Write a letter to the Chinese government, urging them to release the Uighur writers imprisoned in violation of their right to freedom of expression .

[Date]

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
People’s Republic of China

Mr. Wang Shengjun
President of the Supreme People’s Court
No.27 Dongjiaominxiang
Dongcheng District, Beijing 100745
People’s Republic of China

Your Excellencies:

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the suppression of the right to freedom of expression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and to appeal for the release of writers Abdulghani Memetemin, Tohti Tunyaz, Nurmuhemmet Yasin, and Korash Huseyin.

Writer, teacher, and translator Abdulghani Memetemin was arrested and convicted in June 2003 by the Kashgar Intermediate People’s Court of “illegally providing state secrets to overseas organizations” and sentenced to nine years in prison. I understand he was denied legal representation at his trial and has been tortured in prison.

Historian and writer Tohti Tunyaz was arrested in Urumqi on February 6, 1998 and sentenced on February 15, 2000 to eleven years in prison and two years’ deprivation of political rights for “stealing state secrets” and “inciting national disunity.” Mr. Tunyaz is currently being held in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region Prison No. 3 in Urumqi.

Freelance writer Nurmuhemmet Yasin was arrested on November 29, 2004 for the publication for his short story “Wild Pigeon” (“Yawa Kepter”). After a closed trial in February 2005, Mr. Yasin was sentenced to ten years in prison for “inciting Uighur separatism,” and is currently being held in Urumqi No. 1 Jail. He has reportedly been denied all visitors since his arrest. Korash Huseyin, the Editor of the Uighur-language Kashgar Literary Journal, was arrested for publishing “Wild Pigeon” and was sentenced to three years in prison.

All four of these men have been imprisoned for non-violent activities that are protected under Chinese law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. I therefore urge you to facilitate their immediate and unconditional release.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

[Your Name and Signature]