The Rafto Foundation together with Amnesty International has made a post card of appeal which can be sent to the Chinese government. The post card was introduced on Monday the 25th of October when Monica Mæland (Chief Comissioner of the City Government in Bergen) and Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen (the leader of the opposition in Bergen) signed a post card each.Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen said that it was an honour to sign the post card and by this act contributing to the campaign to free Rebiya Kadeer. Both politicians agreed that this was a political case they easily supported. (04-NOV-2004)
The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for 2004 is awarded to Rebiya Kadeer, from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), People’s Republic of China. Kadeer is a prisoner of conscience and a prominent symbol of the Uighurs’ struggle for basic human rights.
In March 2000 she was sentenced to eight years imprisonment following a secret trial where neither Kadeer nor her lawyer had the opportunity to argue her case. She was sentenced for having sent “state secrets” out of the People´s Republic of China. In reality she had just been sending local newspapers to her husband, Sidik Haji Rouzi, living in the USA. Rouzo is also a former political prisoner. Her sentence was later reduced by one year and Kadeer is expected to be paroled on the 12th of August 2006. The Rafto Foundation is worried about Kadeer’s health and the general conditions under which she has to live.
– The fact that Rebiya Kadeer is unable to collect this price herself because she is imprisoned, is in itself a reminder of the ongoing repression that are taking place in the People´s Republic of China, says Petter Eide, General Secretary of Amnesty International Norway.
There are several human rights organisation in which Rebiya Kadeer has committed herself, but she has especially been focusing on securing the rights of women in minority groups. During the last couple of years before she was arrested, her work for human rights met ever more obstacles. She was sat under surveillance and several of her family members and co-operators were arrested. Her passport was also confiscated.
The husband of Kadeer, Rouzi, and her daughter, Akida, has been invited to receive the price on behalf of Kadeer. They live in the USA, but they have yet not acquired an American citizenship. This means that they cannot leave the country unless of death in the family, or if the foreign visit benefits the USA. Thus, to receive the Rafto Memorial Prize does not qualify for an outward journey. Kadeer’s husband has written an appeal to Norwegian Minster of Foreign Affairs, Jan Pettersen, asking him to take measurers in an attempt of making the father and daughter able to go to Norway and collect the prize. Monica Mæland said she would contact the Minister and encourage the Ministry to help the two of them. She also asked for a copy of the letter.
The appeal card asking the Chinese government to free Rebiya Kadeer can be found at the office of the Rafto Foundation, the office of Amnesty in Bergen and at cafés in Bergen city centre.
The appeal card can also be sent electronically from www.rafto.no, by sms within Norway (send APELL to 1960), or print out and send the appeal letter at www.amnesty.no.
