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Huseyin Celil (37), Uyghur activist with Canadian citizenship, is found guilty of “terrorist activities and plotting to split the country” by the Intermediate People´s Court in Urumqi. He was sentenced to life in jail and to permanent loss of his political rights. After the sentencing, on 19 April 2007, the People´s Republic of China warned Canada against pressing his case. Canadian government offical say that they are reviewing the verdict and will have a reaction in due course. (23-APR-07)

On 17 April 2007 the People’s Court of Urumchi sentenced Rebiya Kadeer’s son Ablikim Abdureyim (left) to nine years imprisonment for “instigating and engaging in secessionist activities”. According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Project (UNPO) Ablikim was tried in a secret trial. (23-APR-07)

Some were unable to escape from Laayoune and other towns before the Moroccans arrived. Men who managed to get out joined the Polisario independence fighters and sent the women, children and old people to shelter in Tindouf. A 16-year war ended in 1991 and hope grew that the territory would be reunited. The U.N. tried to organise a vote on self-determination, but it never happened. “We want only total, perfect independence, even if I must wait 50 years to see my family again,” says Sidi Mohammed Daddach, the 2002 Rafto Prize Laureate. (17-APR-07)
 

The Rafto Human Rights Series film “On a Tightrope”, portraying Uyghur children an orphanage in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, has been awarded the Short Grand Prix Award at the prestigious Chicago International Documentary Festival. It was the only Norwegian film at the festival which shows more than 100 documentaries from around the Globe. (17-APR-07)

Kahar Abdureyim, right, Rebiya Kadeer´s oldest son, is forced to head Working Group on fines against Kadeer family. A Working Group has been established to oversee the liquidation of the business assets of Rebiya Kadeer’s family in Urumchi, the regional capital of East Turkistan, otherwise known as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People´s Republic of China. (11-APR-07)

A delegation from the US State Department, including Mr. Eric G. John, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Seth D. Winnick, U.S. Consul General and members of staff paid a visit to Venerable Thich Quang Do (the 2006 Rafto Prize laureate), Deputy leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon on April 9, 2007. (10-APR-07)

The Rafto Foundation strongly condemns the brutal and intensified crackdown on democracy activists, who peacefully exercise their fundamental rights, protected by international human rights law and the Vietnamese constitution. The heavy prison sentences imposed on Father Nguyen Van Ly (right) and his associates prove that the Vietnamese Government has no intentions of loosening up its tight grip. (31-MAR-07)

The World Movement for Democracy (WMD) expresses its concern about the recent and growing number of violations of human rights in Vietnam. Since February there has been an evident increase in state repression of individuals who are involved in religious, human rights, and/or pro-democracy work. The arrests and interrogations violate international standards of human rights and Vietnam’s own Constitution, which upholds human rights for the citizens of Vietnam in the political, civic, economic, cultural, and social realms. (26-MAR-07)
 

On January 17, 2007, on the Eve of the 2007 Lunar New Year, Vietnamese authorities unleashed its plans of oppression against pro-democracy activists, such as members of the Vietnam Progressive Party, the so-called 8406 Bloc, and the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights for Vietnam. Following Professor Nguyen Chinh Ket´s, right, recent visit to Norway, the Norwegian-Vietnamese Centre has issued the following appeal, and received support from both the Rafto Foundation and the Human Rights House Foundation, among others. (23-MAR-07)