A Conference on Uyghur crisis and professor Ilham Tohti
Post Tagged with: "Founding Member of the Ilham Tohti Initiative"
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Open Letter by Wu’er Kaixi, Founding Member of the Ilham Tohti Initiative
Open Letter by Wu’er Kaixi, Founding Member of the Ilham Tohti Initiative, in Support of Ilham Tohti’s Nomination for The Sakharov Prize 11 September, 2016 Exiled democracy activist Wu’er Kaixi presents an open letter to the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament in support of Ilham Tohti’s candidature for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2016. Dear Presidents, I write to you on behalf of the Ilham Tohti Initiative to urge your support in nominating Ilham Tohti for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Ilham Tohti is the most respected intellectual Uyghur spokesperson in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Before being jailed for life in September 2014, Ilham Tohti strived to achieve dialogue and understanding between the Chinese and the Uyghurs – a Muslim-Turkic people who largely inhabit the PRC’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Uyghurs are subject to religious, cultural and political repression imposed by Beijing. Ilham Tohti’s voice was one of moderation and reconciliation. For this, he received a lifetime jail sentence. For too long we have conveniently ignored the fact that the PRC’s values do not coincide with those of the civilized world – and let us remember that China not only jails its minorities; it jails anyone who defends human rights and gender rights, as well as lawyers and journalists who work in the interest of transparency. In the face of a refugee crisis unprecedented since World War II, as Europe embraces values of tolerance and inclusiveness, the PRC continues to leverage Chinese nationalism to the cost of those on the peripheries it claims governance over – Uyghurs, Tibetans, the citizens of Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Beijing rejects religious, cultural, and political pluralism. As a result, Ilham Tohti, a moderate intellectual who advocated dialogue and mutual understanding, will spend the rest […]