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| South Korea releases Secretary
General of the World Uighur Congress |
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Amnesty International |
Amnesty International on Friday welcomed the release of
the Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress,
following his detention at Incheon International airport
in Seoul, South Korea but said the authorities should
not have denied him entry to the country.
Dolkun Isa had been held at the airport for two days
after being denied entry to South Korea.
"We welcome the news that Dolkun Isa was released and
that he has safely returned home to Germany," said
Roseann Rife, Amnesty International Asia Pacific deputy
director.
"We are, however, disappointed that the South Korean
authorities did not permit Mr Isa to enter South Korea
to attend the World Forum for Democratization in Asia in
Seoul as he had planned."
Mr Isa has travelled widely around the globe to
participate in activities promoting human rights for
Uighurs in China.
The Chinese authorities have accused the World Uyghur
Congress and its President Rebiya Kadeer in particular,
of having masterminded recent riots in Urumqi. The
authorities have not substantiated such claims with any
credible evidence.
Dolkun Isa fled China in 1997 obtaining asylum in
Germany and became a German citizen in 2006.
In 2006, Husein Dzhelil, a Canadian citizen originally
from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, was detained in
Uzbekistan and handed over to China.
In China he was held incommunicado, tortured, denied
access to Canadian consular officials and finally
sentenced to life imprisonment for “plotting to split
the country” and “joining a terrorist organization”. He
remains in prison in China.
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