A testimony from our “100 Camp Testimonies” Book
I am originally from the city of Korla, East Turkistan, and I would like to testify for my relatives.
Abdukadir Kerem, my uncle (the younger brother of my mother), ran a restaurant in Korla between 2014 and 2015, who was sent to an internment camp together with his son Abdukeyum Kadir circa November 2015. His home address was the second group of Yandurma village, Daqu township of Bay County, Aksu Prefecture. My relatives went to various police stations in Korla and even the ones in Aksu to look for them, but to no avail. I later learned that my uncle was taken to an internment camp in Ürümchi, and was later sentenced to 12 years in prison. Currently, he is probably held in a prison in Shihezi or Ürümchi. My uncle’s son, Abdukeyum Kadir, is still held in an internment camp.
My uncle’s wife Roshengül Turghun and their two other sons, Abdugheni Abdukadir and Mobarek Abdukadir, were sent to internment camps in 2017. Circa August 2019 Abdugheni Abdukadir and his mother Roshengul Turghun were released from internment camps in Aksu, but Mobarek Abdukadir is still held in an internment camp.
Abdullah Memet, my brother-in-law (my husband’s younger brother) was born in 1998, who was taken from his home in early March 2014, when he was only 16 years old. The police claimed that he had listened to something “illegal” on WeChat. Circa late August 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, i.e., the Chinese regime arbitrarily sentenced a 16-year-old child to 10 years in prison.
Memetjan Mijit, my cousin (the son of my father’s elder brother), was sent to an internment camp circa 2017. I last saw him in April 2015, when I left East Turkistan, and ever since then I have not been able to contact him. In 2019, I tried to find out where he was, but I was told that he was still held in an internment camp.
Ayshemgül Mijit, my cousin (elder sister of Memetjan Mijit), and her husband Tahir Moydun were sent to internment camps. As of early 2022, they are still held in internment camps. They have four children and maybe their grandma is taking care of them.
Abdullah, my friend’s husband, is from Yarkant, who had businesses both in Yarkant and Ürümchi, where his company name in Yarkant was Aybeg International Trade, while the other affiliated company in Ürümchi was Ayhenim Trade, which was run by his wife Adile, who is my friend. They were both taken to internment camps in 2017: Abdullah in October while Adile in November. I heard that Adile was released in May 2019, but his husband Abdullah is still held in an internment camp.
My mother Zeynepgül Kerem and my younger brother Abeydulla Omar were sent to internment camps circa 2017, and they were later released in May 2019. During his internment, my brother Abeydullah became very ill, and he was hospitalized and received medical treatment in late 2018, during which time he was given a disability certificate. After he got a bit better, he was taken back to the camp. I saw my brother in a Chinese propaganda YouTube video, in which he stands at a bridge in Korla and says, “Some people claimed that I disappeared, but that was not true. As you can see I’m alive and well, living a good life.”In a well-connected world I cannot reach my family members back in East Turkistan, and the injustice against us Uyghurs must stop. I demand that the Chinese regime release my relatives.
