The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of China on 7 June 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government replied on 7 August 2024, which was recently translated and made available.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the imprisonment of, and near total absence of information about, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, in retaliation for the human rights activism of her sister in the USA.
Ms. Gulshan Abbas is a medical doctor from Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), China. She is the sister of US-based Uyghur human rights defender Ms. Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation Campaign for Uyghurs which works to promote and advocate for the human rights of Uyghurs in the XUAR. Since relocating to the US in 1989, Rushan Abbas has campaigned for the rights of Uyghurs and worked for the Uyghur American Association and Radio Free Asia before founding Campaign for Uyghurs in 2017. Gulshan Abbas retired from her medical career early due to ill-health. She was not engaged in political or human rights activism.
At its ninety-fifth session, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion (no 88/2022) determining that Dr. Gulshan Abbas’ deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and expressed concerns about the “total secrecy that appears to surround the fate and whereabouts” of Dr Abbas. Furthermore, in her Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China, the former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, stated that the “widespread arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities in XUAR, often shrouded in secrecy, has led to many families being separated and unaware of the whereabouts of their loved ones. This has been particularly so for the diaspora community where there have additionally been allegations of reprisals and intimidations against those seeking information about their family members or expressing concern publicly.”[1]
ALLEGATIONS
On 5 September 2018, Ms. Rushan Abbas spoke at a public event at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C., USA, in which she criticised alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur population in China. Six days after her speech, on 11 September 2018, the family of Dr. Gulshan Abbas reported that they were no longer able to make contact with her.
Her family received no further information about Dr. Abbas’ whereabouts until December 2020 when they were informed by a trusted source that Dr Abbas had been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a secret trial in March 2019. It is believed that she was arrested on 10 September 2018 by officials of the Public Security Bureau in XUAR. On 31 December 2020 Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mr. Wang Wenbin confirmed for the first time that Dr Abbas had been imprisoned for “crimes of participating in a terrorist organization, aiding terrorist activities and assembling crowds to disrupt social order.”[2]
Dr. Abbas’ family have not received information relating to the evidence produced to convict her, the court verdict, her ability or otherwise to be represented by legal counsel, the prison in which she is being detained or her state of health. Dr. Abbas suffers from a number of medical conditions, including high blood pressure, migraines, back pain, visual impairment and acid reflux.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express serious concern at the conviction and imprisonment of Dr. Gulshan Abbas without due process. We are further concerned by the alleged failure of the Chinese authorities to provide any information to Dr. Abbas’ family regarding her legal situation, her whereabouts – thereby denying them the opportunity to request to visit her – or her health condition. We are concerned that these measures may have been taken in retaliation for the human rights advocacy carried out by her sister, Ms. Rushan Abbas, on behalf of the Uyghur people.
We wish to recall that, when depriving persons of their liberty, States assume responsibility to care for their life and bodily integrity. Due to this heightened duty of care, States must take any necessary measures to protect the lives of individuals deprived of their liberty. Inadequate conditions of detention can be a factor contributing serious harm in detention, including injury and even death, and when conditions are seriously inadequate, they can constitute an immediate or long-term danger to life. We reiterate our concern at the alleged denial of due process of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, including in connection to her access to legal counsel and the alleged breach of her right not to be arbitrarily detained or deprived of liberty.
[1] OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/08/un-human-rights-office-issues-assessment-human-rights-concerns-xinjiang
[2] https://govt.chinadaily.com.cn/s/202101/04/WS5ff528ee498eaba5051be604/foreign-ministry-spokesperson-wang-wenbins-regular-press-conference-on-december-31-2020.html
