China
Ilham Tohti: UN Working Group opinion and current status
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the deprivation of liberty of Ilham Tohti is arbitrary, falling within categories II and III. It requested his immediate release and compensation, and encouraged China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.1,2
Category IICategory III
Government position
The Government replied on 19 March 2014. It stated that Mr. Tohti was lawfully arrested on 15 January 2014, alleged that he incited students and website staff toward separatism, and said the case remained in process.2
Background
According to the opinion, Mr. Tohti, an ethnic Uighur economics professor in Beijing, was arrested at his Beijing apartment on 15 January 2014 and on 26 January 2014 was charged with separatism related offences. No sentence had been reported at the time of the opinion.2
Status now
Sentenced to life imprisonment on a separatism charge by a court in Urumqi in September 2014, per AP. He denied the charge. Table.Media reported in September 2024 that the EU reiterated its call for his release. ANI reported in January 2025 that he was serving a life sentence and, citing his daughter, that he had been held incommunicado since 2017 with no confirmed location.3,4,5
As of 17 January 2025.
Sources
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 3/2014 concerning Ilham Tohti (China), A/HRC/WGAD/2014/3, UN Digital Library record (21 July 2014)
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Library (copy of UN document), Opinion No. 3/2014 (China), full text mirror (21 July 2014)
- Associated Press (via Fox News), Uighur scholar in China plans to appeal life sentence for separatism, cites improper detention (24 September 2014)
- Table.Media, Xinjiang: EU demands release of Uyghur scientist Ilham Tohti (23 September 2024)
- ANI (via The Tribune), Human Rights Foundation marks 11 years of Uyghur professor's detention, calls for immediate release (17 January 2025)