The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of China to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 6/2023 concerning Naghmat Hamit, Tajinisa Yimin and Dilixiati Wulibaiyi starting for the Government of China to immediately and unconditionally release them and to accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Naghmat Hamit, Tajinisa Yimin and Dilixiati Wulibaiyi (China) : Opinion No. 6/2023
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF THREE INDIVIDUALS OF THE UIGHUR MINORITY
Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi are three individuals from China, all belonging to the Uighur minority in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.
The Working Group found that the three individuals have been subjected to enforced disappearance given that they were detained by agents of the State and since then there has been a concealment of their fate and whereabouts, thus placing them outside the protection of the law. Indeed, prior to the complaint before the Working Group, the exact whereabouts of each of these three detainees since their respective arrests was unclear, as while their family though they were detained in a re-education camp, it is only in its late reply to the WGAD complaint that, the Government has stated that Mr. Hamit is in Wusu Prison, Mr. Wulibaiyi in Xinyuan Prison, but did not specify the whereabouts of Ms. Yimin, albeit it is clear that she is in the custody of the Chinese authorities.
The Working Group recalled that enforced disappearance constitutes a violation of the rules of international law, absolutely prohibited by international law, constituing a particularly aggravated form of arbitrary detention and guaranteeing inter alia the right to recognition as a person before the law, the right to liberty and security of the person and the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Consequently, the Working Group concluded that the detention of Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi has violated articles 3, 6, 8 and 9 of the Universal Declaration, as such their detention lacks a legal basis, and is therefore arbitrary, falling under category I.
DETAINED ON SUSPICION OF AIDING AND PARTICIPATING IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES
In its late reply, the Government confirms that Mr. Hamit was criminally detained on 13 September 2017 on suspicion of aiding terrorist activities. According to the Government, he was sentenced in April 2018 to 19 years and 10 months of imprisonment by the Yining Municipal People’s Court and he is currently serving this sentence in Wusu Prison.
In relation to Ms. Yimin, the police arrested her at the beginning of 2021 without an arrest warrant or the reasons for her arrest being explained. In its late reply, the Government argues that Ms. Yimin was criminally detained on 25 July 2021. On 11 September 2021, the People’s Procuratorate of Tianshan District, Urumqi, approved Ms. Yimin’s arrest, in accordance with the law, for participating in a terrorist organization and transferred her for prosecution on 20 December 2021. According to the Government, the case is currently under judicial consideration. However, the Government provided no information in relation to her current whereabouts.
Mr. Wulibaiyi was allegedly detained, on 6 March 2018, by the authorities, which neither provided a reason for his arrest nor presented an arrest warrant. In its late reply, the Government submits that, for the crime of aiding terrorist activities and refusing to provide evidence of terrorist and extremist crimes, Mr. Wulibaiyi was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 8 April 2018 and is currently serving his sentence in Xinyuan Prison.
In these circumstances, the Working Group noted that China confirmed that Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi are in the custody of the authorities and that they have all been charged with terrorism and extremism offences, but regretted that China provided no details regarding the alleged criminal activities, which prompted the charges or indeed the trial proceedings. The Working Group also expressed regrets concerning the failure of the Government to engage with it constructively, and in a timely fashion, in providing responses to allegations concerning the detention of individuals in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
A SUSTAINED PRACTICE OF DISCRIMINARY MASS ARBITRARY DETENTION OF UIGHURS PERSISTENTLY DISREGARDING THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL
The Working Group recalled the persistent failure of the authorities to provide any information concerning the detention of individuals belonging to the Uighur minority and the near impossibility for family members or others to ascertain the fate of detainees. Moreover, the Working Group emphazised that numerous reports demonstrate a sustained practice of mass arbitrary detention of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
In these circumstances, noting the complete opacity of the proceedings against the three individuals, as well as noting the failure of the Government to provide any clarifications concerning the trial proceedings, the Working Group considers that the right to fair and public trial of the three individuals has been entirely disregarded. In the present case, the absence of any information concerning the charges against and trials of Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi, who were arrested years ago, is impossible to reconcile with the most basic guarantees of a fair trial.
Noting all the above, the Working Group concluded that their detention has violated articles 6, 8, 10 and 11 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is thus arbitrary and falls under category III. Moreover, the Working Group found that Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi were arrested and remain detained due to their belonging to the Uighur minority and being of Muslim faith, in violation of articles 2, 7 and 9 of the Universal Declaration and is thus arbitrary, falling under category V.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Naghmat Hamit, Tajinisa Yimin and Dilixiati Wulibaiyi was arbitrary and fell under categories I, III and V because their deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended that the Government of China take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Hamit, Ms. Yimin and Mr. Wulibaiyi without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms, starting with their immediate release and accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.
Nb : In its 30-year history, the Working Group has found China in violation of its international human rights obligations in more than 90 cases, indicating a systemic problem with arbitrary detention in China that may amount to a crime against humanity.
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