Unlawfully Imprisoned Woman At Risk of Torture

Buzainafu Abudourexiti returned to China in 2015 after spending two years studying Islam in Egypt. Amnesty International reports that in March 2017, authorities took her from her parents’ home in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and sentenced her to five years in prison.

Abudourexiti was pregnant at the time of her arrest, but is believed to now be without child. She is currently being held at Urumqi Women’s Prison. No explanation has been given for her arrest and the rights group says she is at risk of torture and other ill treatment.

Amnesty International believes her arrest is part of a wider on crackdown on the Uighur ethnic minority. In a call for urgent action report, the organization stated that “In early July, approximately 200 Uighurs were detained in Egypt by order of the Chinese authorities, with 22 who have been forcibly returned have not been heard from since.” According to Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities have been urging Uighur students enrolled in universities abroad to return to China since May 2017.

Amnesty International is now urging citizens to take action and call on authorities to commit the following.

  • Immediately and unconditionally release Buzainafu Abudourexiti unless there is sufficient credible and admissible evidence that she committed an internationally recognized offence and is granted a fair retrial in line with international standards;
  • Allow her prompt, regular and unrestricted access to medical care on request or as necessary.

The rights group is calling on its supporters to reach the following individuals by Nov. 9, 2017.

Party Secretary of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region

Chen Quanguo Shuji

479 Zhongshanlu

Urumqi, Xinjiang

People’s Republic of China

Salutation: Dear Secretary

 

Ambassador Tiankai Cui, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China

3505 International Place NW, Washington DC 20008

Phone: 1 202 495 2266 I Fax: 1 202 495 2138

About Andrew Burke 145 Articles
Editor-in-Chief Andrew Burke is a lifelong aficionado of all things Chinese. He studied Mandarin while living in Taiwan for six years and now works as a digitization specialist at the Yenching Library, which specializes in Asian books and documents, at Harvard University where he also studies topics related to China, Chinese, Asia and foreign affairs.