Rebiya Kadeer's Sons Charged With State Security and Economic Crimes

July 25, 2006

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) arrested three adult sons of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and charged them on June 13 with state security and economic crimes, according to a June 14 press release from the Uyghur American Association (UAA).

Authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) arrested three adult sons of exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and charged them on June 13 with state security and economic crimes, according to a June 14 press release from the Uyghur American Association (UAA). Authorities charged Ablikim Abdurehim (Abdureyim) with subverting state power, Alim Abdurehim with tax evasion and splitting the state, and Qahar (Kahar) Abdurehim with tax evasion, according to the report. Authorities also placed Kadeer's brother, Mamat Kadeer, under house arrest. In a June 23 press release, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) reported that authorities have tortured Alim Abdurehim since placing him in detention. The press release also stated that authorities have detained and questioned acquaintances of Kadeer's children. The UHRP reported on July 6 that Alim confessed to the charges against him on or around July 1, after being subjected to torture. The local procuratorate indicted Alim and Qahar Abdurehim on July 10, according to a July 12 press release from the UHRP that expressed concern about the criminal trial process.

The charges follow earlier police custody and abuse of Kadeer's children in late May and early June, evidently intended to prevent them from meeting with a visiting U.S. Congressional staff delegation, U.S. NGO and media sources reported. Chinese news media also reported on the event, stating in a June 1 Tianshan Net report that authorities questioned Alim, Ablikim, and Kadeer's daughter, Roshengul Abdurehim, on May 31 regarding economic crimes that XUAR authorities claim Kadeer and her family committed while operating a local trading company. According to Tianshan Net, when Alim Abdurehim's attitude became "overbearing," authorities were "no longer able to carry out normal questioning." The article reported that authorities then held Alim and Ablikim Abdurehim under criminal detention on June 1 and placed Roshengul Abdurehim under house arrest.

On June 2, Tianshan Net posted the same article but with an added sentence reporting that when the authorities were continuing the questioning on June 1, Kadeer's three children forced their way onto a bus and fled. U.S. media and NGO sources reported on June 1 that authorities beat Alim and Ablikim that day after forcing them and their families to board a bus that took them to the outskirts of Urumqi, the XUAR capital. Ablikim was hospitalized after the beating, and members of Kadeer's extended family placed under surveillance. The June 14 UAA article reported that Kadeer's daughter Roshengul remains under house arrest and other members of Kadeer's family remain under surveillance, including grandchildren whom authorities are preventing from leaving home to attend school.

At a June 25 politics and law work conference, XUAR Party Secretary Wang Lequan made reference to "new trends in activity inside and outside the borders among the three evil forces" of splittism, terrorism, and religious extremism, according to a June 26 report from the Xinjiang Daily (via Tianshan Net). He called on the government to maintain stability in the region and use an "iron fist" to strike hard against separatist activity.