China Marks 12 Years Jailing Ilham Tohti, HRF Demands Release of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Groups Call to Free Sophia Huang Xueqin

Today marks 12 years since the Chinese regime sentenced Ilham Tohti, a respected Uyghur economist and academic, to life in prison for “separatism.” Ilham peacefully advocated for Uyghur rights through data, research, education, and open dialogue.

Before his arrest in January 2014, Ilham taught economics at Minzu University in Beijing and ran a website discussing social and economic issues affecting Uyghurs. He advocated for policies to address poverty, unemployment, and ethnic tensions and promoted greater understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.

After a two-day, closed-door trial in September 2014, a Chinese court convicted Ilham of “separatism” and sentenced him to life in prison. His appeal was rejected in a hearing held inside the detention center and without his lawyer present.

Ilham’s continued imprisonment reflects Beijing’s broader repression of Uyghur intellectuals, writers, and academics. HRF condemns the Chinese regime’s continued imprisonment of Ilham, demands his immediate and unconditional release, and calls for his unrestricted access to his family and independent counsel.

Xi Jinping is meeting President Trump in Washington, D.C., this week. While Xi is in town, HRF calls for the immediate release of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uyghur physician who has spent eight years in a Chinese prison on fabricated charges.

Dr. Abbas spent her life caring for her patients. She was not an activist or a dissident. But she was forcibly disappeared on Sept. 11, 2018 — just 5 days after her US-based sister, @RushanAbbas , spoke out about the regime’s abuses. Now, her family is asking President Trump to raise her case when the two leaders meet.

A doctor who dedicated her life to her patients and community is serving 20 years for “terrorism” — not for anything she did, but because her sister, a US citizen, spoke out about China’s persecution of the Uyghurs.

The Chinese government must release Dr. Gulshan Abbas immediately and unconditionally, and allow her to safely reunite with her family. #ReleaseThem

HRF joined 59 civil society organizations in calling on the Chinese government to release journalist and #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin and to guarantee her freedom from further arbitrary restrictions.

Huang was detained in 2021 as she was preparing to leave for graduate studies in the UK. Prosecutors later cited her participation in gatherings with fellow activists, an online course on nonviolence, and online posts on issues deemed “sensitive,” and sentenced her to five years for “inciting subversion of state power.”

Amid an ongoing crackdown on journalists, human rights defenders, and feminist activists in China, the joint statement calls on Beijing to guarantee Huang’s fundamental freedoms upon her release and amend domestic laws and regulations to comply with international human rights standards.