Xinjiang Authorities Question Rebiya Kadeer's Son, Name Him a Criminal Suspect

May 1, 2006

Authorities in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), held in custody Alim Abdurehim, son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, for one hour during early April, informing Abdurehim that he was under suspicion for evading taxes, according to an April 10 article from Radio Free Asia (RFA). Abdurehim told RFA that the XUAR Public Security Department Political Affairs Office, Investigations Office, and Urumqi Public Security Bureau summoned him to the Nanguan police station, where they informed him that he was a criminal suspect. Abdurehim reported that officials also questioned him on his social connections and asked him if he wanted to hire a lawyer. A reporter contacted the Investigations Office of the XUAR Public Security Department, which declined to comment on the case.

Authorities in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), held in custody Alim Abdurehim, son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, for one hour during early April, informing Abdurehim that he was under suspicion for evading taxes, according to an April 10 article from Radio Free Asia (RFA). Abdurehim told RFA that the XUAR Public Security Department Political Affairs Office, Investigations Office, and Urumqi Public Security Bureau summoned him to the Nanguan police station, where they informed him that he was a criminal suspect. Abdurehim reported that officials also questioned him on his social connections and asked him if he wanted to hire a lawyer. A reporter contacted the Investigations Office of the XUAR Public Security Department, which declined to comment on the case.

Abdurehim said the accusation against him was false and that he refused to admit to the accusation when pressured to do so by authorities. He speculated that the accusation was a form of retaliation against his family. A spokesperson for the Munich-based World Uighur Congress said that officials may have held Abdurehim to warn Rebiya Kadeer not to conduct any activities during PRC President Hu Jintao's April visit to the United States, the RFA article reported.

Authorities detained Kadeer, a prominent Uighur businesswoman and civic leader, in mid-1999 and sentenced her in 2000 to eight years in prison for "unlawfully supplying state secrets or intelligence to entities outside China." Government authorities released her on medical parole on March 17, 2005, and permitted her to depart China for medical treatment in the United States. In exile, Kadeer has been an advocate for Uighur rights, has criticized Chinese government human rights abuses against Uighurs in the XUAR, and has described in public her experiences while imprisoned. Before her release, Kadeer said, prison guards warned her that her business interests and relatives who remain in the XUAR would face repercussions if she disclosed sensitive information overseas, RFA reported in a March 28, 2005 article.

Officials began harassing Kadeer's relatives and employees shortly after her March 2005 release. In May, authorities detained two employees of a company belonging to Kadeer and held them without charges until December 14. Authorities pursued Ablikim Abdurehim, another of Kadeer's sons, during the same May round-up. Alim Abdurehim told RFA in August that XUAR public security officers had created a special unit to monitor Kadeer's relatives and business interests; the same month, authorities detained two of Kadeer's nephews for one day. Wang Lequan, Party Secretary of the XUAR, has accused Kadeer of economic crimes, including tax evasion and loan default.