Posts Tagged ‘Ilham Tohti’
October 1, 2019
The award was accepted on Tohti’s behalf by Enver Can of the Ilham Tohti Initiative, who said that while the prize honors individuals and organizations, “it also recognizes a whole population in giving the entire Uyghur people a voice,” and vowed to continue efforts to free the jailed professor. Speaking to RFA’s Uyghur Service on Monday, Tohti’s daughter, Jewher Ilham, welcomed the award and expressed appreciation to Europe-based rights groups—particularly the Ilham Tohti Initiative—for advancing her father’s case.
Enver Can called the Vaclav Havel Prize “tremendous recognition of Ilham Tohti’s efforts to help his people.”
After Tohti was shortlisted for the seventh Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize last month [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/08/29/ilham-tohti-one-of-the-finalists-for-the-vaclav-havel-human-rights-prize/], China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a press conference that PACE should “withdraw the nomination and stop supporting separatist and terrorist forces.”
Tohti was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award in 2014, the Martin Ennals Award in 2016, the Liberal International Prize for Freedom in 2017, and Freedom House’s Freedom Award in 2019. The jailed professor is also a nominee for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
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https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/award-09302019133018.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/council-of-europe-awards-joint-havel-prize-to-uyghur-activist-tohti-balkan-youth-group/30191297.html
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Balkans, China, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Ilham Tohti, Ilham Tohti Initiative, Jewher Ilham, PACE, Uyghurs, Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)
August 29, 2019
Photo courtesy of Martin Ennals Award
Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur scholar who has been serving a life sentence in Chinese prison since 2014, has been chosen as a finalist for the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize. [see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/vaclav-havel-prize-for-human-rights-pace]. The Germany-based Ilham Tohti Initiative e.V. (ITI) had nominated Prof. Tohti to the Prize on April 29, with support of four other human rights activists and NGOs. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/01/15/today-ilham-tohti-completes-his-fourth-year-in-chinese-detention/].
The decision as to the Prize winner will be made by the Selection Panel on 29 September 2019, and its name will be announced in the Chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, on 30 September 2019 at 12:30pm. The award ceremony for the Prize will subsequently take place in the presence of all three shortlisted candidates. Two other candidates, who have also been shortlisted are Mr Buzurgmehr Yorov (Tajikistan) and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
The UNPO is currently campaigning for Mr. Tohti to also be awarded the Sakharov Prize saying that such prizes are an excellent way in which the international community can continue to show support for the Uyghur people in the face of hostile oppression.
China’s predictable reaction came quickly: “Beijing slammed on Thursday the nomination of a jailed academic from China’s Uighur minority for one of Europe’s top human rights awards, saying it equated to “supporting terrorism”.
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Buzurgmehr Yorov, China, digest of human rights awards, finalists, human rights awards, Ilham Tohti, Ilham Tohti Initiative e.V. (ITI), Tajikistan, UNPO, Uyghurs, Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Youth Initiative for Human Rights
January 29, 2019
On 28 January, 2019, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and Norwegian Uyghur Committee (NUK) announced that they have nominated the Chinese human rights defender Ilham Tohti for the Rafto Prize. With the completion of five years of his arrest, the organisations believe his peaceful trajectory in defense of the freedom and fully enjoyment of human rights by the Uyghur population in China is deserving of this prestigious prize. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/01/15/today-ilham-tohti-completes-his-fourth-year-in-chinese-detention/.
[Ilham Tohti served as a professor of economics at Minzu University in Beijing where he specialized in research focused on Uyghur-Han relations, China’s ethnic policies and East Turkistan. Alongside his scholarship and teaching, Ilham is revered for establishing and maintaining Uyghur Online, a website dedicated to promoting Uyghur human rights and improved relations between Uyghur and Han Chinese people. Professor Tohti criticised oppressive policies against Uyghurs and wrote extensively on constructive approaches to overcome unequal treatment between ethnic groups. Notably, he called for dialogue and reconciliation, using his web platform as the primary vehicle. For his efforts, he was arrested by Chinese authorities on January 15, 2014. Despite the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finding his detention to be arbitrary in March 2014, Tohti was sentenced to life in prison in September of that year on charges of “separatism” after just a two-day trial. The legal process involving Tohti was met with significant issues throughout. His lawyers were unable to meet him for six months following the initial arrest, his defense team was not provided with complete evidence by the prosecutor, nor were their requested witnesses allowed to testify during the trial. Ilham has been serving his life sentence since December 2014 at Urumqi’s No. 1 Prison. Since then, he has been allowed very few visits from his family. Complicating this has been his continued detention in Urumqi, despite his family living in Beijing – a likely punitive move from Beijing. ChinaChange has noted that Tohti has been held in solitary confinement until at least early 2016 and has been denied the right to communicate with family and friends aside from minimal visits. The WUC gathered 132 scholars and 19 civil society organisations in an open letter to urge the Chinese government to release Ilham Tohti from his arbitrary detention of the five-year anniversary of his arrest in January 2019.]
In 2014 Mr. Tohti was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. On October 11, 2016, Tohti was awarded the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. In 2017 he received the Weimar Prize (https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/07/05/uyghur-human-rights-defender-ilham-tohti-wins-also-weimar-human-rights-prize/). He was also nominated for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in 2016. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/10/15/martin-ennals-award-2016-relive-the-ceremony-in-13-minutes-or-in-full/
The WUC,the UNPO and the NUK encourage scholars and organisations to join in nominating Ilham Tohti. The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 1st. As the situation in East Turkistan continues to deteriorate, with more than one million innocent Uyghurs arbitrarily detained in internment camps and the Uyghur people facing unparalleled repression, Ilham Tohti’s life and work stands as an inspiration to continue the peaceful struggle for peace, understanding
https://unpo.org/article/21350
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 1 Comment »
Tags: China, human rights awards, Human rights defender, Ilham Tohti, MEA laureate 2016, nominations, prison conditions, Rafto Prize, UNPO, Uyghurs, World Uyghur Congress
March 7, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the United Nations in Geneva, 18 January 2017. © 2017 Denis Balibouse/Reuters
It all sounds so nice: “universality,” “constructive dialogue,” “win-win cooperation.” China’s unexpected resolution on “Promoting the International Human Rights Cause through Win-Win Cooperation,” being presented this week at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, is chock full of such phrases. China’s government wants the world to believe it is a model citizen when it comes to human rights, but its draft resolution actually betrays the opposite intent, says John Fisher, Geneva Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch on 5 March 2018.
Focusing only on intergovernmental dialogue and cooperation, rather than actual human rights violations or accountability for those, is obviously a “win” for China, but it’s not clear who the other winner is. Writes John Fisher. Certainly not victims. A true example of “win-win” might be releasing those wrongly detained, respecting the right of ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans. Releasing Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk and Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti would be a true double-win.
…..China’s draft resolution fails to even acknowledge the Human Rights Council’s mandate to “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations,” and does not spell out any consequences when countries refuse to cooperate. As written, China’s resolution is a win only for itself, and, if adopted, a serious loss for any country serious about human rights inside China and around the world.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated on Wednesday 7 March that China’s actions on human rights did not match its words and the level of respect for basic liberties remained low in the country. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein did so in his annual report on human rights in the world to the UN Human Rights Council, “President Xi Jinping has called for ‘people-centred development for win-win outcomes as part of a community of shared future for mankind’, a commendable ambition. Sadly, China’s global ambitions on human rights are seemingly not mirrored by its record at home,” he said.
“My office continues to receive urgent appeals regarding arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and discrimination, emanating from human rights defenders, lawyers, legislators, booksellers, and members of communities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs,” he added. Hussein said many of the cases involved people fighting against economic, social and cultural injustices such as corruption, illegal seizure of land and forced evictions or destruction of cultural sites.
Before the start of the current session of the UN Human Rights Council twenty NGOs had called on all member states to hold China accountable at the UN Human Rights Council, appears from a piece by the ISHR on 26 February 2018
In a private letter sent to select UN Member States, the NGOs called for clear and concrete actions to denounce China’s current rollback in respect for human rights at the UN Human Rights Council.
The organisations highlight five cases of human rights defenders that would benefit from further pressure being brought to bear on the Chinese government. They include:
- Liu Xia, a poet kept under house arrest after the death of her husband, Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, in July 2017
- Wang Quanzhang, a rights lawyer held incommunicado since 9 July 2015
- Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen arbitrarily detained in China since he vanished from Thailand in October 2015
- Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan cultural rights and education advocate who has been detained more than two years on charges of inciting separatism (a press release by a group of UN experts on 21 February)
- Yu Wensheng, a prominent human rights lawyer disbarred, then arbitrarily detained, in January 2018.
The organisations urge the governments to:
….This year is particularly important, as human rights defenders inside and outside China prepare for the country’s next Universal Periodic Review, scheduled for November 2018. The letter to governments concludes: ‘For human rights defenders to have the courage to engage in this important process, with all the risks that it entails, it’s critical that they know that they are not alone’.
(Amnesty International, China Labour Bulletin, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Human Rights in China, Human Rights Watch, the International Campaign for Tibet, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, the International Service for Human Rights, Lawyers for Lawyers, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, PEN America, Swedish PEN, the Tibet Advocacy Coalition (comprised of the International Tibet Network Secretariat, Students for a Free Tibet, Tibet Initiative Deutschland, Tibet Justice Center, and Tibetan Youth Association in Europe), and the World Uyghur Congress.)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/05/chinas-win-win-resolution-anything
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/china-shows-little-respect-for-human-rights-un-high-commissioner-118030701132_1.html
https://www.ishr.ch/news/china-ngos-call-states-hold-china-accountable-un-human-rights-council
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | 4 Comments »
Tags: China, detention, diplomatic pressure, draft resolution, Gui Minhai, HRW, Human Rights Defenders, Ilham Tohti, ISHR, NGOs, Tashi Wangchuk, Tibet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid, UN Human Rights Council, Wang Quanzhang, Yu Wensheng
January 15, 2018
Rightly Front Line Defenders reminds us that today, 15 January 2018, Ilham Tohti completed his fourth year in Chinese detention. The human rights defender, economics professor and advocate for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority was arrested following a raid on his home on 15 January 2014. In the course of his incarceration, Ilham Tohti has been subjected to recurring violations of international human rights standards with regard to detention conditions such as limitations of family visits, intercepted communication, solitary confinement, deprivation of food and intimidation. Ilham Tohti’s family and colleagues have also been subjected to judicial harassment. 
Ilham Tohti <https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/fr/profile/ilham-tohti> formerly lectured as a professor at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. He has researched, taught, and written numerous articles on topics related to human rights violations in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Province, the homeland of China’s sharply repressed Uyghur minority. In 2006, the human rights defender founded Uyghur Online, a Chinese-language website for the dissemination of Uyghur-centric news. Across these platforms, Ilham Tohti regularly criticised the exclusion of China’s Uyghur population from Chinese development, and encouraged greater awareness of Uyghur status and treatment in Chinese society. For these actions, Ilham Tohti was declared a “separatist” by the Chinese state and ultimately given a life sentence in prison.
Following his arrest on 15 January 2014, Ilham Tohti was tried at the Urumqi City Intermediate People’s Court on 23 September 2014. He was found guilty of “separatism” and sentenced to life in prison. Seven of the human rights defender’s students were arrested in the same year, and his niece was arrested in early 2016 for possessing photos of and articles written by the defender on her phone. On 10 October 2016, Ilham Tohti was granted the Martin Ennals Human Rights Award. {see earlier posts on Ilham https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/ilham-tohti/]
Posted in awards, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 3 Comments »
Tags: China, Front Line (NGO), Human rights defender, Ilham Tohti, illegal detention, MEA laureate 2016, minority rights, prison conditions, Tohti, Uyghur
November 11, 2017
(The information below is based on an article published by ChinaChange.org)
The city of Weimar announced on June 30 2017 that they were awarding this year’s Weimar Human Rights Prize to Ilham Tohti in recognition of his work upholding the rights of the Uighur people and promoting understanding between Uighurs and Han Chinese. In accordance with tradition, the Prize is awarded every year on December 10—International Human Rights Day. In September 2014, Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison for “separatist activities,” and his real “crimes” though were his efforts to build bridges between different ethnic minorities and his speaking out bluntly about China’s draconian, unproductive policies in Xinjiang. The Weimar City Council hopes that by awarding the Human Rights Prize to Ilham Tohti, “his advocacy for peace and dialogue will not be forgotten, and support for his release will be strengthened.”
Mr. Oehme is in charge of the Weimar Human Rights Prize. He told Radio Free Asia that, starting in early July and shortly after the prize was announced, the city’s official website was attacked and continues to be until now. All news about the award and the December 10 prize ceremony has been removed. Mr. Oehme said that the Weimar government deeply regrets that hackers have deleted the content from the webpage that has been three years in the making. Mr. Oehme also revealed that the City Council’s Human Rights Prize Committee received a telephone call in July from a self-identified “Ms. Li” from the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, alleging that Ilham Tohti’s work had nothing to do with human rights and freedom of speech. She protested Weimar giving the human rights prize to a “Chinese criminal.” The Weimar municipal government also learned that, after the announcement of the prize, Beijing had protested to Berlin through diplomatic channels.
The Weimar government asked the police to conduct a criminal investigation into the hacking. It’s not yet clear where the cyber attacks originated. But Isa Dolkun, current General Secretary of the World Uyghur Congress based in Munich, believes that this attack is undoubtedly being carried out by China.
Mr. Oehme said that no matter what happens, there will be no change in awarding this year’s human rights prize to Ilham Tohti.…
In 2016 Ilham Tohti was nominated for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and he won the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, known as the “Nobel Prize for Human Rights.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein gave the award to Ilham Tohti’s daughter. The Chinese government subsequently attacked the High Commissioner for “interfering with China’s internal affairs and judiciary sovereignty.”
see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/ilham-tohti/
http://unpo.org/article/20443
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: China, cyber attacks, diplomatic pressure, human rights awards, Ilham Tohti, MEA laureate 2016, Radio Free Asia, Weimar Award for Human Rights, World Uyghur Congress
July 13, 2017
Responding to the news that Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Liu Xiaobo has passed away, Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International commented on 13 July 2017 : “
Today we grieve the loss of a giant of human rights. Liu Xiaobo was a man of fierce intellect, principle, wit and above all humanity…..For decades, he fought tirelessly to advance human rights and fundamental freedoms in China. He did so in the face of the most relentless and often brutal opposition from the Chinese government. Time and again they tried to silence him, and time and again they failed. Despite enduring years of persecution, suppression and imprisonment, Liu Xiaobo continued to fight for his convictions. Although he has passed, everything he stood for still endures. The greatest tribute we can now pay him is to continue the struggle for human rights in China and recognize the powerful legacy he leaves behind. Thanks to Liu Xiaobo, millions of people in China and across the world have been inspired to stand up for freedom and justice in the face of oppression… [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/06/26/breaking-liu-xiaobo-released-from-chinese-prison-with-late-stage-cancer/]
The reaction of the Chinese government to criticism from abroad over Liu Xiaobo’s treatment is by the way typical. See e.g. in the Strait Times of 14 July: “Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also said China had lodged protests with “certain countries” for interfering in its “judicial sovereignty”…….”Conferring the prize to such a person goes against the purposes of this award. It’s a blasphemy of the peace prize”. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2012/12/06/china-and-its-amazing-sensitivity-on-human-rights-defenders/]
Source: Liu Xiaobo: A giant of human rights who leaves a lasting legacy for China and the world – Amnesty International USA
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-says-awarding-nobel-peace-prize-to-liu-xiaobo-was-blasphemy
Posted in AI, awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AI, AI USA, China, death, Human Rights Defenders, Ilham Tohti, in memoriam, Jiang Tianyong, Liu Xiaobo, MEA 2016, Nobel Peace Prize, President Xi Jinping, Su Changlan
July 5, 2017
Uyghur scientist and human rights activist Ilham Tohti – laureate of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award – was awarded the Weimar Human Rights Prize by the Weimar city council for his commitments to the rights of Uyghurs in the Xinjang autonomous region of China. On 30 June 2017, the City Council made the decision following to the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Award of the Weimar Human Rights Award, which had voted for a proposal from the Ilham Tohti Initiative and the Society for Threatened Peoples of Germany. The justification of the City Council states: “As a renowned professor of economic and social issues at the Central Nationalities University of Beijing, Ilham Tohti has been tirelessly trying to point out to a broad public the serious economic and social dilemmas of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. He has always advocated a peaceful coexistence between the ethnic groups of the Uyghurs and Han Chinese, as well as other minorities, and has only observed compliance with the existing autonomy law by the Chinese government. In September 2014, the ethnic bridge builder and inconvenient advisor, who always claimed that Xinjiang Autonomous Province remained an integral part of the People’s Republic of China, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Urumchi Middle People’s Court for separatism. The City Council hopes that the award will spread Tohti’s message of peace and dialogue and the efforts for his release. ”
The award ceremony will take place on 10 December 2017 on the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights.
Source: UNPO: Uyghur Human Rights Activist Ilham Tohti Has Received Weimar 2017 Human Rights Prize
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: China, conflict resolution, human rights awards, Ilham Tohti, MEA 2016, Uyghur, Weimar human rights award, Weimar Human Rights Prize
May 31, 2017
Lotte Leicht , director of Human Rights Watch’s Brussels office, wrote about “Five Names to Listen for at the EU-China Summit”. She writes that “under President Xi Jinping, whose senior officials arrive in Brussels this week for the European Union-China Summit, courageous human rights defenders, lawyers and academics in China have sustained an extraordinary body blow.”
Source: Five Names to Listen for at the EU-China Summit | Human Rights Watch
Posted in EU, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: China, EU, EU–China dialogue, Federica Mogherini, HRW, Human Rights Defenders, Ilham Tohti, Liu Xiaobo, Lotte Leicht, Su Changlan, Tashi Wangchuk, Wang Quanzhang
January 20, 2017
On 12 January 2017, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its World Report on global human rights violations in 2016 and on the dangers the world will be facing in 2017. HRW shines its spotlight on the global rise of authoritarian populism and the concomitant toughening and broadening of anti-terrorism legislation around the world, which endangered throughout 2016 – and must be expected to keep challenging in 2017 – the very foundations of human rights law and the personal dignity inherent in every human being just as much as the despicable extremist attacks, to which they are a direct reaction.
Below the UNPO‘s (stand for the UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION) reading of the report which notes with satisfaction that HRW does not neglect to emphasize in its country reports the persisting human rights abuses directed against indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious minorities around the world, but also sees some shortcomings (from its own perspective): Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: annual report, China, Ethiopia, HRW, Ilham Tohti, indigenous peoples, minorities, Pakistan, Tibet, UNPO
For more on this award see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/vaclav-havel-prize-for-human-rights-pace
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 