Human rights group Amnesty International accused Abdwaili Abduleheman, who was born in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in western China, of moving to the financial center on May 10 from South Korea, where he was studying for his PhD to visit friends.
Hong Kong authorities said Friday they suspected they had detained a Uyghur student who has been missing for more than two weeks at a Hong Kong airport after sending him a message saying he was under investigation by Chinese police. International amnesty.
He apparently hasn’t been heard from since he sent a text message to a friend informing him that he was being questioned after his arrival.
Urgent ????????????
“Mr. Abdwairi Abduleheman has not been heard from since he texted a friend on May 10.”
????????The government must immediately clarify the whereabouts and fate of Uyghur students.https://t.co/y8uSS4HLtU
— Uyghur Human Rights Project (@UyghurProject) May 26, 2023
“Given the Chinese government’s record of crimes against humanity against Xinjiang Uyghurs and the continued persecution of groups of foreign tourists, the unknown of what happened is deeply worrying,” said Amnesty International researcher Arkan Akad in a statement. It should be done,” he said. International specialized in China.
Investigators called on Hong Kong authorities to urgently clarify Abdulleheman’s whereabouts, given that he “is at grave risk of torture because of his ethnicity and religion.” “If he is detained, they must provide him access to lawyers and his family and protect him from any abuse.”
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 on the promise of 50 years of freedom and autonomy. But his critics say Beijing is tightening its grip on territory and curtailing freedoms.
The national security law imposed on the city by the Chinese government in 2020 also considers lengthy and life imprisonment for charges of secession, subversion, terrorism and “collusion with foreign or external forces.” .
Those charged under this law apply to both Hong Kongers and foreigners, including those simply visiting Hong Kong, and may be sent to mainland China for trial.
Critics say the national security law is too vague, giving the government wide latitude to detain or prosecute people for political speeches or mundane interactions with citizens of other countries.
According to some reports from the United Nations and human rights groups, more than one million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim-majority groups are detained in concentration camps, where they say They say they have been tortured, sexually assaulted and forced to abandon. language and religion.
China categorically denies the existence of forced labor and concentration camps, or the suppression of religious practices, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, which is larger than Peru and has a population of about 25 million people, and has categorically denied any information in this regard. considered to be “baseless accusations”. anger of the local population”.
Source: Biobiochile
