CHINA: HEALTH CONCERNS FOR UYGHUR DETAINED FOR DECADE

Dear Secretary-General Chen,

I am writing to express my grave concern for Uyghur tech entrepreneur Ekpar Asat (艾克拜尔·艾赛提), who was taken into custody nearly a decade ago, tried, and convicted of “inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination”. He is reportedly serving a 15‑year sentence, but his family has never received court documents attesting to his trial or whether he was provided with a lawyer.

It is distressing to learn that his detention and imprisonment in Aksu Prison have been marked by concerns about the conditions and treatment he faces, which fall short of international human rights standards. His family has reported that from January 2019 to at least 2021, he was held in solitary confinement. The first video conversation his family had with him, in January 2021, raised serious concerns about his health.

I call on you to release Ekpar Asat immediately and provide compensation for his decade‑long ordeal. Pending his release, he must be treated in full accordance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), without torture or other ill‑treatment, and transferred from Aksu Prison to a prison in Urumqi, and must have regular, unrestricted access to a lawyer of his choice and to his family.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]