Uyghur Scholar Confirmed Abducted by Chinese Police 3 Years Ago

Abliz Orhun was arrested for his involvement in an unexplained ‘local case.’

Reported by Shohret Hoshur

A Uyghur historian and editor who was arrested by authorities in Beijing was handed over to police in China’s far-western Xinjiang region, where he has been detained for three years, Uyghur sources and police said.

Abliz Orhun was initially taken into custody by police from Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi), capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in February 2018 when he was working as editor-in-chief of Xinjiang Difang Zhi (Xinjiang Regional Historiography) magazine in Beijing, according to the sources.

The Urumqi police later handed Abliz over to the Kumul (Hami) prefecture police in Xinjiang, the sources said.

A Uyghur source who lives in exile in Norway and who is familiar with the situation told RFA that Abliz had been harassed by Chinese national security police in 2010 because of his work with foreign researchers.

When contacted by RFA to find out where Abliz was being held and whether he had been sentenced to prison, a police officer at the Urumqi municipal police department’s national security branch said that the historian had been involved in a case in Kumul but did not elaborate.

The officer, who said he was in charge of a police unit but did not give his name, also said that authorities had transferred Abliz from Urumqi to Kumul.

“His case was related to the local [Kumul] authorities. That’s why he was taken by the local police. … [H]e was taken from Urumqi,” said the officer, who did not disclose whether Abliz had been sentenced or to which internment camp or prison he had been sent.

Emphasizing that the matter concerned “sensitive topics of state security,” the police officer said that he could not comment without formal written approval from the Chinese government.

“You can’t make this kind of inquiry,” he told an RFA reporter. “We have legal responsibilities to keep this information confidential. If we receive a government letter, then we can release this relevant information. We can’t just tell you everything on the phone.”

Chinese authorities have arrested numerous Uyghur intellectuals, prominent businessmen, and cultural and religious figures in Xinjiang for years as part of a campaign to control members of the mostly Muslim minority group and, purportedly, to prevent religious extremism and terrorist activities.

More than 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are believed to have been held in a network of detention camps in Xinjiang since 2017. Beijing has said that the camps are vocational training centers and has denied widespread and documented allegations that it has mistreated Muslims living in Xinjiang.

The purges are among the abusive and repressive Chinese government policies that have been determined by the United States and other countries as constituting genocide against the Uyghurs.

Abliz had completed a special research project called the Chagatai Tomh Documents as part of his work, which later led to his interrogation by Chinese national security personnel, according to online information, Japanese scholars, and the Uyghur who lives in Norway.

Chagatai was the official and literary language of the Chagatai Khanate (1225-1687) in Central Asia, which included most of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and western Xinjiang. It was ruled by Ghengis Khan’s second son and his descendants.

The Chinese cited Abliz’s involvement in a “local case” as an excuse to arrest the scholar, as they have done with other Uyghur intellectuals, said the Uyghur who lives in Norway.

Abliz published a six-volume book of selections from articles published in the Xinjiang Difang Zhi magazine and Noshrvan Yaushev’s Letters of the Six City, he said. The historian also edited the memoirs of the late Saidullah Saipullayup, one of the leaders of the East Turkistan national revolution in the 1940s, and published them in the magazine.

Translated by the Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. https://www.rfa.org

Boxer Dog Breed

Boxers love to spend time with their owners and were originally developed to be working dogs.They are loyal and Athletic.They get along well with kids. Boxers are large, short-haired dogs.

Read More

Trustworthy AI

Artificial intelligence systems that are understandable, equitable, interpretable, resilient, transparent, safe, and secure are referred to as trustworthy AI. These qualities provide stakeholders and end users faith and confidence in AI systems.

Read More

Satellite Imagery Shows Extensive Damage from Nepal-Tibet Border Floods

Satellite imagery taken at the Nepal-Tibet border shows extensive destruction from flooding and landslides that inundated the area Wednesday leaving hundreds of people dead or missing, but information from the Chinese-controlled side of the border is severely lacking, Tibetan rights activists told Radio Free Asia.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets on Situation in Syria

Ibrahim Olabi, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East (Syria).

Read More

Scared Tuxedo Kitten Rescued from Bottom of 10-Feet Pipe in California

In an abandoned field, California’s Alameda Police Department (APD) Animal Control Officer Emily Crum found a tiny, terrified tuxedo kitten that had fallen about ten feet down a metal pipe.

Read More

Clumber Spaniel

The Clumber Spaniel has a robust build, large bones, and a strong chest.The straight, soft coat of the Clumber Spaniel is medium in length. Coats are flat and thick.The coat is mostly white with sporadic orange or lemon markings on the legs, ears, and face.

Read More

Data Science

Data science is a multidisciplinary field that uses machine learning, statistics, and data analysis to analyze data and extract insights and data.Data science uses systems, algorithms, and scientific methods to extract useful information and insights from raw data.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets on Situation in Middle East, Including Palestinian Question

Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Read More