Ilham Tohti, économiste, écrivain et professeur, a fondé le site Internet Uighurbiz.net en 2006 afin de promouvoir la réconciliation entre Ouïghours et Hans. Il a été arrêté le 15 janvier 2014. Bien que le Groupe de travail de l’ONU sur la détention arbitraire ait reconnu en mars 2014 le caractère arbitraire de sa détention, il a été condamné à la réclusion à perpétuité en septembre de la même année pour « séparatisme », à l’issue d’un procès qui n’a duré que deux jours.
La procédure judiciaire intentée contre Ilham Tohti a été marquée par de nombreuses irrégularités. Ses avocats n’ont pas été autorisés à s’entretenir avec lui pendant les six mois qui ont suivi son arrestation, ils n’ont pas pu obtenir tous les éléments de preuve présentés par le procureur, et les témoins qu’ils souhaitaient faire entendre durant le procès n’ont pas été autorisés à comparaître.
Le professeur Ilham Tohti a critiqué pendant de nombreuses années les politiques répressives mises en œuvre contre les Ouïghours et a beaucoup écrit sur des approches constructives en vue d’en finir avec le traitement inégalitaire des groupes ethniques, appelant notamment au dialogue et à la réconciliation, principalement sur sa plateforme Web.
Ilham Tohti purge sa peine de réclusion à perpétuité depuis décembre 2014 à la prison n° 1 d’Ürümqi. Depuis cette date, il est autorisé à recevoir des visites de sa famille proche tous les trois mois, pendant une heure seulement. Cette situation est d’autant plus compliquée qu’il est maintenu en détention à Ürümqi, alors que sa famille vit à Pékin – son transfert depuis Pékin revêt sans doute un caractère punitif. L’organisation ChinaChange note qu’il est détenu à l’isolement depuis au moins début 2016 et est privé du droit de communiquer avec sa famille et ses amis en dehors des visites minimales.
En outre, ChinaChange a relaté que sa nièce âgée de 25 ans, originaire d’Atush, a été condamnée à 10 ans de prison en 2016 parce qu’elle avait sur son téléphone portable des photos de lui et deux articles de Radio Free Asia le concernant.
Sept de ses étudiants (Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Nijat, Luo Yuwei, Mutellip Imin, Abduqeyum Ablimit, Atikem Rozi et Akbar Imin) sont incarcérés pour des accusations de séparatisme. On ignore où ils sont détenus et dans quelles conditions.
À l’époque, le cas d’Ilham sonnait comme un avertissement destiné aux intellectuels et militants ouïghours en Chine. Le gouvernement chinois n’a de toute évidence pas cédé de terrain et gère désormais l’un des États du monde où la surveillance est la plus intrusive, tout en enfermant de manière arbitraire des Ouïghours, des Kazakhs et des Kirghizes dans des centres d’endoctrinement politique. On estime que le nombre de prisonniers est compris entre plusieurs centaines de milliers et plus d’un million.
La construction des camps a coïncidé avec le placement en détention de centaines d’intellectuels et écrivains ouïghours dans la région. Parmi les intellectuels détenus figurent entre autres la professeure Rahile Dawut, spécialiste respectée de la culture ouïghoure, le professeur Halmurat Ghophur, éminent scientifique médical, Gheyret Abdurahman, directeur adjoint du Département de linguistique de l’Académie des Sciences sociales du Xinjiang, Qurban Mamut, écrivain et rédacteur en chef de magazine, Abdulqadir Jalaleddin, professeur de littérature à l’Université pédagogique du Xinjiang, et Askar Yunus, historien de renom membre de la communauté ethnique kirghize.
Nous, soussignés, appelons par conséquent les autorités à libérer Ilham Tohti et tous les intellectuels détenus de manière arbitraire dans les centres d’endoctrinement politique.
Organisations :
Amnesty International
ChinaChange
CSW
Free Tibet
Frontline Defenders
Ilham Tohti Initiative
International Tibet Network Secretariat
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
Scholars at Risk
Society for Threatened Peoples
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Tibet Initiative Deutschland
Tibet Justice Center
Tibet Watch
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP)
World Uyghur Congress (WUC)
UNIVERSITAIRES :
Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor (Emeritus), MIT, Cambridge MA
Laureate Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ
Rachel Harris, Reader in the Music of Central Asia and China, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Nathan Light, Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University (Sweden)
Kevin Carrico, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University (Australia)
David Brophy, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney (Australia)
James Leibold, Associate Professor, La Trobe University (Australia)
Gardner Bovingdon, Associate Professor, Indiana University (US)
Michael Clarke, Associate Professor, National Security College, Australian National University (Australia)
Vanessa Frangville, Senior Lecturer, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Rebecca Karl, Professor of History, New York University (US)
Teng Biao, Visiting scholar, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, New York University (US)
Marianne Kamp, Associate Professor, Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University (US)
Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature (US)
Noor O’Neill Borbieva, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University Fort Wayne (US)
Adeeb Khalid, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Professor of Asian Studies and History, Carleton College (US)
Kelly Hammond, Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas (US)
Magnus Fiskesjö, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cornell University (US)
Adrian Zenz, Independent Researcher (Germany)
Tom Cliff, Research Fellow, The Australian National University (Australia)
Françoise Lauwaert, Associate Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Solange Chatelard, Research Associate, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Flora J Roberts, Ph.D., Junior Research Group Leader : Environment and Society in Central Asia, University of Tübingen, LIAS & LUCSoR Research Fellow, Leiden University (Germany/Netherlands)
Yves Moreau, Professor of Engineering, University of Leuven (Belgium)
Sabine Trebinjac, Directrice de recherché, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (France)
Michael Dillon, Independent Scholar, PhD FRHistS FRAS (UK)
Thierry Kellner, Lecturer, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Ulug Kuzuoglu, Lecturer, Columbia University (US)
Alexandre Papas, Senior Research Fellow, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
Ondrej Klimes, Research Fellow, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic)
Darren Byler, Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington (US)
Sean R. Roberts, Assoc. Prof. and Director, Int’l Dev. Studies, The George Washington University (US)
Magnus Fiskesjö, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cornell University (US)
Françoise Lauwaert, Professor of Chinese langage and culture (emeritus), Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Solange Chatelard, Research Associate, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Flora Roberts, Ph.D., Junior Research Group Leader : Environment and Society in Central Asia, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Yves Moreau, Professor of Engineering, University of Leuven (Belgium)
Sabine Trebinjac, Directrice de recherché, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (France)
Thierry Kellner, Lecturer, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Ulug Kuzuoglu, Lecturer, Columbia University (US)
Alexandre Papas, Senior Research Fellow, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
Ondřej Klimeš, Researcher, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic)
Hilde De Weerdt, Professor of Chinese History, Leiden University (Netherlands)
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor of History, University of California, Irvine (US)
Rian Thum, Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham (UK)
Joanne Smith Finley, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies, Newcastle University (UK)
Edward Schatz, Associate Professor, Political Science and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto (Canada)
Laleh Khalili, Professor of Middle East Politics, SOAS University of London (UK)
Tsering Shakya, Associate Professor, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Dr. Mehmet Dikkaya, Professor, Kırıkkale University (Turkey)
Craig Clunas, FBA, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art , Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, University of Oxford (UK)
Dr. Alexander Morrison, Fellow and Tutor in History, New College, Oxford (UK)
Scott Simon, Professor, Université d’Ottawa (Canada)
Wen-ling Liu, Librarian for East Asian and Tibetan Studies, Indiana University Libraries (US)
Dr. Andreas Fulda, Assistant Professor in Contemporary Chinese Studies, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham (UK)
Olga Lomová, Professor of Chinese literature, Charles University (Czech Republic)
Rossella Ferrari, Reader, Department of East Asian Studies, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Dr. Beatrice Penati, Lecturer in Russian and Eurasian History, Department of History, University of Liverpool (UK)
James Millward, Professor of History, Georgetown University (US)
Till Mostowlansky , Department of Anthropology & Sociology , The Graduate Institute Geneva (Switzerland)
Henry Leperlier, PhD, Lecturer (retired), Chinese Studies and Language, Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland)
Don Baker, Professor, Asian Studies, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Joshua Goldstein, Associate Professor, History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California (US)
Renat Shaykhutdinov, Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University (US)
Dr. Daniel Beben, Assistant Professor of History, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan)
Abduweli Ayup, PhD, Independent Scholar (Turkey)
Dr. Patricia Oliart, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies, Newcastle University (UK)
Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, Associate Professor of Gender Studies, University of Stavanger (Norway)
Professor S. Sayyid, Chair in Social Theory and Decolonial Thought, Univeristy of Leeds (UK)
Maurizio Marinelli, Senior Lecturer in East Asian history, University of Sussex (UK)
Prof. Em. Per Kværne, University of Oslo (Norway)
Estella Carpi, Research Associate, University College London (UK)
Dilinur Kassimova, Associate Professor, Suleyman Demirel University (Kazakhstan)
Sebastian Veg, Professor (directeur d’études), Centre de Recherches historiques, EHESS (France)
Sylvie Peperstraete, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) & Ecole pratique des hautes Etudes (France)
Naomi Standen, Professor of Medieval History, University of Birmingham (UK)
Séagh Kehoe, Teaching Fellow in Modern Chinese History, School of History, Politics and IR, University of Leicester (UK)
Dr. Jesko Schmoller, Senior researcher, European University St. Petersburg / Perm State University (Russian Federation)
John L. Esposito, University Professor, Georgetown University (US)
Gail Helt, Assistant Professor and Coordinator,, Security and Intelligence Studies Program
King University (US)
Martin Flaherty, Visiting Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (US)
Tamar Mayer, Professor of Geography, Middlebury College (US)
Nader Hashemi, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver (US)
Steven Sabol, Professor of History, UNC Charlotte (US)
Carole McGranahan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado (US)
Jesse Driscoll, Associate Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego (US)
Douglas W. Blum, Professor of Political Science, Providence College (US)
Stanley Toops, Associate Professor, Geography, Miami University (US)
Justin M. Jacobs, Associate Professor of History, American University (US)
Mohammad Fadel, Professor of Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law (Canada)
Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University (US)
Deina Abdelkader, Associate Professor, Political Science Dept., University of Massachusetts Lowell, Visiting Scholar at The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University US)
Dr. Emil Nasritdinov, Associate Professor, Anthropology, American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
Russell Zanca, Professor, Department of Anthropology, Northeastern Illinois University (US)
Nazif Mohib Shahrani, PhD, Professor of Anthropology, Central Asian and Middle Eastern Studies School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University (US)
Anthony Tirado Chase, Professor, Diplomacy & World Affairs, Occidental College (US)
Timothy Grose, Assistant Professor of China Studies, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (US)
Kristian Petersen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Old Dominion University (US)
Scott Radnitz, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies University of Washington (US)
Professor Rafik Beekun, Managerial Sciences Dpt.,College of Business, University of Nevada (US)
Ralph Litzinger, Associate Professor, Cultural Anthropology, Duke University (US)
Dr. David G. Atwill, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania State University (US)
Steven M. Vose, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Florida International University (US)
Jeannette Okur, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin (US)
Prof. Fred Dallmayr, Philosophy anf Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (US)
Kirk A. Denton, Professor, Ohio State University (US)
Johan Elverskog, Dedman Family Distinguished Professor, Southern Methodist University (US)
Eli Friedman, Associate Professor, Cornell University (US)
Donald Clarke, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School (US)
Jerome A. Cohen, Professor of Law, New York University (US)
Peter Zarrow, Professor of History, University of Connecticut (US)
Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics, Visiting Scholar, George, Washington University (US)
Rory Truex, Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University (US)
Maggie Clinton, Associate Professor of History, Middlebury College (US)
Gulnisa Nazarova, Senior Lecturer, Indiana University (US)
Brent Hierman, Associate Professor, Department of International Studies & Political Science, Virginia Military Institute (US)
Rafik Beekun, Professor of Strategy and Ethics, University of Nevada-Reno (US)
Kerim Friedman, Associate Professor, National Dong Hwa University (Taiwan)
Dr. Abigail Schoneboom, Research Associate, School of Architecture Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University (UK)
Dibyesh Anand, Professor of International Relations, University of Westminster (UK)
Galen Murton, Assistant Professor, School of Integrated Sciences and Technology, James Madison University (US)
Dr. James McMurray, Research Associates & Associate Tutor, Global Studies, University of Sussex (UK)
Martina Varkockova, Lecturer, Metropolitan University Prague (Czech Republic)
Martha C. Merrill, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Higher Education, Kent State University (US)
Dr. Johan Rasanayagam, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, School of Social Science, University of Aberdeen (UK)
Benjamin Gatling, Assistant Professor, Department of English, George Mason University (US)
Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, PhD
Edward Friedman, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin (US)
Federica Venturi, CNRS/TibArmy Project (Paris)
Clyde Zaidins, Professor Emeritus and Chair, Department of Physics, University of Colorado Denver (US)
Daniel A. Segal, Jean M. Pitzer Professor of Anthropology and Professor of History, Pitzer College, The Claremont Colleges (US)
Dr. Anna Sehnalova, University of Oxford (UK)
Valentina Vincis, Lecturer, University of Tübingen (Germany)
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law (US)
Robin Visser, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
André Laliberté, Professor, School of political studies, University of Ottawa (Canada)