As previously reported on this site, Rebyia Kadeer (right), the foremost spokesperson of the Uighurs of the Xinjiang province in the People´s Republic of China, and last year´s Rafto Prize laureate, was released in March 2005. She had then been imprisoned since 1999. Yesterday, she visited the Human Rights House in Oslo. -I will not let my horror silence me. Indeed, my horror pushes me to speak out, she said. Read her full speech below. (18-OCT-05)

See also: Harassment and detention of Kadeer’s family and associates

My name is Rebiya Kadeer. I am an Uyghur. My country name is East Turkistan. I was the 7th richest woman in the People´s Republic of China and I was also the member of the parlament. Chinese authorities detained me in 1999 and sentenced me for 8 and halv years in prison because I spoke the truth about the Human Rights abuses that Uyghurs suffer in my nation.

When I was detained by Chinese police in 1999, I was carrying with me a document, a petition outlining the numerous human rights abuses my people were facing at the hands of the Chinese Government. I was going to present this information to the visitors from the United States Congressional Research Service but I was stopped before I could reach the meeting.

I was charged with providing secret information to foreigners and convicted of endangering state security. In reality I was only telling the truth about the situation of Uyghurs in East Turkistan, the area refereed to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Chinese government. And the truth should never be a secret. Nor does the truth endanger state security. Perhaps the truth can instil fear in those tyrants who would persecute a people in order to enforce their own brand of stability. But true stability and peace can only exist in the presence of truth not while innocent people are arrested, tortured and executed for speaking the truth.

Uyghurs under Chinese rule in East Turkistan are denied an extremely broad spectrum of basic and internationally recognized human rights. The Chinese authorities control and suppress the unique Uyghur identity in a variety of ways. Most techniques are familiar to anyone acquainted with the plight of Tibetans living under Chinese rule: severe controls on religious practices; restrictions on the freedom of association; denial of the right to freedom of _expression and the right to information; a massive influx of Han Chinese to traditional lands; and curtailment of reproductive rights. Added threats to the Uyghur identity include the banning of Uyghur as a langugage of instruction in universities; and the Chinese authorities regularly publicly burn religious, cultural and historical Uyghur-language books.

The truth is Uyghurs are not allowed to teach their children our faith, even in their homes. In August this year Chinese authorities arrested Aminan Momixi, and 37 of her students aged between 7 and 20 after bursting into her home on. Police accused her of “illegally possesing religious materials and subversive historical information”.

The truth is that even non-violent expressions of dissent are labeled “separatism”. In February 2005, Nurmemet Yasin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for writing his short story “Wild Pigeon” that told the story of a pigeon who would rather die than live imprisoned. And in June this year, Abdulla Jamal, a teacher at the No: 1 Middle School of Poskam county in Kashgar, was detained for writing a book called “Disaster in the Oil Well”. Their right to freedom of _expression was denied.

A prominent feature of the Chinese authorities’ methods of control in East Turkistan is “Strike Hard” campaigns. A “Strike Hard” campaign focused against “separatists, terrorists or religious extremists” has been continuing with varying degrees of intensity in East Turkistan since at least 1996, resulting in mass arbitrary detentions, summary trials and lengthy prison sentences for thousands of Uyghurs.

A commonly reported and deeply disturbing detail of “Strike Hard” campaigns in East Turkistan and in the People´s Republic of China is that police and the courts are expected by Communist Party officials to fill quotas of convictions. Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that innocent people are found guilty, and that charges are routinely ‘trumped up’. Aside from a tragic exception in January 2002 when a Tibetan was executed, Uyghurs are the only people regularly executed for political crimes in the People´s Republic of China in recent years, according to Amnesty International’s monitoring.

According to Amnesty International in the continuous political crackdown in the XUAR in the past ten years, tens of thousands of individuals have been detained many in complete secrecy without any independent investigation. Amnesty states that many are held incommunicado for months, tortured and sentenced after unfair trials. The crackdown has not been limited to violent separatist activities but has included suppression of numerous religious and cultural activities including compulsory political education classes for imams and the closure of mosques that have “bad influences on young people”.

In the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Chinese authorities announced a further crackdown on the “three evil forces – separatism, terrorism and extremism”. (Insert any news from the weekend of arrests and executions)

During this crackdown, Wang Lequan, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of the region even accused me of being a terrorist. Perhaps this is because I terrify the Chinese government when I speak the truth.

I am sure this has been said before, but there is a distinction between terror and horror. Terror is felt when we anticipate and horrific event; horror is felt when it actually happens. I am keenly aware of this difference: I have lived with a sense of terror for the fate of Uyghurs for the past few decades; and I have watched in horror as my worst fears have come true.

I have been terrified for young Uyghur mothers who become pregnant when the Chinese government say they shouldn’t; and I have been horrified when their pregnancies have been forcibly terminated. I have been terrified for the Uyghurs’ ancient culture; and watched horrified as the Chinese authorities have stooped to burning Uyghur books. I have been terrified for those Uyghurs who have stood up and objected; and been horrified when they have been executed as “terrorists”. And yes, I have been horrified bye the treatment of my friends and family.

The Chinese government has shown that it will use the war against terror as a justification to persecute Uyghurs. As governments around the globe attempt to address real terrorist threats, we must be diligent to make sure that human rights are not unnecessarily curtailed in the name of this war. The US government has already both publicly and privately urged the Chinese government not to use the war against terror to persecute my people. This is an issue facing us all. WE must not let governments play upon the fear of terror as a pretext to strip individuals of their rights. Attempting to stop dissent, free_expression, and free assembly by labelling them as terrorism is not acceptable and we must protest against it whenever we see it.

After the tragic events of September 11, the United States led a new call for a global war against terror. While the scourge of terrorism certainly deserves the concentrated attention of the international community, this new war has also seem human rights abuses perpetrated in the name of justice and protecting national security. Many governments have strengthened national security laws in the aftermath of September 11 and have as a result increased violation of discrimination, detention without trial, surveillance, and invasion of privacy. The focus on terrorism has also led to increased vulnerability of numerous separatist movements, internally displaced people, and even illegal immigrants. While not limited to the People´s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party in particular, has used the war against terror as an excuse to strengthen national laws and also crackdown on Uyghurs in East Turkistan. Unfortunately, the Chinese government has a very loose definition of separatist and terrorist activities including everything from peaceful_expression of political dissent to participation in religious education.

But the global war against terror has also detained Uyghurs in the US facility at Guantanamo Bay. We now know that some of the Uyghurs have been determined not to be enemy combatants by the US Combatant Status Review Tribunals. We certainly welcome the US governments assurance that these Uyghurs will not be returned to the People´s Republic of China where they would certainly face detention, likely face torture and possibly execution. However, having determined that they are not a threat, the US government must find a way to release these detainees. They have spent over three years wrongly detained in Guantanamo Bay and they deserved to be released.

After I was released from a Chinese prison in March 2005, I have continued to speak the truth about the human rights abuses Uyghurs suffer. The issues facing my people remain the same as the ones outlined in my petition in 1999. NOthing has improved. Things have only worsened. Before I left the People´s Republic of China, the authorities warned me not to associate with Uyghurs abroad or reveal sensitive information about the XUAR or my “business and children will be finished”. And they have made good on these threats. They consequently ransacked my office and dragged away two former colleagues who are still in detention. They accused me of owing millions in debts and taxes, and threatened to break every one of my son’s ribs if he didn’t sign a statement saying this was “true”. The Chinese government has even put pressure on numerous governments to try to silence me and cease giving me opportunities to speak out. but I want to thank you. Thank all of you who worked on my behalf while I was in prison. I want to thank Amnesty International, all the individuals, all the human rights organizations, all the governments who put pressure on the Chinese government. It is thanks to you that I am here today and able to speak the truth openly and without fear.

I will not let my horror silence me. Indeed, my horror pushes me to speak out.