Kadeer’s imprisoned son in urgent need of medical treatment

The Rafto Foundation has received information that Ablikim Abdureyim (right),  the son of the 2004 Rafto Prize laureate and Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer, is in dire medical condition in Bajiahu prison near Urumchi, the regional capital of East Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China (13-DEC-07).


Gunta Venge/Rafto Human Rights House Bergen. Based on the press release from the
Uyghur American Association and the press release from the Rafto Foundation. 

Ablikim had difficulty recognizing members of his family during their 15-minute visit on December 6. Appearing extremely pale and weak, he told them that he had been in a coma on two occasions while in prison, and that he also  fainted frequently. When questioned about Ablikim´s health problems,  Chinese police attributed them to a heart condition, and suggested that this condition could become worse if he continued to refuse to “cooperate with authorities” and “admit his criminal guilt.”

The Rafto Foundation believes that Ablikim’s refusal to cooperate with the authorities has  led to severe mistreatment, including torture and medical neglect, resulting in his current grave physical condition. In a telephone interview with the Rafto Foundation, Akida Rouzi (right), Ablikim´s sister confirms information from the press release issued by the Uyghur American Association.

“I call on PRC authorities to transfer Ablikim to a medical facility  outside of the Chinese prison system to assure that he can receive  the urgent medical attention he requires,” said Ms. Kadeer (right). “If he is not properly treated soon, I fear for his life.”

The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, had an official visit to the People´s Republic of China in March this year. During this visit he delivered to the Chinese authorities a list of political prisoners who, according to Norway, should be released. Ablikim Abdureyim was one of them.

According to the chairman of the Rafto Foundation, Arne L. Lynngård (rigth), imprisonment and the way children of Rebiya Kadeer are treated in Urumchi, are politically motivated. In order to reduce Ms. Kadeer’s influence among Uyghurs by pressuring  her into silence after her exile to the United States, the Chinese authorities began an intense campaign of intimidation against her family members and business associates inside East Turkestan in 2005.

The Rafto Foundation encourages the Norwegian Prime Minister to contact again the Chinese authorities and ask them to transfer Ablikim Abdureyim to the civil hospital for the neccessary treatment. The Rafto Foundation also encourages Prime Minister Stoltenberg to repeat the demand to release children of Rebiya Kadeer: Ablikim and his brother Alim Abdureyim who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2006 on charges of tax evasion.