Tuesday, January 01, 2013

News at Eleven: Gulmire Imin is a Uyghur writer in China

who worked for the Uyghur-language website Salkin, and contributed poetry and articles critical of Chinese government policies. After Salkin posted a call for a demonstration in Urumqi following the deaths of Uyghur factory workers, a protest that became violent after it was suppressed by Chinese security forces (see description in the biography of Memetjan Abdulla), she was arrested as a web moderator of the website and sentenced to life in prison for being an "illegal organizer.” Her sentence is notably harsh compared to sentences of others who participated in the unrest and is reflective of the government's crackdown on dissent by ethnic minorities. She was reportedly tortured while in detention, and she is currently held in the Xinjiang Women's Prison in Urumqi.

from Human Rights Watch: Writers Honored for Commitment to Free Expression

~~~~~~~~~~~

No comments :