The Right Hon. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
The Parliament of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 941-6900

• Cc:  
  Hon. Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  Hon. Jason Kenney, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
  Hon. Bill Graham, Liberal Party Leader
  Hon. Jack Layton, NDP Leader
  Hon. Gille Duceppe, Leader of Party Quebec
  Hon. Dan McTeague, Liberal MP
  Hon. Paul Szabo, Liberal MP

August 8, 2006

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

Following recent information regarding the possible imminent execution of Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil, we learned that Canadian officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and MP Jason Kenney, had sought and obtained assurances from Chinese officials that Mr. Celil will not be executed. The Uyghur American Association (UAA) is deeply grateful to Canadian officials for obtaining these assurances, and we commend the Canadian administration for the actions it continues to take on behalf of Mr. Celil.

UAA remains extremely concerned about the safety of Mr. Celil, and fear he remains at great risk of torture and execution. Even if the threat of execution is removed, we are gravely concerned at the prospects of Mr. Celil remaining in prison indefinitely and suffering severe mistreatment. His security will not be assured until he is released and returned to his home country, Canada.

Chinese authorities are obligated under international law to grant Canadian officials consular access to Huseyin Celil as a Canadian citizen, and to provide detailed information about his imprisonment and any charges filed against him. We strongly urge the Canadian administration to continue pushing for consular access to Mr. Celil, and for detailed information about his situation and where he is being held. The Chinese government should not be allowed to refuse to recognize Mr. Celil’s Canadian citizenship, which he was granted in November 2005. Mr. Celil was traveling on a Canadian passport at the time of his detention in Uzbekistan.

The political and religious activities that Mr. Celil engaged in while still in East Turkistan, as well as the activities he took part in during his first years of exile in Central Asia, have almost certainly resulted in charges of “splittism .

Concern for Mr. Celil’s fate is greatly heightened by the fact he is mentioned by name as an accomplice to Ismail Semed in Ismail Semed’s sentencing document – Ismail Semed was sentenced to death on separatism charges in October 2005, and may already have been executed. It is clear from Ismail Semed’s sentencing document that the only evidence against him and other people named in the document – including Mr. Celil – is the testimony of individuals interrogated by Chinese police. We are extremely concerned that many of the testimonies cited as evidence to sentence Mr. Semed to death and to implicate Mr. Celil were extorted through torture.
 Furthermore, two of the people whose testimony was cited as evidence were themselves executed in 1998, obviously making any cross-examination of prosecution witnesses impossible. As such, we believe it will be impossible for Mr. Celil to have a fair trial.

Torture in Chinese places of detention is “widespread , according to a recent report by Dr Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, which was issued after he completed a mission to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The mission included a visit to Urumchi. Dr Nowak also added that there has been a “consistent and systematic pattern of torture related to ethnic minorities, particularly Tibetans and Uyghurs.

Mr. Celil’s continued imprisonment sets a worrying precedent for Uyghur refugees throughout the world. If he is not released from imprisonment soon and returned to Canada, Uyghurs can no longer feel secure when traveling anywhere outside their country of residence or citizenship.
 
If China is allowed to ignore the Canadian citizenship of Canadian citizens who were born in China, this could have far-reaching implications. Chinese-Canadian immigrants of any ethnicity who travel to China or surrounding nations in the future could face the threat of arbitrary detention, imprisonment or deportation to China. Chinese-Canadians who were originally Chinese citizens may no longer be assured of their safety if they choose to travel to China in 2008 to attend the Olympic Games.

We strongly urge the Canadian government to continue exploring all avenues to bring about Mr. Celil’s safe return to Canada, his country of citizenship. We thank you for your attention to this letter, and for your continued efforts to secure Mr. Celil’s release.

    Sincerely yours,

    Rebiya Kadeer
    President
    Uyghur American Association