• Urgent Action

Urgent Action Update: Uyghur Woman Held Incommunicado for 2 Years (China: UA 222.17)

August 7, 2019

Buzainafu Abudourexiti continues to be held in incommunicado detention after she was suddenly detained in March 2017 and sentenced in a secret trial to seven years in prison. There is still no information about the charges against her, but it is believed that it may be part of a wider crackdown on Uyghur students who studied abroad. Buzainafu Abudourexiti returned to China in 2015 after studying in Egypt for two years. She is at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

TAKE ACTION:
  1. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  2. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 222.17. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping Zhongnanhai Xichangan’jie Xichengqu, Beijing Shi 100017 People’s Republic of China Fax: +86 10 6238 1025 Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Cui Tiankai Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 3505 International Place NW, Washington DC 20008 Phone: 202 495 2266 I Fax: 202 495 2138 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Ambassador
Dear President Xi, It is of grave concern that Buzainafu Abudourexiti, an Uyghur woman, remains in incommunicado detention after she was sentenced on 5 June 2017, without any legal representation, to seven years imprisonment. She is currently being held at Urumqi Women’s Prison. She was taken away from her parents’ house in Urumqi, on 29 March 2017 and transferred to the city of Akesu, 1,000km away. No official documentation about her case, including what charges she was convicted of, has ever been provided. While Buzainafu Abudourexiti was pregnant at the time of her arrest, her husband later learned from officials in Xinjiang that the child was already dead in her womb when she was detained. Nothing is known about her current health status. Buzainafu Abudourexiti went to Egypt to study Islam for two years and returned to Urumqi in early 2015 to work at her father’s company while learning English. Planning to join her new husband Almas Nizamidin in Australia, she then went back to Egypt in September 2015 to collect the documentation for her visa application. After returning to Urumqi in December 2015, she then received the necessary clearance from the Urumqi police department and Almas proceeded to lodge an application for her Australian spousal visa. Buzainafu Abudourexiti was detained shortly after that and their application is still pending. I call on you to release Buzainafu Abudourexiti unconditionally and immediately unless there is sufficient credible and admissible evidence that she committed an internationally recognized offense and is granted a fair trial in line with international standards; ensure that she has regular, unrestricted access to family and lawyers of her choice, and is not subjected to torture and other ill-treatment; allow her prompt, regular and unrestricted access to medical care on request or as necessary. Yours sincerely, ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Downloads