After a two-day trial closed to the public, Professor Ilham Tohti, an advocate for China’s Uighur minority, was sentenced to life in prison for “separatism,” a charge he denies. In addition, the court ordered all of his assets confiscated, leaving his family in severe economic distress. The trial appears to have denied him an opportunity for proper defense, according to his lawyers, and to be based on his teachings and non-violent expressions of opinion.
President Xi Jinping
The State Council General Office 2
Fuyoujie, Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of ChinaSeptember 27, 2014
Your Excellency:
We write now in grave concern for Professor Ilham Tohti.
Dr. Tohti is a professor of economics at the Central Minorities University in Beijing and an advocate for the rights of the Chinese Uighur minority. We understand from media reports that on the afternoon of January 15, 2014, police reportedly raided Tohti’s home, arrested him, seized computers, cell phones, passports, and other documents and then took Tohti to an undisclosed location. On July 30, Tohti was formally charged with separatism, charges that he has consistently denied.
On September 16 and 17, the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court held a two-day trial of Tohti, which was closed to the public. Tohti’s lawyers have said that they were denied access to evidence in advance of the trial and were not allowed to call witnesses for his defense. Evidence produced by the prosecutors reportedly included Tothi’s teaching materials and material from the Uighur Online website. Tohti maintained his innocence throughout.
Following the closed trial, on September 23, 2014, the court found Tohti guilty of separatism and sentenced him to life in prison. In addition, the court ordered all of his assets to be confiscated, leaving his family in severe economic distress. The verdict has attracted widespread international condemnation from human rights groups and from governments around the world.
These recent actions appear to indicate that Tohti was arrested, convicted and sentenced as a result of scholarly and nonviolent expressive activity, conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. Moreover, according to Tohti’s counsel, the verdict and sentence were arrived at in a manner inconsistent with the due process requirements of Chinese and International Law.
We respectfully urge you to immediately reverse this verdict, based on a trial lacking all elements of due process, as well as the resulting sentence, including the order to confiscate Tohti’s assets.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander GreerCo-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Copies to:
Hon. Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hon. Cui Tiankai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the US
Hon. Max Baucus, Ambassador of the US to the People’s Republic of China
Hon. John F. Kerry, Secretary of State of the United States
Related articles
- China’s Fruitless Repression of the Uighurs (nytimes.com)
- Jailing of Ilham Tohti Will Radicalize More Uighurs (nytimes.com)
- China Sentences Uighur Scholar to Life (nytimes.com)
- Ilham Tohti, Arrested in January Now Charged with Separatism (concernedscientists.org)