Writers at Risk Database

Galal El-Behairy

Targeted for his lyrics in the protest song “Balaha” and a book of poetry entitled The Finest Women on Earth, El-Behairy was detained in March 2018. He was sentenced… More

Writers at Risk Database

Alaa Abd El Fattah

A pioneering activist and blogger, Abd El Fattah was first arrested in 2014 and served five years in prison until March 2019. He was re-arrested six months later and… More

Tashpolat Tiyip

Tashpolat Tiyip is an academic of Uyghur origin and the former president of Xinjiang University. Authorities stopped Tiyip in 2017 at Beijing airport. It is rumored that Tiyip was… More

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

Cultural figure Alcántara has been detained countless times for his activism. In November 2020, he was arrested and began a hunger and thirst strike until his December release, when… More

Abdulqadir Jalaleddin

Abduqadir Jalaleddin is a renowned poet, translator, scholar of contemporary Uyghur literature, and professor at Xinjiang Normal University. He was arrested from his home in early 2018. Authorities provided… More

Hailaite Niyazi Hairat, or Gheyret Niyaz

A former reporter and columnist, Niyazi also managed the Uyghurbiz website and had publicly criticized government policies toward Uyghurs. After a one-day sham trial in 2010, he was convicted… More

Yalqun Rozi

Yalqun Rozi

Rozi is a Uyghur writer, literary critic, and historical researcher. Rozi was detained in October 2016 and formally arrested two months later for inciting separatism. Convicted in January 2018… More

Writers at Risk Database

Qurban Mamut

Mamut, who had worked with Uyghur-run cultural publications for over four decades, disappeared in 2017 after visiting his exiled son in the United States. Authorities told Mamut’s son that… More

Shoret Nijat

Nijat, a student of Ilham Tohti, was arrested for his involvement with Tohti’s website Uyghurbiz, which promotes mutual ethnic understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. He was sentenced in… More