{"id":7646,"date":"2016-10-13T14:07:11","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T18:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=7646"},"modified":"2016-10-17T14:13:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T18:13:10","slug":"as-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-wins-major-human-rights-prize-pen-calls-for-his-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/as-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-wins-major-human-rights-prize-pen-calls-for-his-release","title":{"rendered":"As Uyghur PEN Member Ilham Tohti wins major human rights prize, PEN calls for his release"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ilham-tohti\"11 October 2016 \u2013 PEN International welcomes the news that Uyghur scholar and PEN member Ilham Tohti, currently serving a life sentence in China, has been awarded the Martin Ennals Award<\/span><\/a>, a major human rights prize and calls for his immediate release.<\/p>\n

Announcing Tohti as the recipient of the award, the Martin Ennals Foundation said Ilham Tohti had spent \u2019two decades trying to foster dialogue and understanding\u2019 between China\u2019s Han majority and members of Xinjiang\u2019s largely Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, of which he is a member.<\/p>\n

\u2019He has rejected separatism and violence, and sought reconciliation based on a respect for Uighur culture, which has been subject to religious, cultural and political repression.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018In a free society, Ilham Tohti would be celebrated as a hero who has given voice to his people. But for China, this non-violent pacifist who has sought to promote understanding, represents a threat, and it has jailed him. His imprisonment diminishes China; his enforced silence acts as a constant reminder of the reality for freedom of expression in China. The Martin Ennals Award given to this very worthy recipient shows the world has not forgotten him and will not forget him \u2013 the chair is still empty.\u2019 \u2013\u00a0<\/em>Said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International\u2019s Writers in Prison Committee.<\/p>\n

Tohti is a public intellectual from China\u2019s Uyghur minority and one the world\u2019s foremost scholars on Uyghur issues. A frequent target of harassment by Chinese authorities for advocating for Uyghur rights, he was arrested in January 2014. He was reportedly held in shackles for 20 days and deprived of food for at the start of his detention, and was formally charged with \u2018splittism\u2019 on 20 February 2013 amid a crackdown on Chinese Uyghurs critical of the government. Convicted in September 2014, after an unfair trial in which he was denied adequate legal representation, Tohti\u2019s appeal against his conviction and sentence was rejected on 21 November 2015.<\/p>\n

Tohti has never promoted violence or separatism. In 2006, he co-founded the website Uyghur Online, aimed at promoting understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. However, his criticism of the Chinese authorities for their heavy-handed treatment of the Uyghur minority made him the target of on-going harassment. Following his initial arrest, the Bureau of Public Security for Urumqi alleged that Tohti had been using the website as a platform to recruit followers.<\/p>\n

PEN International first began working on Tohti\u2019s case in 2009, following his detention for speaking out about ethnic unrest that broke out in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), on 5 July 2009. Initially placed under house arrest, he was later transferred to an unknown location where he was kept incommunicado before being released six weeks later. Further harassment followed, including periods spent under house arrest.<\/p>\n

Tohti is a member of Uyghur PEN and received the PEN\/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in 2014. He was an honorary\u00a0Empty Chair<\/span><\/a>\u00a0at PEN International\u2019s annual Congress in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ilham Tohti was arrested,\u00a0shackled and\u00a0imprisoned without a fair trial purely\u00a0because he called\u00a0for justice for the Uyghur minority.\u00a0\u00a0To silence such a passionate advocate for\u00a0peace and cross-cultural understanding\u00a0at a time when that is\u00a0exactly what is needed in China\u2019s\u00a0Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is not just repugnant, but absurdly\u00a0short-sighted too<\/em>.\u2019 \u2013\u00a0Margaret Atwood,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/strong>The fate of our colleague Ilham Tohti fills many people with sadness and disgust. Sadness, because in this way such an outstanding and peaceful voice is silenced. Disgust, because Ilham Tohti did nothing punishable. He builds bridges instead of destroying them, in service of his country. So I ask, with many others: release him, immediately and unconditionally!\u2019<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Geert Mak,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018To imprison a writer such as Ilham Tohti is to imprison freedom itself. Everyone loses. Tohti, of course, because he lives in confinement, but also those who put him there, who live in fear of what he has to say. Both the Uyghur and the Chinese would do better if Tohti was freed and the grievances of the Uyghur were addressed. Let\u2019s start by freeing Ilham Tohti.\u2019<\/em>\u2013\u00a0Yann Martel,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>member of the PEN International Writers Circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related:<\/p>\n

China: One year after court upholds life sentence, Uyghur PEN member Ilham Tohti must be released<\/span><\/a>
\nOn International Mother Language Day PEN Calls on China to Free Ilham Tohti<\/span><\/a>
\nChina: Release writers Gao Yu and Ilham Tohti<\/span><\/a>
\nChina: Life sentence for Uyghur PEN member Ilham Tohti is further stain on China\u2019s abysmal freedom of expression record<\/span><\/a>
\nTake Action for Uyghur writer and PEN member Ilham Tohti<\/span><\/a>
\nOpen Letter: China must release Ilham Tohti now<\/span><\/a>
\nChina: Uyghur PEN member, writer and academic Ilham Tohti formally charged with \u2018splittism\u2019<\/span><\/a>
\nChina: Uyghur PEN member, writer and academic Ilham Tohti detained; fears for safety<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.pen-international.org\/newsitems\/as-uyghur-pen-member-ilham-tohti-wins-major-human-rights-prize-pen-calls-for-his-release\/#<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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