Uyghur educational activist dies in custody of Chinese authorities

An Uyghur intellectual and education advocate, who was detained the night before his daughter’s wedding five years ago, passed away just two months later while in Chinese custody.

Radio Free Asia has confirmed the victim’s identity as Ibrahim Dawut, a former chemistry teacher at a high school in Kashgar, Xinjiang. Dawut was a strong advocate for using the Uyghur language in educational institutions throughout the region.

According to Radio Free Asia, he was a vocal critic of China’s bilingual education policy, which mandated that some subjects be taught in Mandarin while others were taught in Uyghur.

In 2019, Chinese authorities arrested Dawut during a widespread crackdown that targeted mostly Uyghur men. Although the exact charges against him were unclear, sources indicated that his arrest was due to “his influence on society in Kashgar,” according to an individual who had recently relocated to Europe.

Dawut had been under surveillance by the police since 2016 and had been summoned for interrogation on four or five occasions, the source added.

The sources highlighted, “The police took him away from his family on the night of July 28th, 2019, and we did not even know what had happened and why they took him.”

At the time of his arrest, Dawut was in his late 50s, and his daughter was set to marry the following day, the source recalled.

“We searched for him for about 5 to 10 days before discovering that the police had detained around 500 to 600 men, including him,” the source explained.

Radio Free Asia reported that Dawut translated Chinese textbooks into Uyghur for high school students in Kashgar and supplied them with educational materials in their native language.

In addition, he opened bookshops in Kashgar and other locations, selling textbooks written in Uyghur. He also launched preparatory courses for foreign language exams and college entrance exams.