Four months after being awarded the Rafto Memorial Prize, Rebiya Kadeer (picture) finally received the news last month. She cried with joy, her son Mustafa Rouzi told the newspaper Bergens Tidende. 58 year old Kadeer is currently in prison. For years she has been fighting for the Uyghur minority’s basic rights in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. (01-MAR-2005)
Last year, the Rafto Foundation decided that Rebiya Kadeer should receive the Rafto Prize as recognition for the work she has done for her people. However, Kadeer herself never got the news about being awarded the increasingly prestigious memorial prize.
– We did not dare to tell her as the Chinese prison guards never left the room when people came to visit, her son Mustafa Rouzi explains over the phone from America.
Mustafa lives in exile in America with his dad and some of his siblings. Kadeer was informed in January.
– She was so happy when she was told that she started to cry. The recognition and Prize gives her hope and courage. It helps her to know that the whole world is aware of her situation, and that so many people are thinking about her and are trying to do something about the situation, Rouzi says.
Kadeer, who is recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, is allowed to have a short visit from her family once a month. – She wants to see a copy of the Rafto-diploma when her son next visits her. We are trying to arrange that, Rouzi says.
According to her son Kadeer shares prison cells with five other prisoners. Currently she has been transmitted to the prison’s hospital ward, and her family is concerned for her health.
– She has a heart condition, and we are concerned about her and worried that she is not receiving proper care, Mustafa explains.
Increased pressure on Chinese authorities
Board leader of the Rafto Foundation, Arne L. Lynngaard is glad Rebiya Kadeer finally has received the news about the award.
– The same goes for the other political prisoners in Xinjiang. After September 11, 2001, as many as 3000- 4000 Uighurs have been imprisoned. Many of these are political prisoners. It is important that the news reaches them in prison, Mr Lynngaard comments.
Both Mr Lynngaard and Rebiya Kadeer’s family sincerely hope that the Rafto Prize might lead the Chinese authorities to release Rebiya prior to her scheduled 2006 release.
– We know that the pressure against the People´s Republic of China has increased since the award ceremony in Washington DC this January. We believe that the Chinese authorities are worried that the Kadeer case is going to become an issue when The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights meets in Geneva in March. We hope that she might be released within the next six months, Lynngaard says.
Negotiations
Randall Schriver, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs was present at the award ceremony, held in the Congress building in Washington DC. He travelled to the People´s Republic of China shortly afterwards.
– He negotiated with the Chinese authorities about releasing Kadeer from prison. We hope this meeting will have an effect and might lead to an earlier release for her, Lynngaard says.
Kadeer’s son, Mustafa, is more doubtful in regards to an early release of his mother. – the People´s Republic of China has recently published a list of 56 names of prisoners who will be released from prison. My mother was not on that list. But the pressure on the People´s Republic of China is increasing. We hope and believe that this will help, Rouzi says.
