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EU-PARLIAMENT-RIGHTS-CHINA-SAKHAROV
Jailed Uighur’s daughter receives EU rights prize
STRASBOURG, France, Dec 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The daughter of jailed
Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti received the EU’s top rights prize on his
behalf Wednesday, saying she did not even know if he was still alive.
Jewher Ilham said she hoped the award of the European Parliament’s
Sakharov Prize would help her father, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014
for “separatism” in a trial that provoked an outcry from foreign governments
and human rights organisations.
The parliament hailed the former economics professor as a “voice of
moderation and reconciliation” when it announced the award in October, while
Beijing condemned the move, calling Tohti a “terrorist”.
“The last time I heard about my father was 2017, that was also the last
time a family visit was granted to my father,” Ilham told AFP before
receiving the prize next to a symbolic empty chair at the European Parliament
in Strasbourg, France.
“So that was also the last time my family saw him. I don’t even know if he
is alive.”
China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast
network of camps in its western Xinjiang region aimed at homogenising the
Uighur population — who are mostly Muslim and speak a Turkic language — to
reflect China’s majority Han culture.
Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of
other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been rounded up and put in the
camps in the tightly controlled region.
– Fostering understanding –
Tohti ran the UighurOnline website, which wrote in Uighur and Chinese
about social issues, gaining prominence as a moderate voice drawing attention
to ethnic tensions in the region.
Ilham said the release of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov — who also won
the Sakharov Prize while behind bars — gave her hope for her father.
“I was just told one of the recent laureates of the Sakharov Prize was
released from prison. I do hope same thing happen to my father,” she said.
She insisted that contrary to the allegations against him, her father had
“never mentioned any word about separating the country”, saying he had simply
wanted to improve the situation in Xinjiang by fostering greater
understanding between communities.
“My father created a website to create a platform for Uighurs, Chinese and
other minority people to post articles and their understanding freely on the
website and join discussion forums,” she said.
The EU’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell tweeted his support, saying the
bloc would always “uphold, stand up and take action for human rights”.
“We will continue supporting those who fight for human rights, all around
the world,” he said.
The Uighur controversy took an unexpected turn into football this week
when China’s state broadcaster pulled an Arsenal-Manchester City match from
its programme after comments by the London club’s midfielder Mesut Ozil.
Ozil, a German of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Uighurs
and other minorities in the western region in a tweet on Friday, while
criticising Muslim countries for failing to speak up against abuses.
Beijing said the footballer had been “deceived by fake news” but US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed Ozil, saying “the truth will prevail”
about Xinjiang.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2005HRS