Uyghur scholar's life imprisonment confirmed six years after detention

Six years after she first disappeared, a rights group Thursday claimed that noted Uyghur scholar Rahile Dawut was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court. Rights group Dui Foundation in California announced that a Chinese government source confirmed them that Dawut was sentenced to life in prison for “allegedly endangering state security”, Voice of America reported. She’s one of those at the receiving end of China’s crackdown on Uyghur people in the country’s far-off north-western Xinjiang province. According to Uyghur rights groups, over 300 intellectuals from the ethnic group were detained in the region in an attempt to destroy their culture. Dawut, a professor at Xinjiang University and a celebrated intellectual, first disappeared in 2017. She was charged with separatism. However, it was unclear as to when she was sentenced and it is only now that any credible source has confirmed her sentence. “Among the Uyghurs, intellectuals and scholars and professors are very highly regarded. So when you strike at them, you strike at the very heart of Uyghur culture,” John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, was quoted as saying by the VOA. Media reports estimate that around 3 million people were arbitrarily detained in the province with up to one million held in mass “re-education” camps, according to Amnesty International. Dawut’s scholarship focused on the Uyghur folklore, culture and heritage, and her life sentence, Uyghur rights groups say, reflected China’s intention to annihilate Uyghur culture. “If you look at historical examples when the state attempts to commit genocide, they tend to go after the brightest and the finest of the society, who would preserve their culture, who would preserve the collective dignity of the people,” Human rights lawyer Rayhan Asat agreed told VOA.