A Uyghur journalist’s demand: Bring an end to my family’s decades of suffering · Global Voices
<PERSON> speaks at a New York Festivals event in 2013 where he received a medal for a story published in 2012 on Radio Free Asia, entitled ‘Hear the Children Cry Freedom.’ Photo provided by the author, used withpermission.
In May 2022, on the eve of the visit of a United Nations delegation led by <PERSON>, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, to Xinjiang, the autonomous region in the northwest of China, an Uyghur-American journalist <PERSON> urged us to publish his open letter to the head of the UN delegation. As this is the first ever visit of a human rights commissioner to China for the past 17 years, all eyes are on her amid allegations of serious human rights violations, genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
As is evident from Mr. <PERSON>’s letter, 11 members of his immediate family have either been arrested, detained or there is no information about their whereabouts — a common story for many Uygur and other Muslim families in Xinjiang. He appeals to Ms. <PERSON> for justice, transparency, and resoluteness, just like many human rights organizations urge her to adhere to principles:
Dear Ms. <PERSON>:
My brother, <PERSON>, had a recurring dream during his first detention in Urumchi, the capital city of “Xinjiang” Uyghur Autonomous Region: “I was always dreaming that a group of foreigners stepped into our cell and asked, ‘Are you the brother of <PERSON>, the Uyghur-American journalist?’”
He told my mother, <PERSON>, about this dream on December 31, 2015, when he was released from detention as a result of the US government’s involvement in his case. He has been in detention again since September 2017, along with 11 other members of my family. I believe that my relatives have all had the same dream over the past five years. Unfortunately, my 82-year-old mother is now among them. They dreamed of this because they knew they were jailed because of my job with Radio Free Asia (RFA) in the USA. 341
They expected that the USA and the United Nations would help them get released, but so far, they have not. I hope your visit could at least make my mother’s dream of release come true.
<PERSON>, mother of <PERSON>. Photo provided by the author, used with permission.
As a result of one intervention by the US government, in January 2016, my mother was allowed to keep in touch with me by phone as long as she did not speak about anything other than family-related issues. I then began “legally” talking to my mother and was kept informed about the situation with my other relatives. I learned that in September and October 2017, my elder brother, <PERSON>, and my youngest brother, <PERSON>, were detained again and taken to a so-called “vocational training center.” My mother said they were selected for “education” because of a telephone call I had made to Ghulja (Yining) County. When I asked how she learned about that, she said: “I was warned, ‘more troubles will come if your son in the USA does not stop instigating trouble’.”
Father, <PERSON> and brothers of <PERSON>, <PERSON> and <PERSON>. Photo provided by the author, used with permission.
I had called the officials in Ghulja County in August 2017 and exposed the county’s fourth reeducation center. That was the first clear and detailed information reported about one of the mass detention camps, including its location, name, the number of students, and the students’ so-called “crimes.” My mother later informed me that my two nephews and two brothers-in-law were taken to the training center between January and March 2018. When I last spoke to my mother in April 2018, my detained relatives numbered 11, and she said: “Now, it seems I will be the next one to be taken because they said, ‘You crossed the line when you spoke with <PERSON>’; please don’t call me for two months.”
The week before, my mother had said: “I cried a lot last time (when my two brothers were detained). This year, even though 10 people from my family have been taken, I didn’t cry much because this time it was happening to all the families in our neighborhood. I feel that sharing the same problem with others gives you comfort. 637