Uyghur Woman Gives Video Testimony About Detained Uncle In China: Report

Nefise Oghuz, a 20-year-old Uyghur student, said giving a testimony about the illegal imprisonment of her uncle was her "duty".

She also about the alleged genocide of Uyghurs in western China.

Nefise Oghuz gave the statement in four languages -- Uyghur, English, Mandarin and Turkish and shared it on social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook and spoke about how police in Urumqi arrested her uncle, Alim Abdukerim, 33, at his home on August 28, 2017, Radio Free Asia reported.

"My uncle Alim Abdulkerim has been detained in Xinjiang for six years because he is Uyghur. He hasn't been able to see his son, Abdulkerim, who is now six years old. We believe he is innocent and appeal to the Chinese
government to release him and reunite him with his family. pic.twitter.com/EdWEMkhVri

— Nefise Oğuz (@NefiseOguzz28) April 2, 2023

Speaking to Radio Free Asia, Nefise Oghuz said, "I dared to share this video testimony as I could not bear the sufferings of my people facing genocide." She further said, "I could not accept the fate of my uncle and that of millions of Uyghurs in the concentration camps, and I felt terrible for my nephew, who had not seen his father even once after he was born," as per the Radio Free Asia report.

Oghuz said she gave the testimony in Turkish expressing hope that the Turks would pay attention to the sufferings of the Uyghurs. She gave the testimony in English, hoping that the international community will pay attention. She further said that she presented the testimony in Chinese to try to force the Chinese government to listen to her demand.

As per the news report, Alim Abdukerim's family was not aware about his whereabouts for two years. Later, Oghuz obtained information that he was in prison in Korla known as Ku'erle in Chinese in Xinjiang, two years after he was taken away.

In the multilingual videos, Oghuz said, "My innocent uncle has been in jail for the past six years." She called on the Chinese government to immediately release her uncle. The videos have grabbed the attention of Uyghurs and outpouring of reactions on social media platforms.

Speaking to Radio Free Asia over the phone from Istanbul, she said, "Since we could not get any information about him, I could not bear this injustice. Oghuz and her family have been living in Turkey since 2015. She said that they remained silent for the past years, fearing that the testimony could harm their relatives in their homeland.

Chinese police detained Abdukerim shortly after he married amid a larger crackdown on Uyghurs beginning in 2017. During the crackdown, authorities arbitrarily detained ordinary and prominent Uyghurs like businesspeople, writers, artists, athletes and Muslim clergy members into "re-education" camps, as per the news report.

Abdukerim was a computer engineer and was managing computer and internet-related business at a family-run company called Halis Foreign Trade Ltd. Oghuz said she tried to find information regarding him from relatives in Xinjiang and from Chinese social media sources.

Oghuz said, "We don't know why the Chinese government arrested him", adding, "He had never been abroad. I think the Chinese authorities detained him for being Uyghur and Muslim", Radio Free Asia reported.

After the arrest of Alim Abdukerim, the family closed its business, as per the news report. His crime and the length of his sentence remain unknown, however, Oghuz learned that he is being held at a prison in Korla that operates under the auspices of the Xinjiang Construction and Production Company.

China has said that the camps were vocational training centres established to stop religious extremism and terrorism. However, those who survived the camps have said that Uyghurs there were subjected to torture, sexual assault and forced labour.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)