Huseyin Celil is a member of western China’s Uighur minority. He has been a Canadian citizen since November 2005.

He fled persecution in China because of his campaigning on behalf of his community. The Chinese authorities routinely accuse Uighur activists of "terrorism" without providing credible evidence for such charges.

In March 2006 Huseyin was picked by Chinese police in Uzbekistan while on holiday visiting his wife’s family. He was extradited to China to face trial, and was held in secrecy without access to a lawyer, his family, or consular assistance. He was subjected to threats that he would be ‘disappeared’ or ‘buried alive’ unless he signed a confession. China does not recognize Huseyin’s status as a Canadian citizen, and Canadian officials were barred from attending the trial.

On 19 April 2007 Huseyin Celil was handed a sentence of life imprisonment in a Chinese jail.

TAKE ACTION:
Please send, fax or e-mail a letter to Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli, Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China raising the following points:

grant Mr. Celil, as a Canadian citizen, access to Canadian consular officials in China


calling for a retrial of Mr. Celil in full compliance with international standards including allowing Mr. Celil to appoint his own lawyer


guarantee that he will not be tortured or ill-treated in prison

WRITE TO:
Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China:

WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032
People's Republic of China

Start your letter “Your Excellency”
and send your appeal by Mail: $1.55 postage
Email: gazette@mail.gov.cn
If you prefer to try faxing, send your message c/o the Ministry of Communication to 011 86 10 6529 2345 but be prepared for transmission failure. Try again the next day at a different time of day.

COPIES TO:
His Excellency LU Shumin
Ambassador for the People's Republic of China
515 St. Patrick Street
Ottawa , Ontario K1N 5H3
Fax: (613) 789-1911

Background: China's minority Uighur community
Uighurs are a mainly Muslim ethnic minority who are concentrated primarily in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Since the 1980s, the Uighurs have been the target of systematic and extensive human rights violations. This includes arbitrary detention and imprisonment, incommunicado detention, and serious restrictions on religious freedom as well as cultural and social rights. Uighur political prisoners have been executed after unfair trials. In recent years, China has exploited the international "war on terror" to suppress the Uighurs, labeling them "terrorists", "separatists", or "religious extremists".