All Reading

This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.

Starting Points:

Eyewitness Accounts

Overview Reports

Lists / Databases of Victims

Satellite Imagery of Camps, Prisons & Cultural Destruction

Lina K 19/09/2024 Lina K 19/09/2024

Uyghur scholar’s prison guard gets 7 years for revealing ‘secrets’

The Uyghur prison guard was sentenced to seven years in jail for divulging information about the condition of prominent Uyghur political prisoner Ilham Tohti.

Lina K 18/09/2024 Lina K 18/09/2024

World leaders must act to end decade of injustice for jailed Uyghur academic

The international community must take concrete steps to help secure the release of Ilham Tohti, Amnesty said ahead of the 10-year-anniversary of his conviction on baseless charges of “separatism”.

Lina K 18/09/2024 Lina K 18/09/2024

Urgent Appeal for the Immediate Release of Ilham Tohti

Ilham Tohti, a renowned Uyghur intellectual, has spent a decade unjustly imprisoned for his peaceful advocacy. His calls for understanding and dialogue between Uyghurs and Han Chinese were met with a life sentence on baseless charges of “separatism”.

Lina K 11/12/2023 Lina K 11/12/2023

Jailed Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Citing his role as “the true symbol of the Uyghur people's fight for freedom” under Chinese rule in Xinjiang, more than 180 high-level officials and experts have nominated Ilham Tohti to receive the prize.

Lina K 23/09/2021 Lina K 23/09/2021

Activists Call For Release of Uyghur Scholar on 7th Anniversary of His Jailing

Human rights activists on Thursday called on China to release jailed Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti, sentenced seven years ago to life in prison for “separatism,” for his advocacy work in Xinjiang.

Lina K 10/10/2014 Lina K 10/10/2014

Resistance, repression, and the cycle of violence in the Uyghur Struggle

On Tuesday, September 26, 2014 a Chinese court convicted Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economics professor, to a life sentence on charges of separatism in a disgracefully political trial. Amnesty International’s China researcher William Nee wrote, “This shameful judgment has no basis in reality.

Lina K 25/09/2014 Lina K 25/09/2014

Ilham Tohti’s Statement after Receiving a Life Sentence for Allegedly “Separatist” Crimes

Following a two-day trial, Ilham Tohti was given a life sentence on charges of “separatism”. The day after he was sentenced, he wrote this statement from prison.

Lina K 17/09/2014 Lina K 17/09/2014

China begins trial of Ilham Tohti

Chinese authorities began trying the Uighur academic Ilham Tohti on charges of “separatism” on Wednesday morning, in what human rights groups have called a “travesty of justice”.

Lina K 16/01/2014 Lina K 16/01/2014

Beijing Criticized For Arbitrary Detention of Uyghur Scholar

Uyghur advocacy groups have criticised Chinese authorities over the arbitrary detention of outspoken Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, saying it signaled President Xi Jinping's new hardline approach in Xinjiang.

Lina K 07/05/2013 Lina K 07/05/2013

Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations

Written by now-imprisoned Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti, this article analyzes the underlying causes of ethnic tensions in Xinjiang, and offers recommendations for protecting the basic rights of Xinjiang’s citizens.

Lina K 17/01/2011 Lina K 17/01/2011

My Ideals and the Career Path I Have Chosen

This autobiographic essay by Ilham Tohti explains his personal ideas and his desire to devote himself to Xinjiang’s social, economic and cultural development and harmonious ethnic coexistence.