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Interviews : Rebiya Kadeer

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Interviewed April 2010

Rebiya Kadeer is a human rights defender, a former prisoner of conscience, and a leader of the Uyghur people. The Uyghurs are Turkic Muslims from China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, which most Uyghurs call by its former name, East Turkistan.

Born into a poor family, Kadeer became the owner of a small business and eventually one of the richest people in China. She was appointed to a number of prominent positions by the Beijing government and thought that as an insider she could safely call the government’s attention to human rights violations against her fellow Uyghurs. But she was soon removed from these positions and was arrested and imprisoned in 1999 after attempting to meet with a visiting U.S. delegation from the Library of Congress.

When she refused to renounce her human rights advocacy, the government began arresting her children, several of whom are still in detention.

Released in 2005 on the eve of a visit to China by then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Kadeer now lives in the United States. She serves as president of the Uyghur-American Association and the World Uyghur Congress and continues to speak out for freedom and democracy. 

First of all, let me introduce myself, my people, the Uyghur people’s homeland and what kind of a land it is. The ethnicity my people and I belong to is called Uyghur. My homeland is called East Turkistan. It belongs to Central Asia. Central Asia used to be called East Turkistan and West Turkistan. Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were occupied by Russia. And in 1949, the Chinese government invaded and occupied my homeland. Our East Turkistan was invaded by China one year prior to the Chinese invasion of Tibet.

Ever since then, we have been living under the Chinese occupation. As for size, our country is one-sixth of China. Uyghurs claim its population as 20 million, and the Chinese government recognizes it as 9 million 600 thousand.

The Chinese government granted us an autonomy status as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region after the occupation. Granted us with many good policies and regulations, as we are the original people of the region. Claimed that they will develop our land and grant us the right to self-determination. Back then, the Chinese population was only two percent, other minorities were twelve percent, and Uyghurs were eighty-six percent.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government did not follow the law given to us by them. For the past 60 years, the Uyghurs did not experience any kind of human rights, such as freedom or democracy. Uyghurs did not have a day of peace. Thus I grew up without peace. I grew up with many questions like, Why do my people face suppression? Why do they treat my people with cruelty? Why do my people face economic discrimination, educational discrimination, cultural discrimination, religious discrimination by the Chinese government?

Ever since then, I have been living with these questions. My friends, my classmates, and my neighbors were destroyed. I lost the chance to attend the university. Still, I thought I would become rich and I would help my people financially. And I made lots of money. But after I became rich, I realized that I could not help and save my people with money.

In a dictator-ruled country with no democracy and no freedom, if one is under political pressure, there is no way one can be successful in helping people. Therefore, I started to approach the Chinese government nicely and got involved with their policies. I thought, as long as I adjust myself to the Chinese policies and laws, the Chinese government will address my peaceful requests and will grant my people peace. If Uyghurs gain peace then all the other immigrants that moved to East Turkistan will also gain peace. With that hope in mind, I got involved with the Chinese policies.

After I got involved, I did so many good things. I was a council member of the Chinese National People's Political Consultative Conference and a council member of the Autonomous Region People’s Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the Autonomous Region’s Trade and Industrial Association, president of the Autonomous Region’s Business Council, and president of the Women Business Owners Association. Many privileges were given to me.

I was one of the seven richest people in China. Financially, I made a huge improvement. But the Chinese government did not give me what I wanted from them. Since the Chinese government did not give us peace, I decided to bring up the Uyghur cause to the international level. I wanted to bring the Uyghur cause to the attention of the democratic Western countries, and I wanted to be the voice of my people. The Chinese government decided to incarcerate me because I chose this route.









More from Rebiya Kadeer

Rebiya Kadeer: Personal History "For the past 60 years, Uyghurs did not have a day of peace." Rebiya Kadeer: Increasing Cruelty by China Condemning the forced relocation of Uyghur girls. Rebiya Kadeer: U.S. Support Emphasizing the importance of support in the United States for the Uyghur people. More + Rebiya Kadeer: U.S.-China Trade On U.S.-China trade relations and the impact on the Uyghur people. Rebiya Kadeer: Uyghurs and the World Describing the effort of the Uyghur movement to build international support. Rebiya Kadeer: Protests and Repression July 5 attacks on Uyghurs and international reaction. Rebiya Kadeer: Voice of My People "It is my responsibility to let the world know about the cruelty my people are facing." Rebiya Kadeer: Religious Persecution On the lack of religious freedom for Uyghurs. Rebiya Kadeer: Example of Israel On Israel, “The nation that acknowledges itself will be recognized by others.” Rebiya Kadeer: Family On the high price her family has paid for her leadership of the Uyghur movement.