In December 2021, five years after returning from Istanbul University to the Xinjiang region of China, Zulyar Yasin was imprisoned for “separatism,” which the China Project observes is “an accusation commonly leveled against Uyghurs who have lived in Turkey.”
Of course, being a proponent of self-rule for Xinjiang is no crime. But those who knew Zulyar during his time as a student in Istanbul say that he was apolitical and, like others worried about the Chinese authorities, took care to steer clear of association with the independence movement that is active in Istanbul. For the Chinese state, though, fitting a broadly defined profile is a sufficient basis for conviction and severe punishment; its officials often regard evidence as irrelevant.
Zulyar’s mother, Rahile Jalalidin, is also now being detained, on no known charge but probably because she was worried about her son. Avi Ackermann reports (China Project, August 28, 2023):
On July 22, police took the 52-year-old Uyghur woman from her home in Urumqi, leaving behind her husband, 14-year-old daughter, and elderly, ailing parents. Rahile herself is unwell—a close relative says she’s suffered from serious cardiac problems in the nearly two years since her son, Zulyar Yasin, 26, was detained.
Urumqi police have declined to release any information on her current condition, where she’s being held, or what she’s accused of, despite her potentially life-threatening health issues—including hypertension and arrhythmia—and multiple recent hospitalizations. . . .
Abduweli Ayup, a Uyghur scholar and human rights activist, believes Rahile was arrested because of her objection to Zulyar’s recent sentencing. In June, Zulyar received an additional 10 years on top of the five that he was already serving. According to sources close to the family, Zulyar’s detention took a strong mental toll on Rahile. Unable to bear the pain, she was driven to openly ask authorities for his release.
Maya Wang, associate director of Human Rights Watch, believes that the formal imprisonment of Zulyar is typical of “the current phase of the crackdown where the authorities are using the law to punish the Uyghurs” as the state moves away from the reeducation camp system. If, as some reports suggest, it is doing so, the motive is only to try to avoid the bad publicity that has resulted from using the camps to systematically brainwash, torture, rape, and murder Uyghurs. The targeting and maltreatment of the Uyghurs continues by other means.
