Release Professor Ilham Tohti
Posted January 15, 2025
Scholars at Risk sent the below letter to Chinese authorities, urging them to secure the immediate release of Dr.Ilham Tohti. Take action by signing a letter here.
Via email
President Xi Jinping
The State Council General Office
January 15, 2025
RE: Release Professor Ilham Tohti
Your Excellency:
I write on behalf of the Scholars at Risk Network to express our continued grave concern for Professor Ilham Tohti, a public intellectual and economics professor, who has been imprisoned for 11 years today.
Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of more than 600 universities and colleges in over 40 countries dedicated to protecting the human rights of scholars around the world, and raising awareness, understanding of, and respect for the principles of academic freedom and its constituent freedoms of expression, opinion, thought, association, and travel.
Professor Tohti is a scholar of economics at the Central Minzu University in Beijing and advocate for the rights of the Chinese Uighur minority. SAR understands that on January 15, 2014, police raided Professor Tohti’s family home, where they seized computers, cell phones, passports, and student essays, and arrested him. He was held incommunicado until late June 2014, and was subsequently denied regular access to family. On July 30, 2014, Professor Tohti was formally charged with separatism, a charge that apparently stems from his teachings at the university and writings published on his former website, Uighur Online.
On September 23, 2014, after a two-day trial that was closed to the public, the Urumqi Intermediate People’s Court found Professor Tohti guilty of separatism, sentenced him to life in prison, and ordered all of his assets seized. The sentencing was upheld on appeal. Chinese authorities have not publicly disclosed any evidence against Professor Tohti beyond his articles, interviews, and lectures, raising serious concerns about his trial and conviction. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions found his detention to be arbitrary. In addition, SAR is concerned by reports of continued limitations on family visits to Professor Tohti.
We welcome any additional information that may clarify our understanding of these events. Absent this, the facts appear to indicate that Professor Tohti was arrested, convicted, and sentenced as a result of his peaceful exercise of the rights to academic freedom and freedom of expression—conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. The nature of his arrest and trial, the severity of his sentence, and his ongoing detention raise grave concerns about whether Professor Tohti has been afforded due process, and about his treatment and well-being going forward. A life sentence for what we can only assume–absent clear public evidence from the state–to be nonviolent expressive and associative conduct is clearly excessive and contrary to international standards.
We therefore respectfully urge you to intervene to ensure that the circumstances of Professor Tohti’s arrest, detention, and conviction are examined, that any charges or convictions related to his peaceful academic activities are reversed, and that he is released accordingly. In the interim, we ask that his well-being and access to family is ensured, and that his case is addressed in a manner consistent with internationally recognized standards of due process, fair trial, and the humane treatment of prisoners, in accordance with China’s obligations under international law.
We appreciate your attention to this important matter and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Robert Quinn
Executive Director
Cc:
H.E. Mr. Wang Yi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
H.E. Mr. Cui Tiankai
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States
The Honorable Nicholas Burns
United States Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China
The Honorable Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
The Honorable António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The Honorable Volker Türk
High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Mary Lawlor
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
The Honorable Siddharth Chatterjee
United Nations Resident Coordinator in China