All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
Uyghur entrepreneur serving 18 years for charitable contributions
Elijan Ismail was sentenced for “inciting separatism” because the recipients of his donations included families of political prisoners.
Uyghur Race as the Enemy: China’s Legalized Authoritarian Oppression & Mass Imprisonment
This report explores how China’s systematic, large-scale imprisonment of Uyghurs not only amounts to a crime against humanity, but also dangerous lawfare at mass scale.
No Uyghurs from Xinjiang went on Hajj pilgrimage, data shows
Muslims in China need government permission to make the pilgrimage. Of more than a thousand registered pilgrims from China, no Uyghurs or other Muslims from Xinjiang were included in the tally.
Uyghur woman re-sentenced for teaching youth the Quran
Heyrinisa Memet had been previously sentenced during a crackdown in 2014. Within days of her release, she was sentenced again on June 11 for activities which took place back in 2014.
China: Hundreds of Uyghur Village Names Change
Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have been systematically changing hundreds of village names with religious, historical, or cultural meaning for Uyghurs into names reflecting recent Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Learning From the Deportation and Imprisonment of Uyghur Imam
Eighteen years ago, Canadian citizen, imam, and Uyghur human rights activist Huseyin Celil was deported from Uzbekistan to China, where he received a life sentence for his support of Uyghur rights.
Uyghur imam, 96, dies in prison
Sentenced to nine years in prison in 2017, the religious leader died in prison, and authorities did not turn his body over to his family, his granddaughter told Radio Free Asia.
China: Mosques Shuttered, Razed, Altered in Muslim Areas
The Chinese government is significantly reducing the number of mosques in Ningxia and Gansu provinces under its “mosque consolidation” policy, in violation of the right to freedom of religion, Human Rights Watch said today.
Visiting Xinjiang, Xi Jinping doubles down on hard-line policies against Uyghurs
Visiting Xinjiang for the second time in just over a year, President Xi Jinping vowed to double down on China’s hardline policies toward the 11 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live in the region.
Xi urges more work to ‘control illegal religious activities’ in Xinjiang on surprise visit
In a second visit since launching an extreme crackdown on the region’s Uyghur and Turkic Muslim population, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, urged officials in the region to conserve “hard won social stability”.
Xinjiang police detain ethnic Kazakh who sang Quranic recitations at Muslim wedding
Recitations of the Quran have been banned since 2017, when China began the mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in "re-education" camps across Xinjiang.
Historic Kashgar mosque open for tourists, but not worshipers
Chinese authorities have started selling tickets to tourists to visit the historic Id Kah Mosque in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs have been prohibited from praying for years except for certain occasions.
Two Uyghurs confirmed detained for religious activities in Xinjiang
Chinese authorities in Xinjiang detained two Uyghur men for participating in religious activities, Radio Free Asia has confirmed, shedding light on the reason for their detention for the first time.
China using spies to keep Muslim Uyghurs from fasting during Ramadan
Chinese police are using spies to make sure that Uyghur Muslims are not fasting during the holy month of Ramadan – including members of their own ethnic group, according to a police insider.
As Ramadan begins, China's Muslims face fasting bans, monitoring and arrest
As Muslims around the world prepare to begin the holy month of Ramadan, Uyghur children are being quizzed by the authorities over whether their parents are fasting or not, local officials and rights groups say.
Uyghur woman serving 21 years in jail for sending children to religious school
Twenty years ago, when a Uyghur woman sent her three children to a local religious school, little did she know that her action would later land her in prison for 21 years in prison.
The Complicity of Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Genocide in the Uyghur Region
This report highlights how China’s actions constitute what UNESCO calls “strategic cultural cleansing”, through systematic destruction of cultural heritage and targeting people on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.
Former Uyghur Muslim preacher confirmed dead in prison in China’s Xinjiang
A Uyghur Muslim preacher serving a five-year sentence in China’s Xinjiang region for making a religious pilgrimage abroad died in prison in February, according to a local official.
Commission on China - Annual Report 2022
This year’s report documents the mass persecution that punctures the “Chinese human rights” narrative that Xi Jinping attempts to sell to the world.
Event: The Uyghur Genocide & Threats to Religious Liberty: A Conversation with Commissioner Nury Turkel
Featuring Commissioner Nury Turkel, a human rights advocate for Uyghur people, this event features discussion on Turkel’s advocacy efforts, and what the international community can do to safeguard religious liberty in China.