Imprisoned For Life For Endangering The State, Uighurs Academic Rahile Dawu's Daughter: China, Show Your Pity

Professor Rahile Dawut (Image credit: Lisa Ross/duihua.org)

JAKARTA - A prominent Uighur academic, Rahile Dawu, has reportedly been jailed for life by China on charges of endangering state security.

The US-based rights group Dui Hua Foundation said Rahile Dawut's sentence was confirmed after she appealed her 2018 sentence.

"The sentence of Professor Rahile Dawut is a cruel tragedy, a huge loss for the Uighur people, and for everyone who values academic freedom," said John Kamm, Executive Director of the Dui Hua Foundation as reported by the BBC, Tuesday, September 26.

China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity against the Uighur population and other Muslim-majority ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Kamm called for Rahile Dawut's immediate release and safe return to her family.

Rahile Dawu's daughter, Akeda Pulati, said that she worries about her mother every day.

"The thought of my innocent mother having to spend her life in prison brings unbearable pain. China, show your mercy and free my innocent mother," she said in a statement released by Dui Hua.

Dawut was arrested because she was accused of carrying out 'division' and endangering state security. In December 2018, Dawut was tried in a Xinjiang court. A source in the Chinese government confirmed Dui Hua's life prison sentence.

Dawut was an expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions and had taught at Xinjiang University's Faculty of Humanities before her arrest. She founded the university's Ethnic Minority Research Center in 2007 and conducted fieldwork throughout Xinjiang.

She has taught at universities in the US and UK, including Harvard and Cambridge. Dui Hua said Dawut was among a "long list of Uighur intellectuals" who have been detained, arrested and imprisoned since 2016.

The US is among several countries accusing China of genocide in Xinjiang. Prominent human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch accused China of crimes against humanity.

China Denies

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said he had "no information" about Dawut's case, as AP wrote last Friday.

There are about 12 million Uighurs, mostly Muslims, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and is located in northwestern China.

A series of police files obtained by the BBC in 2022 revealed details of China's use of 're-education camps' and described the routine use of armed officers and the existence of a shoot-to-kill policy for those who tried to escape.