A Conference on Uyghur crisis and professor Ilham Tohti
Archive for April, 2020
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A Conference on Uyghur crisis and professor Ilham Tohti
By Ilham Tohti Institute 28th September 2019 Two days before announce the European “Václav Havel Human Rights Prize” 2019 for three nominees including Uyghur Professor Ilham Tohti whom sentenced for life in prison by Chinese government for his campaign for equal rights before China’s law for his fellow Uyghur people, we have successfully held a “Conference on Uyghur crisis and professor Ilham Tohti” in Utrich, Netherland, organised by Ilham Tohti Campaign (ITC) and hosted by East Turkistan Education Centre in Europe. Many thanks for the organisers, and presenters whom gave impressive presentations including president of Ilham Tohti Institute, Enver Can, Aziz Isa Elkun, Secretary of Uyghur PEN Centre, writer and intellectual Abduweli Ayup and Asiye Uyghur, presenter Enver Memet! During the conference, all presenters talk about Ilham Tohti’s promoted ideas, and how do understand, inherit and continue his campaigns in the days of biggest crisis that Uyghur nation is facing when Chinese government detained over 3 million innocent Uyghurs and other Turkic people and committing ethnic and cultural genocide in Uyghur homeland. Ilham Tohti was Professor of economics at Central University of Nationality, China (中央民族大学) . What he said before he’s arrest regarding to the existing Uyghur crises which we have to always remember: “At the same time, these serious social problems have become a forbidden subject for study, creating a discursive void. Few dare to touch upon these problems directly, let alone conduct systematic social investigations and analyses in search for solutions. On the one hand, the Uighurs’ social problems lead to increasing dissatisfaction and distrust of the government and of Han people; on the other, discriminatory ideas against the Uighur people among members of Han society especially in the interior of China- grow deeper.” “I knew that there would be an intense clash of opinions, but I believe […]
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Ilham Tohti: Uighur activist’s daughter fears for his life
BBC News 18 December 2019 The daughter of Ilham Tohti, a Uighur intellectual who has been imprisoned in China, has said she does not know if her father is alive. Jewher Ilham made the remark after accepting a top European human rights prize on behalf of her father. Ilham Tohti was jailed for life on separatism charges in 2014. China has provoked an international outcry its treatment of Uighurs, an indigenous Muslim minority, in the western Xinjiang region. Mr Tohti, an economics scholar, is known for his research on relations between the Uighur and Han people. Ozil removed from PES 2020 in China China’s hidden camps Prosecutors at his trial in 2014 alleged he was engaging in separatist activities, including promoting independence for Xinjiang on his website, Uighur Online. The website aimed to educate both Chinese and Uighur speakers about social issues. He denied being a separatist, and was seen by many as a moderate voice. Ms Ilham says she has not seen her father since 2013 and has had no communication with him for two years. He was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for promoting “dialogue and mutual understanding” between the Uighur and other Chinese people. Ms Ilham said her father had been labelled “a violent extremist, with a disease that needs to be cured and mind that needs to be washed”. “I am grateful for the opportunity to tell his story, because he cannot tell it himself,” said Ms Ilham, who received the award in the French city of Strasbourg next to a symbolic empty chair. “To be honest with you, I do not know where my father is. 2017 was the last time my family received word about him.” “Today should be a moment of joy to celebrate freedom of speech,” said […]
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Sakharov Prize: Jailed Uighur academic Ilham Tohti wins award
BBC News 24 October 2019 An academic jailed for separatism in China has been awarded the European Parliament’s top human rights prize. Ilham Tohti, who is from the Uighur minority, has been a fierce critic of China’s treatment of the Uighur people. He was jailed for life in 2014. More than a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities are reported to have been held in camps in China’s restive Xinjiang region. Mr Tohti, seen by many as a moderate voice, has denied being a separatist. Although still in jail, Mr Tohti, 49, has been recognised for drawing attention to ethnic tensions in Xinjiang. A ceremony awarding him the Sakharov Prize in his absence will be held in Strasbourg in December. The Uighur geography teacher who vanished in China The vanished Uighurs of Xinjiang China’s Muslim ‘crackdown’ explained China had accused him of separatism and stoking ethnic tensions. The economics scholar’s imprisonment provoked condemnation from human rights groups, with the UN, the EU and US calling for his release. The EU Parliament said Mr Tohti deserved the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to “foster dialogue” between Chinese people and the Uighur. “The parliament calls on the Chinese authorities to release him immediately,” EU Parliament President David Sassoli said. The Sakharov Prize for free speech is awarded by the EU Parliament annually in memory of Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. Other nominees for the 2019 prize included Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, prominent Brazilian gay rights activist Jean Wyllys and the Restorers, a group of student app developers from Kenya. Previous winners have included Pakistani schoolgirl and campaigner Malala Yousafzai (2013), Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas (2010) and two Yazidi women who escaped Islamic State (2016). Who is Ilham Tohti? Born in the city of Artush in Xinjiang, Mr Tohti is an […]
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2019 Václav Havel Prize shared by Ilham Tohti and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY SESSION STRASBOURG 30 SEPTEMBER 2019 COUNCIL OF EUROPE The seventh Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded jointly to imprisoned Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti from China and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), which brings together young people from across the Balkans to promote reconciliation. The prize was presented at a special ceremony today in Strasbourg, on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Ilham Tohti, a renowned Uyghur public intellectual in China, has worked for over 20 years to improve the situation of the Uyghur minority and to foster inter-ethnic dialogue and understanding in China. In September 2014, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The prize was received on his behalf by Enver Can of the Ilham Tohti Initiative. The Youth Initiative for Human Rights, established in 2003, promotes reconciliation through building connections between young people across the Balkans from different ethnic groups, regions and countries. By working together for human rights, they aim to build links that can prevent the re-emergence of ethnic conflict in the region. Read full article – 2019 Václav Havel Prize shared by Ilham Tohti and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights _________________________________Source: www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/2019-vaclav-havel-prize-shared-by-ilham-tohti-and-the-youth-initiative-for-human-rights
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