Rebiya Kadeer | Photo 02

Rebiya Kadeer is a former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. Rebiya Kadeer founded and directed a large trading company in northwestern China, championed the rights of the Uighur ethnic group there, and became one of China’s most prominent advocates of women’s rights. All these activities came to an abrupt halt in August 1999 when police arrested her as she entered a hotel to discuss human rights with U.S. Congressional staff who were visiting China.

Rebiya Kadeer has spent more than five years jailed in a region where prison conditions are notoriously harsh. Prisoners in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region receive poor food, inadequate sanitation, and little medical treatment. Amnesty International has expressed grave concern about reports of Rebiya Kadeer’s deteriorating health.

The Chinese government charged Rebiya Kadeer in September 1999 with “providing secret information to foreigners” even though the local newspapers she was carrying at the time of her arrest were all publicly available, as were the newspapers she had sent to her husband in the United States. Authorities tried her in secret and sentenced her in March 2000 to eight years’ imprisonment. In early 2004, authorities reduced her sentence by one year.

A successful and charismatic businesswoman, Kadeer used her resources to provide fellow Uighurs, the region’s predominantly Muslim majority ethnic group, with training and employment. The Chinese government had recognized her contributions by appointing her to its prestigious national advisory group, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The government also appointed her to its delegation participating in the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women. She was a standing member of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Chamber of Commerce, and in 1997, she founded the Thousand Mothers Movement to promote women’s rights and economic security.

Rebiya Kadeer’s activism in the strategically important, oil-rich autonomous region of Xinjiang and her husband’s outspoken criticism of Chinese rule in the mostly Muslim region began to draw government reprisals in the late 1990s. Her husband left China in 1996. The following year, the government confiscated Rebiya Kadeer’s passport. Harassment by police was accompanied by further restrictions on her movements. In 1998, authorities barred her from reappointment to the Consultative Conference.

Her family was subjected to harassment by the authorities following her initial detention in 1999 and has experienced intensified persecution since she was released from prison on medical parole on March 17, 2005. She was sent to the United States on her release. Prior to being freed, Rebiya Kadeer claims she was warned that if she engaged with members of the Uyghur ethnic community or spoke publicly about “sensitive issues” after her release, her “businesses and children will be finished.” Rebiya Kadeer was recently elected President of the Uyghur American Association which established the UHRP. Since her release, Chinese police have launched an investigation into alleged financial irregularities by her company, the “Akida Trading Co.” in Urumqi. Rebiya Kadeer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Amnesty International considers that the ongoing harassment and reports of torture and ill-treatment of Rebiya Kadeer’s family casts serious doubt on the credibility of this investigation.

Alim, Ablikim, and Kahar Abdiriyim, sons of ethnic Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, are facing criminal charges brought by the Chinese authorities.

Alim and Ablikim Abdiriyim were detained along with their sister Rushangul and six other family members (four of them children) on May 29, in an apparent attempt to prevent them from with a United States Congressional Team which was scheduled to visit them the following day. The delegation included representatives of the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The official Chinese press, however, reported that the nine were detained due to alleged financial irregularities in Rebiya Kadeer’s business. All except one of Rebiya Kadeer’s family businesses have been closed or ordered to suspend activities. One June 1, Alim and Ablikim were beaten by police in front of their children and in front of Rushangul, who was then handed a mobile phone and told to call Rebiya Kadeer in the United States to tell her what was happening. Rushangul was later taken to a hospital to be treated for symptoms related to stress and shock. She and Rebiya Kadeer’s brother, Mamat Kadeer, are currently reported to be under house arrest. The four grandchildren of Rebiya Kadeer who had been detained were released, but are reportedly being prevented form leaving their homes to attend school. There is no further information on Kaysar and Rayila, who were also detained along with the four children.

(Update: 2 of Rebiya children have been sentenced to 7 and 9 years in prison)

Thousands of Uyghurs have been detained under the new “Anti-Terrorism” law and political prisoners have been executed after unfair trials. Chinese authorities have arrested numerous Muslim preachers and religious leaders, destroyed several Mosques, and closed down many Muslim religious schools.

Rebiya kadeer, once the 7th wealthiest woman in China continues to speak on behalf of the Uyghur people.