• Urgent Action

Urgent Action Update: Uyghur Again Detained Incommunicado (China: UA 86.20)

January 7, 2021

Mahira Yakub was sent back to Yining Detention Center in China’s Xinjiang region in late November 2020 and is still without access to her family and a lawyer of her choice. A Uyghur who worked in an insurance company, she first went missing in April 2019 and was indicted in January 2020 for “giving material support to terrorist activity” after transferring money to her parents in Australia. She was temporarily released from custody on 4 September 2020 and subsequently hospitalized for unknown reasons. There are grave concerns for Mahira Yakub’s condition and wellbeing, especially as she suffered from liver damage during a previous detention.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Han Jielong Deputy Procurator of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture People’s Procuratorate Lane 4, Sidalin (West) Lu Yining Shi 835000 Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Republic of China
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] Twitter: @ChineseEmbinUS Salutation: Dear Ambassador
SAMPLE LETTER Dear Deputy Procurator Han, I am writing to express my concern about Mahira Yakub (亚库甫‧玛依拉), a Uyghur insurance company worker who is being held in Yining Detention Center without access to her family and a lawyer of her choice. She first went missing in April 2019 and was indicted for “giving material support to terrorist activity” (资助恐怖活动罪) in January 2020 for transferring money to her parents in Australia. I understand that she was released from detention on 4 September 2020, after which she was taken to the hospital for unknown reasons, but she was returned to Yining Detention Center in November 2020. Throughout this time, Mahira Yakub’s family has not been able to get in touch with her. It is alarming to learn that Mahira Yakub’s relatives residing in Xinjiang have been harassed by the Chinese authorities because other relatives living overseas shared updates about her on social media. Without access to her family and lawyer of her choice, I am deeply concerned about Mahira Yakub’s health and wellbeing, especially as she did not receive adequate medical treatment when she suffered liver damage in a “transformation-through-education” facility from March to December 2018. I call on you to release Mahira Yakub, 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; allow Mahira Yakub access to her family as well as prompt and adequate medical care, as necessary, facilitate her right to have effective legal representation of her choice, and ensure she is not subjected to torture and other ill-treatment; and stop all kinds of harassment and intimidation against Mahira Yakub’s relatives. Yours sincerely, [YOUR NAME] ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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