Celil granted access to lawyer in jail after Martin visit with Chinese PM
OMAR EL AKKAD
June 6, 2007
Jailed Canadian activist Huseyin Celil has finally been allowed to meet with his lawyer, more than a month after a Chinese court sentenced him to life in prison for terrorism-related offences.
Mr. Celil met with his hired Chinese lawyer last Thursday and Friday, according to the Uyghur Canadian Association. Each meeting lasted about two hours, marking a dramatic shift in the amount of access China allows to Mr. Celil.
Previously, neither his Chinese lawyer nor Canadian embassy officials were allowed to meet the prisoner.
Indeed, embassy officials were barred from entering the courtroom when his sentence was handed down in April.
Mr. Celil was represented by another court-appointed lawyer during his trial. His current lawyer was hired by relatives and supporters to work on his appeal.
Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association, said Mr. Celil's Chinese lawyer was given assurances after his first two meetings that he would be granted consistent access to his client.
That's a sharp change from a little more than a month ago, when Mr. Celil's lawyer asked the jailed Canadian's family to deny his involvement in the case, for fear of potential retribution from the Chinese authorities.
Last month, former prime minister Paul Martin visited China to attend the African Development Bank's annual meeting. He serves as an adviser to the organization.
During his time in the country, Mr. Martin met with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao for 35 minutes, where he raised Mr. Celil's case and repeated the Conservative government's demand that the imprisoned Canadian be given consular access. Yesterday, Mr. Tohti said the newly relaxed restrictions on Mr. Celil's access to lawyers is likely a sign that Mr. Martin's meeting and the current government's tough stand on the issue are working.
According to Mr. Tohti, the meetings between Mr. Celil and his lawyer included two other people: a translator and a representative of China's secret police.
Mr. Celil looked to be in good health, Mr. Tohti said, but it was unclear how honest he was able to be about certain topics, due to the police representative at the meeting.
Mr. Celil is an ethnic Uyghur, a Muslim minority group that resides primarily in the Xinjiang region of northwest China.
He was arrested in Uzbekistan and handed over to China more than a year ago. He was travelling on a Canadian passport at the time of his arrest.
Chinese authorities have labelled Mr. Celil a terrorist, and charged him with engaging in violent separatist activities.
His case has strained relations between China and Ottawa, as government officials in Canada continued to protest against his detention without consular access. Human-rights groups have also expressed concerns that Mr. Celil has been tortured during his time in Chinese custody.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070606.CELIL06/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/
Friday, June 15, 2007
Supporters seeking new lawyer for Celil
Supporters seeking new lawyer for Celil
OMAR EL AKKAD
Supporters of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen detained in China, say that his court-appointed lawyer is inadequate and that Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has recommended they obtain independent legal advice there.
Mr. Celil, who was born in China but came to Canada as a refugee in 2001, was detained in Uzbekistan last March while travelling with his family on Canadian passports. Last summer, Uzbekistan deported him to China, where he faces multiple terrorism-related charges. Despite his Canadian citizenship, Mr. Celil has so far been denied access to Canadian consulate officials or lawyers.
Mr. Celil is a member of the Uighur people, a Muslim minority group whose calls for greater independence have angered officials in Beijing. Chinese officials have for years accused myriad Uighurs of terrorism -- one of Mr. Celil's childhood acquaintances was executed in China earlier this month -- but members of the Uighur community abroad say any act of defiance or separatism easily falls under the Chinese definition of terrorism.
Mehmet Tohti, the president of the Uighur Canadian Association, sent an e-mail to supporters yesterday asking for donations to help raise the $12,000 he estimates it will cost to hire an independent lawyer in China.
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Mr. Tohti said he is unsure a new lawyer will be of much use to Mr. Celil. "The political powers in Beijing have already made a decision," he said of Mr. Celil's legal fate.
But a new lawyer might at least be able to prepare and present some documents in Mr. Celil's defence, something it doesn't appear his current lawyer has been able to do, Mr. Tohti said.
Mr. Tohti spoke with Mr. Celil's court-appointed lawyer over the weekend, he said. The lawyer told him he had met with Canadian officials, but otherwise there was little progress.
"He seemed a little bit scared," Mr. Tohti said of the lawyer.
In the meantime, Mr. Celil's immediate fate remains unclear. The first and last time he was seen in a public setting since his detention last March was early this month, when he appeared in a Chinese courtroom to hear charges against him.
While the practice of obtaining an independent lawyer is relatively straightforward in Canada, it is a far more unorthodox process in China, said Alex Neve, Canadian director of Amnesty International. Mr. Neve has been closely working on Mr. Celil's case since early in his detention.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070227.CELIL27/TPStory/?query=celil
OMAR EL AKKAD
Supporters of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen detained in China, say that his court-appointed lawyer is inadequate and that Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has recommended they obtain independent legal advice there.
Mr. Celil, who was born in China but came to Canada as a refugee in 2001, was detained in Uzbekistan last March while travelling with his family on Canadian passports. Last summer, Uzbekistan deported him to China, where he faces multiple terrorism-related charges. Despite his Canadian citizenship, Mr. Celil has so far been denied access to Canadian consulate officials or lawyers.
Mr. Celil is a member of the Uighur people, a Muslim minority group whose calls for greater independence have angered officials in Beijing. Chinese officials have for years accused myriad Uighurs of terrorism -- one of Mr. Celil's childhood acquaintances was executed in China earlier this month -- but members of the Uighur community abroad say any act of defiance or separatism easily falls under the Chinese definition of terrorism.
Mehmet Tohti, the president of the Uighur Canadian Association, sent an e-mail to supporters yesterday asking for donations to help raise the $12,000 he estimates it will cost to hire an independent lawyer in China.
Print Edition - Section Front
Section A Front Enlarge Image
The Globe and Mail
Mr. Tohti said he is unsure a new lawyer will be of much use to Mr. Celil. "The political powers in Beijing have already made a decision," he said of Mr. Celil's legal fate.
But a new lawyer might at least be able to prepare and present some documents in Mr. Celil's defence, something it doesn't appear his current lawyer has been able to do, Mr. Tohti said.
Mr. Tohti spoke with Mr. Celil's court-appointed lawyer over the weekend, he said. The lawyer told him he had met with Canadian officials, but otherwise there was little progress.
"He seemed a little bit scared," Mr. Tohti said of the lawyer.
In the meantime, Mr. Celil's immediate fate remains unclear. The first and last time he was seen in a public setting since his detention last March was early this month, when he appeared in a Chinese courtroom to hear charges against him.
While the practice of obtaining an independent lawyer is relatively straightforward in Canada, it is a far more unorthodox process in China, said Alex Neve, Canadian director of Amnesty International. Mr. Neve has been closely working on Mr. Celil's case since early in his detention.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070227.CELIL27/TPStory/?query=celil
Chinese police tortured activist, family says
Chinese police tortured activist, family says
Ottawa dispatches diplomats to trial
BILL CURRY AND OMAR EL AKKAD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA, TORONTO — A Canadian imprisoned in China told a courtroom he was tortured last year by Chinese secret police, including being starved, constantly questioned and threatened with being buried alive and "disappeared," relatives of Huseyin Celil say.
But no Canadian diplomat was in the room during Mr. Celil's rare appearance -- a fact that triggered a flurry of activity yesterday from the Conservative government.
Ottawa said that Canadian diplomats have been dispatched to the province where Mr. Celil is being detained and are under orders to remain on site indefinitely.
Mr. Celil, a former mosque leader in Hamilton, was detained in March while visiting his wife's family in Uzbekistan. Under an agreement between the two countries, Uzbekistan sent him to China, where he has been detained for the past eight months.
The 38-year-old is a member of the Uyghur minority in northwest China. The Uyghur people's demand for autonomy has long angered Beijing, which has levelled terrorism accusations against many members of the Muslim minority group.
Mr. Celil's allegations of torture add a new element to what has become one of the highest profile consular cases of Stephen Harper's time as Prime Minister.
Mr. Celil was at the centre of a major diplomatic row last year between Ottawa and Beijing. En route to meet with Asia-Pacific leaders in Vietnam last November, Mr. Harper said Canada would not sell out Canada's belief in human rights for the "almighty dollar."
"When a Canadian citizen is taken from a third country and imprisoned in China, this is a serious concern to this country," Mr. Harper said at the time, a reference to Mr. Celil.
When the Canadian diplomats arrive in the provincial city of Urumqi, Mr. Celil's relatives, who have been there for the past month, will tell them what they heard in the courtroom.
Last Friday's court appearance was attended by Mr. Celil's sister and his son. They initially did not tell Mr. Celil's wife, Kamila, who lives near Toronto, about her husband's accusations of torture because they feared they were being monitored by the secret police.
Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association, said Mr. Celil's family first called him on Saturday, the day after the six-hour court appearance. Fearing they were being monitored by Chinese police, the family said Mr. Celil was in good condition and that there was "some good debate" during his court hearing, Mr. Tohti said.
When the family called back from a public phone on Monday, they outlined allegations of torture and false confessions, Mr. Tohti said.
"They're scared to death to give this information," he said.
Canadian officials took the unusual step this week of using the news media to berate Canada's diplomats in China for failing to attend the court appearance. Officials were quoted without being named Monday, saying the Prime Minister was demanding an explanation.
A call to the Foreign Affairs Department was returned yesterday by the political office of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.
Mr. MacKay's spokesman, Dan Dugas, said the minister "is not happy" with the way Mr. Celil's file has been handled and that the minister personally called the Canadian embassy in Beijing on Monday and yesterday.
"The Chinese government is not co-operating with the Canadian mission in China and we aren't going to stop asking them for what's happening with Mr. Celil," said Mr. Dugas, who would not comment directly on claims the Prime Minister was angered that no official was in the court.
"I can tell you he [Mr. MacKay] is not happy either," Mr. Dugas said. "He's asking for answers. He wants to know what is being done and what the next steps are going to be."
Liberal MP Dan McTeague said the new allegations of torture being made by Mr. Celil's family are "extremely serious" and now require the Prime Minister to personally phone the Chinese President to demand answers.
"If indeed what has transpired here is correct, nothing short of a direct intervention by the Prime Minister to his counterpart [Chinese President] Hu Jintao, is going to resolve this," he said. "My overall concern remains that the Prime Minister has seen fit to heap blame on diplomats as opposed to taking up the matter himself."
Conservative MP Helena Guergis, a Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said the Liberals' attacks in the House of Commons yesterday are hypocritical given that Liberals blamed Mr. Harper for harming relations with China when he raised the Celil case in November.
"They've been very highly critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, especially when he stood up for Mr. Celil, raising human rights with President Hu," she said. "The Liberals should be very embarrassed."
Ms. Celil, who has not seen or spoken with her husband in almost a year, said she is pleased Canada is sending officials to Urumqi, but would like Canada to do more to establish contact with her husband.
"I'm happy and I want to say thank you," she said, "but I think the Canadian government could do more."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070207.wxcelil07/BNStory/National/home
Ottawa dispatches diplomats to trial
BILL CURRY AND OMAR EL AKKAD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA, TORONTO — A Canadian imprisoned in China told a courtroom he was tortured last year by Chinese secret police, including being starved, constantly questioned and threatened with being buried alive and "disappeared," relatives of Huseyin Celil say.
But no Canadian diplomat was in the room during Mr. Celil's rare appearance -- a fact that triggered a flurry of activity yesterday from the Conservative government.
Ottawa said that Canadian diplomats have been dispatched to the province where Mr. Celil is being detained and are under orders to remain on site indefinitely.
Mr. Celil, a former mosque leader in Hamilton, was detained in March while visiting his wife's family in Uzbekistan. Under an agreement between the two countries, Uzbekistan sent him to China, where he has been detained for the past eight months.
The 38-year-old is a member of the Uyghur minority in northwest China. The Uyghur people's demand for autonomy has long angered Beijing, which has levelled terrorism accusations against many members of the Muslim minority group.
Mr. Celil's allegations of torture add a new element to what has become one of the highest profile consular cases of Stephen Harper's time as Prime Minister.
Mr. Celil was at the centre of a major diplomatic row last year between Ottawa and Beijing. En route to meet with Asia-Pacific leaders in Vietnam last November, Mr. Harper said Canada would not sell out Canada's belief in human rights for the "almighty dollar."
"When a Canadian citizen is taken from a third country and imprisoned in China, this is a serious concern to this country," Mr. Harper said at the time, a reference to Mr. Celil.
When the Canadian diplomats arrive in the provincial city of Urumqi, Mr. Celil's relatives, who have been there for the past month, will tell them what they heard in the courtroom.
Last Friday's court appearance was attended by Mr. Celil's sister and his son. They initially did not tell Mr. Celil's wife, Kamila, who lives near Toronto, about her husband's accusations of torture because they feared they were being monitored by the secret police.
Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Canadian Association, said Mr. Celil's family first called him on Saturday, the day after the six-hour court appearance. Fearing they were being monitored by Chinese police, the family said Mr. Celil was in good condition and that there was "some good debate" during his court hearing, Mr. Tohti said.
When the family called back from a public phone on Monday, they outlined allegations of torture and false confessions, Mr. Tohti said.
"They're scared to death to give this information," he said.
Canadian officials took the unusual step this week of using the news media to berate Canada's diplomats in China for failing to attend the court appearance. Officials were quoted without being named Monday, saying the Prime Minister was demanding an explanation.
A call to the Foreign Affairs Department was returned yesterday by the political office of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.
Mr. MacKay's spokesman, Dan Dugas, said the minister "is not happy" with the way Mr. Celil's file has been handled and that the minister personally called the Canadian embassy in Beijing on Monday and yesterday.
"The Chinese government is not co-operating with the Canadian mission in China and we aren't going to stop asking them for what's happening with Mr. Celil," said Mr. Dugas, who would not comment directly on claims the Prime Minister was angered that no official was in the court.
"I can tell you he [Mr. MacKay] is not happy either," Mr. Dugas said. "He's asking for answers. He wants to know what is being done and what the next steps are going to be."
Liberal MP Dan McTeague said the new allegations of torture being made by Mr. Celil's family are "extremely serious" and now require the Prime Minister to personally phone the Chinese President to demand answers.
"If indeed what has transpired here is correct, nothing short of a direct intervention by the Prime Minister to his counterpart [Chinese President] Hu Jintao, is going to resolve this," he said. "My overall concern remains that the Prime Minister has seen fit to heap blame on diplomats as opposed to taking up the matter himself."
Conservative MP Helena Guergis, a Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said the Liberals' attacks in the House of Commons yesterday are hypocritical given that Liberals blamed Mr. Harper for harming relations with China when he raised the Celil case in November.
"They've been very highly critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, especially when he stood up for Mr. Celil, raising human rights with President Hu," she said. "The Liberals should be very embarrassed."
Ms. Celil, who has not seen or spoken with her husband in almost a year, said she is pleased Canada is sending officials to Urumqi, but would like Canada to do more to establish contact with her husband.
"I'm happy and I want to say thank you," she said, "but I think the Canadian government could do more."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070207.wxcelil07/BNStory/National/home
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Visiting Activist Says Canada Should Take Lead on Chinese Human Rights
Visiting Activist Says Canada Should Take Lead on Chinese Human Rights
By Cindy Chan
Epoch Times Ottawa Staff
Dec 13, 2006
Rebiya Kadeer has been likened to the Dalai Lama. The prominent Uighur (pronounced wee-gur) activist was short-listed for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. On Tuesday she testified before a Canadian parliamentary committee in Ottawa urging Canada to make the human rights of the Uighur people and the release of Uighur-Canadian Huseyin Celil "top priority" in relations with the Chinese.
Ms. Kadeer is a native of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China, called East Turkistan before the Chinese occupation in 1949. Uighurs then became "second-class citizens," facing extreme prejudice and repression similar to the plight of the Tibetan people, Kadeer said through an interpreter.
Kadeer rose to become an unlikely senior government advisor and successful businesswoman in China. It was giving help and leadership to her own people, she said, that led to her downfall and to "trumped-up" charges. She spent five years in prison before being released in 2005, due to strong international pressure. She was allowed to go to the U.S. A high-profile opponent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Kadeer has since travelled extensively to raise awareness of human rights violations against the Uighurs by the Chinese regime.
Celil had fled China in the mid-1990s. He was arrested in Uzbekistan while visiting relatives in March. Accused by the Chinese communist regime of terrorist activities, he was extradited there in June and has reportedly been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
Kadeer Addresses Human Rights Subcommittee
Speaking before the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights, Kadeer asked Members of Parliament to draft a letter to Chinese leader Hu Jintao to demand Celil's "immediate and unconditional release." She relayed that a letter to Hu signed by 72 members of the U.S. Congress helped gain the release of two of her children from imprisonment in China.
Amnesty International reports that state retaliation against family members appears to be a pattern developing in China to pressure human rights defenders. Another example is human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, arrested in August and charged with "inciting subversion." Police have continued to subject his 13-year-old daughter to constant monitoring and verbal abuse, and Gao's wife was beaten by police last month. Gao was reportedly sentenced in secret, recently.
Kadeer outlined several additional recommendations to Canada. These include helping broker discussions between the Chinese regime and the World Uighur Congress, expanding CIDA HIV/AIDS projects in East Turkistan, sending a fact-finding mission there, providing funding to the Uighur Canadian Association (UCA), and ensuring the release of her sons still in Chinese prison.
Kadeer also commended Prime Minister Stephen Harper for putting human rights ahead of trade in his meeting last month with Hu at the APEC summit in Vietnam.
UCA president Mehmet Tohti, accompanying Kadeer at the hearing, described the Canada-China bilateral human rights dialogue as a "waste of time, money, and resources." Canada is acting too softly and lacks understanding of China's "tricky diplomatic policy," he said.
He explained that until 1997 Canada had sponsored a UN resolution annually to criticize the Chinese regime's human rights record. The regime persuaded Canada to replace it with a bilateral dialogue, and the dialogue soon became closed-door. China next convinced Canada to provide CIDA funding to improve the Chinese judiciary and related institutions. Meanwhile, China has money to spend to strengthen its military, he added.
Tohti said the dialogue should have accountability and a clear strategy that includes steps, timeframes, implementation, and follow-up.
Human Rights in China Depend Upon International Community
Following the hearing, Kadeer said "Canada is a powerful, democratic country" and that "if Canada takes the lead, other countries will follow."
She asked the rights activists' relatives who are suffering to have hope. "With the help of the international community, with their own patience and endurance, the human rights cause will be victorious in China."
"The Chinese government is not only facing international pressure, but internal pressure as well," she remarked. She likened China's situation to a cup that is overflowing. The Chinese communist regime's human rights violations are "overwhelming, overflowing, and so evil, and the people's anger is also overflowing."
Kadeer told the Epoch Times she is aware of the peaceful movement in China to withdraw from the CCP, prompted by the Epoch Times editorial series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Over 16 million have quit the party and its affiliated organizations to date.
"If such trends continue, that's going to be wonderful," she said.
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-12-13/49278.html
By Cindy Chan
Epoch Times Ottawa Staff
Dec 13, 2006
Rebiya Kadeer has been likened to the Dalai Lama. The prominent Uighur (pronounced wee-gur) activist was short-listed for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. On Tuesday she testified before a Canadian parliamentary committee in Ottawa urging Canada to make the human rights of the Uighur people and the release of Uighur-Canadian Huseyin Celil "top priority" in relations with the Chinese.
Ms. Kadeer is a native of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China, called East Turkistan before the Chinese occupation in 1949. Uighurs then became "second-class citizens," facing extreme prejudice and repression similar to the plight of the Tibetan people, Kadeer said through an interpreter.
Kadeer rose to become an unlikely senior government advisor and successful businesswoman in China. It was giving help and leadership to her own people, she said, that led to her downfall and to "trumped-up" charges. She spent five years in prison before being released in 2005, due to strong international pressure. She was allowed to go to the U.S. A high-profile opponent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Kadeer has since travelled extensively to raise awareness of human rights violations against the Uighurs by the Chinese regime.
Celil had fled China in the mid-1990s. He was arrested in Uzbekistan while visiting relatives in March. Accused by the Chinese communist regime of terrorist activities, he was extradited there in June and has reportedly been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
Kadeer Addresses Human Rights Subcommittee
Speaking before the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights, Kadeer asked Members of Parliament to draft a letter to Chinese leader Hu Jintao to demand Celil's "immediate and unconditional release." She relayed that a letter to Hu signed by 72 members of the U.S. Congress helped gain the release of two of her children from imprisonment in China.
Amnesty International reports that state retaliation against family members appears to be a pattern developing in China to pressure human rights defenders. Another example is human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, arrested in August and charged with "inciting subversion." Police have continued to subject his 13-year-old daughter to constant monitoring and verbal abuse, and Gao's wife was beaten by police last month. Gao was reportedly sentenced in secret, recently.
Kadeer outlined several additional recommendations to Canada. These include helping broker discussions between the Chinese regime and the World Uighur Congress, expanding CIDA HIV/AIDS projects in East Turkistan, sending a fact-finding mission there, providing funding to the Uighur Canadian Association (UCA), and ensuring the release of her sons still in Chinese prison.
Kadeer also commended Prime Minister Stephen Harper for putting human rights ahead of trade in his meeting last month with Hu at the APEC summit in Vietnam.
UCA president Mehmet Tohti, accompanying Kadeer at the hearing, described the Canada-China bilateral human rights dialogue as a "waste of time, money, and resources." Canada is acting too softly and lacks understanding of China's "tricky diplomatic policy," he said.
He explained that until 1997 Canada had sponsored a UN resolution annually to criticize the Chinese regime's human rights record. The regime persuaded Canada to replace it with a bilateral dialogue, and the dialogue soon became closed-door. China next convinced Canada to provide CIDA funding to improve the Chinese judiciary and related institutions. Meanwhile, China has money to spend to strengthen its military, he added.
Tohti said the dialogue should have accountability and a clear strategy that includes steps, timeframes, implementation, and follow-up.
Human Rights in China Depend Upon International Community
Following the hearing, Kadeer said "Canada is a powerful, democratic country" and that "if Canada takes the lead, other countries will follow."
She asked the rights activists' relatives who are suffering to have hope. "With the help of the international community, with their own patience and endurance, the human rights cause will be victorious in China."
"The Chinese government is not only facing international pressure, but internal pressure as well," she remarked. She likened China's situation to a cup that is overflowing. The Chinese communist regime's human rights violations are "overwhelming, overflowing, and so evil, and the people's anger is also overflowing."
Kadeer told the Epoch Times she is aware of the peaceful movement in China to withdraw from the CCP, prompted by the Epoch Times editorial series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Over 16 million have quit the party and its affiliated organizations to date.
"If such trends continue, that's going to be wonderful," she said.
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-12-13/49278.html
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Press China to free Canadian, MPs urged
ALEX DOBROTA
OTTAWA -- Canadian MPs should start a letter campaign to pressure China into freeing a Canadian citizen jailed there since June, says a human-rights activist who is working for his release.
Rabiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said yesterday a petition signed by 72 members of the U.S. Congress was successful in urging the release of her two children from a Chinese jail in October.
A similar strategy could help reunite Huseyin Celil with his family in Hamilton, Ms. Kadeer told a parliamentary subcommittee.
"Demanding the Chinese government to release him immediately and unconditionally is critical," said Ms. Kadeer, speaking through a translator.
"Otherwise, the Chinese can do anything to him in prison, even torture him to death," she continued.
The head of the subcommittee, Conservative MP Jason Kenney, said he would study her recommendation.
During her address, Ms. Kadeer portrayed Mr. Celil's ordeal as part of a continuing campaign by Chinese authorities to crush the bid for self-determination of the Uyghur people, China's Muslim minority group.
Mr. Celil fled China in the 1990s, after he was sentenced to death in absentia for founding a separatist political party and other alleged subversive political activity.
He settled in Canada, and became known as an imam at a Hamilton mosque.
He was arrested while visiting relatives in Uzbekistan this spring and handed over in June to Chinese authorities, who have since refused him access to consular services.
Nothing short of full-out international pressure will secure his release, Ms. Kadeer said, praising the Conservative government's hard-line stand on China's human-rights record.
Ms. Kadeer's comments were echoed by Mohamed Tohti, president of the Uyghur Canadian Association.
He told the subcommittee that Canada ought to reform a yearly human-rights dialogue with China.
The meeting between senior bureaucrats on both sides is a "waste of time," because recommendations from Canadian officials are largely ignored by their Chinese counterparts, Mr. Tohti told the committee.
"The Chinese foreign policy is based upon one theory: Cut out the head of the sheep and sell out the meat of the dog," he went on to add.
Mr. Tohti accused the Chinese government of duplicity and deceit.
So far, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has shown no sign of wanting to carry through with the yearly event.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061213.CHINA13/TPStory/National
ALEX DOBROTA
OTTAWA -- Canadian MPs should start a letter campaign to pressure China into freeing a Canadian citizen jailed there since June, says a human-rights activist who is working for his release.
Rabiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said yesterday a petition signed by 72 members of the U.S. Congress was successful in urging the release of her two children from a Chinese jail in October.
A similar strategy could help reunite Huseyin Celil with his family in Hamilton, Ms. Kadeer told a parliamentary subcommittee.
"Demanding the Chinese government to release him immediately and unconditionally is critical," said Ms. Kadeer, speaking through a translator.
"Otherwise, the Chinese can do anything to him in prison, even torture him to death," she continued.
The head of the subcommittee, Conservative MP Jason Kenney, said he would study her recommendation.
During her address, Ms. Kadeer portrayed Mr. Celil's ordeal as part of a continuing campaign by Chinese authorities to crush the bid for self-determination of the Uyghur people, China's Muslim minority group.
Mr. Celil fled China in the 1990s, after he was sentenced to death in absentia for founding a separatist political party and other alleged subversive political activity.
He settled in Canada, and became known as an imam at a Hamilton mosque.
He was arrested while visiting relatives in Uzbekistan this spring and handed over in June to Chinese authorities, who have since refused him access to consular services.
Nothing short of full-out international pressure will secure his release, Ms. Kadeer said, praising the Conservative government's hard-line stand on China's human-rights record.
Ms. Kadeer's comments were echoed by Mohamed Tohti, president of the Uyghur Canadian Association.
He told the subcommittee that Canada ought to reform a yearly human-rights dialogue with China.
The meeting between senior bureaucrats on both sides is a "waste of time," because recommendations from Canadian officials are largely ignored by their Chinese counterparts, Mr. Tohti told the committee.
"The Chinese foreign policy is based upon one theory: Cut out the head of the sheep and sell out the meat of the dog," he went on to add.
Mr. Tohti accused the Chinese government of duplicity and deceit.
So far, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has shown no sign of wanting to carry through with the yearly event.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061213.CHINA13/TPStory/National
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