UBC political science students advocate for imprisoned Uyghur academic

A piece by Sydney Cristall for Ubyssey covering SAR Student Advocacy Seminars at the University of British Columbia.

As part of a student advocacy seminar, POLI 464F, four UBC political science students are advocating for the release of Dr. Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur academic scholar imprisoned in China.

Over ten years ago, Tohti began campaigning for a peaceful reconciliation between Uyghurs and Han Chinese, before being arrested and charged for separatism. In 2014, he was imprisoned for life in China.

In February 2021, Canada’s House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to declare China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority population a genocide.

Read more here.