thus. How should the European Parliament respond to such brazen disrespect of the most obvious rights: freedom […]
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Seventh Anniversary of Prof. Ilham Tohti’s Arrest
PRESS RELEASEDate: 15th January 2021, 12:00 (CET)Contact: Enver Can, enver.can@ web.de; +491738912048 Today, the Uyghur people around the world are commemorating the seventh anniversary of Prof. Ilham Tohti’s imprisonment with growing concern and sorrow about his mental and physical health, as he is kept incommunicado. The Uyghur scholar was arrested at Beijing airport on 15th of January 2014 while leaving for the United States of America as part of a University Exchange Programme. Prof. Tohti began his studies in 1985 at the Central Minzu University in Beijing. He eventually became a faculty member at the same university and a recognized expert on economic and social issues pertaining to Xinjiang and Central Asia. As a scholar, he has been forthright about problems and abuses in Xinjiang, and his work led to official surveillance and harassment that began as early as 1994. From time to time, he was barred from teaching, and after 1999 he was unable to appear in normal venues. In order to make the economic, social and developmental issues confronting the Uyghurs known to China’s wider population, Ilham Tohti established the Chinese-language website Uyghurbiz.net in 2006 to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Chinese on the Uyghur issue. Over the course of its existence, it was shut down periodically and people writing for it were harassed. Ilham Tohti has adamantly rejected separatism and sought reconciliation by bringing to light Uyghur grievances, information the Chinese state has sought to keep behind a veil of silence. As a result of his efforts, he was sentenced to life in prison in September 2014 following a two-day show trial. Despite political persecution in the years leading up to his trial, he remained a voice of moderation and reconciliation. Prof. Tohti is known to be kept in the No. 1 prison of Ürümqi since December 2014. In spite of the Chinese law stipulates, he […]
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First Anniversary of Awarding Prof. Ilham Tohti with Sakharov Prize
For Immediate Release 12:00 (CET)Date: 18 December 2020Contact: Enver Can, enver.can@web.de; +49-1738912048 The Ilham Tohti Initiative reiterates its applaud on the first anniversary of awarding Prof. Ilham Tohti with the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, but at the same time calls the European Union to turn its criticism into action on the human rights issue in its relations with the People’s Republic of China in light of the current deteriorating situation in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang (XUAR). Ilham Tohti, Professor at the Minzu University of Beijing, who advocated ethnic harmony and implementation of Autonomy Laws, was sentenced to life in prison after two days of show-trial on charges of separatism, 23th of September 2014. The Beijing regime wanted to silence the Uyghur scholar behind the bars, but Prof. Tohti and his ideas are now better known by the world community than ever before. Thus Mr. Tohti, also called the ‘Mandela of the Uyghur people’ by some Chinese intellectuals, has won at least 8 international human rights and freedom awards during the last 6 years. Among them the Sakharov Award for ‘Freedom of Thought’ is the most prestigious. He was also a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize since 2018 and one of the five finalists in 2020. Prof. Ilham Tohti is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2021. Prof. Ilham Tohti is known to be kept in Urumchi Prison Number One against Chinese law though he is a resident of Beijing. His family has not been able to visit him for the last 5 years. Thus, Ms. Margarete Bause, human rights speaker of the Greens at the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) of Germany, draws attention to the importance of honoring Mr. Tohti with the Sakharov Prize last year and describes the Award as a clear signal to the leaders in Beijing to stop […]
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