Uyghur economist, writer, and 2014 PEN/ Freedom to Write honoree Ilham Tohti has been in a Chinese prison for 10 years, serving a life sentence for his writings intended to foster understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.
Today marks 10 years since an Urumqi court sentenced Uyghur writer Ilham Tohti to life in prison. For over a decade, the Chinese government has tried to silence Tohti, rejecting his insight into social issues in Xinjiang and punishing him for advocating for Uyghur human rights and cross-cultural dialogue.
Tohti’s eldest daughter Jewher Ilham told PEN America, “The Chinese government did not tolerate different opinions 10 years ago, and it is apparent that they still do not. Over the past few months, the Chinese government has carried out a defamation campaign against me and my father. However, it will not stop me from continuing to voice what I believe is right. Innocent people like my father Ilham Tohti need to be freed. A healthy society allows and has capacity for more than one kind of voice or opinion. Just like my father never stopped advocating for the voiceless, I will not stop—no matter what.”
“Separatism” is the legal basis China uses to justify its continued imprisonment of Tohti, but Tohti’s own words chronicle a lifelong commitment to the very opposite. PEN America revisits Ilham Tohti’s writing and reiterates continued calls for Tohti’s freedom.
Whether rationally or emotionally, I cannot accept any part of the nation being separated.”
Ilham Tohti
Ilham Tohti is a public intellectual, blogger, and member of Uyghur PEN Centre. An economist by training, Tohti wrote academic articles about socioeconomic issues in Xinjiang as early as 1994.
As he witnessed growing social unrest, Tohti dedicated his work to researching issues impacting Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China. “Whether rationally or emotionally, I cannot accept any part of the nation being separated,” Tohti wrote in his 2011 essay “My Ideals and the Career Path I Have Chosen.”
Tohti understood that criticism of government policy came with risk, yet he did not shy from incisive analysis or difficult conversations. He co-founded the pioneering website Uyghur Online in 2005 “to provide Uyghurs and Han with a platform for discussion and exchange” during a time of heightened distrust.
“Of course, I knew that there would be an intense clash of opinions,” Tohti wrote, “but I believe that confronting differences is not frightening. What is truly frightening are silenced suspicions and hatred.”
The Chinese government—apparently unwilling to tolerate discussion of social issues from Uyghur perspectives—worked to silence Tohti numerous times throughout his career. “I have been under enormous pressure,” Tohti acknowledged after several years of running the website. “I have been regularly summoned and warned [by the government] but continued the website anyway, believing that Uyghur Online is of irreplaceable value and that I am doing the right thing.”
I believe that confronting differences is not frightening. What is truly frightening are silenced suspicions and hatred.
Ilham Tohti
In 2013, while leaving Beijing with his eldest daughter, Jewher, to take up a post at Indiana University as a visiting scholar, Chinese authorities briefly held Tohti and prevented him from boarding the plane. Less than a year later, they detained him. PEN America conferred the Freedom to Write Award on Tohti in May 2014. Jewher, as a 19-year-old, accepted the award on her father’s behalf. On September 23, 2014, Tohti was convicted of “separatism” and sentenced to life in prison for his teaching and writings in a two-day trial.
Jewher Ilham last saw her father when she boarded the flight they should have taken together to Indiana, and was last allowed to speak with him in 2017. Tohti is currently imprisoned incommunicado, with no access to either his family or legal counsel. Jewher Ilham has since taken up her father’s work, continuing to advocate for his freedom and becoming a steadfast advocate herself for Uyghur human rights. She recounts her experience in her aptly named book Because I Have To.
As Tohti gained prominence for his work, he described himself as a “conduit helping to make connections.” Writers play a unique role in society. They encourage the public to engage with others, reflect on the present, and envision different futures. For this, they draw ire of repressive governments and ruling authorities who seek to suppress or control public discourse.
For the last five years, China has been the top jailer of writers globally, incarcerating at least 107 writers during 2023 according to data from PEN America’s Freedom to Write Index. 34 of the 107 writers jailed last year were incarcerated in Xinjiang.
PEN America urges writers and their allies to share Ilham Tohti’s own words and join us in calling on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release him from prison.
