(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/25/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned a life sentence for a prominent Uyghur activist imposed by the Chinese government.
Rahile Dawut, 57, lost her appeal to a 2018 conviction for “endangering state security.” Dawut was a professor at Xinjiang University and renowned for her scholarship on Islamic sites. She disappeared in 2017 during the Chinese government’s brutal crackdown on the Uyghur minority.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We condemn the Chinese Communist Party for imposing a life sentence on this respected scholar. We also urge the international community, especially Muslim-majority nations, to call on China to set Rahile Dawut free and stop its anti-Muslim campaign of terror against Uyghurs and other Turkic ethnic minorities.”
Mitchell added that in August, CAIR joined Uyghur advocates in calling on travel companies to stop selling trips to China’s Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government is conducting a campaign of genocide and mass internment against Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minority groups.
He noted that earlier this year, CAIR called for the release of an ethnic Kazakh man reportedly imprisoned in Xinjiang for publicly reciting the Holy Quran, Islam’s revealed text.
SEE: CAIR Calls for Release of Man Detained in China for Reciting Quran in Public
The Chinese government is targeting Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minorities with a campaign of genocide. Millions of Uyghurs have been detained in concentration camps in which beatings, torture and rape are the norm. Millions more are being used as slave labor on plantations and in Chinese factories.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com