Zharqyn Raman was appointed as the head of Zhiek Village in May 2017.
Address: Zhiek Village, Kurty Township, Dorbiljin County, Tacheng Prefecture (塔城地区额敏县二道桥乡吉也克村).Zharqyn Raman had been working as a head of Zhiek (Jek) hamlet for six months prior to his detention.
Address: Jek village (吉也克村), Kurt township (二道桥乡), Emin county, Tacheng prefecture
current location
A prison in Wusu City.NPR report: prison in Wusu City. [Presumably Wusu Prison.]
chronology of detention(s)
Zharqyn was arrested on November 20, 2017. He was then held in a pre-trial detention center for seven months, where he was handcuffed, shackled, tied to a tiger chair, and interrogated.
He had been healthy before the arrest, but the mistreatment in the detention center caused him to develop health issues. He was taken to the hospital and had to have an operation on his lungs.
He was later sent to a political education camp, where he stayed for eight months. According to him, the conditions there were better than in the detention center.
However, he then got sick again and, after being taken to the hospital, was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
He was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison on February 24, 2019.He was detained on November 20, 2017. First, he was held in a pre-trial detention center for 7 months, where he was handcuffed and shackled, before being transferred to a re-education camp.
Testimony 6: Sentenced to prison in March 2019.
Testimony 11: after his arrest, he stayed 7 months in prison where he was interrogated. due to the bad treatment in the prison and the health issues he developed consequently, he was taken to hospital where he recieved treatment. Then, he was taken to a "political study camp" for another 8 months, where according to the victim, conditions were better than in prison, but he got sick again, was sent to hospital again and diagnosed with tuberculosis, in March 2019, he was sentenced to 3,5 years in prison.
suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention
For attending Friday prayers and donating to a mosque some years earlier.earlier: attending Friday prayers
Testimony 4: detained for donating to a mosque
Testimony 5: attending Friday prayers and donating to a mosque 3.5 years ago (as of May 2019)
last reported status
Serving a prison sentence.
He is in poor health. He has endured freezing conditions during his detention, and this has caused his overall health to deteriorate.
He requires medicine to survive, although his relatives heard that he stopped taking his medicine for two months at one point.
Additionally, he is reported to have difficulties walking now, as a result of having to wear rubber slippers at camp in the winter. Getting a pair of fleece socks was very difficult for him while there, as he allegedly needed to get permission from the local government.Testimony 1: in a re-education camp
Testimony 2: He was allegedly sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison on February 24, 2019.
Testimony 3: After several months of detention, he had to have an operation to his lungs and was later diagnosed with tuberculosis. He had been healthy before entering the camp.
Testimony 7: He was tied to a tiger chair during his time in the detention center. Due to freezing conditions in the detention center or re-education camp, his overall health has deteriorated. His relatives are borrowing money to cover for his medical expenses.
Testimony 8: It was very difficult for him to get a pair of fleece socks in the camp. He had to get a permission from the regional government to get it. He had to wear rubber slippers during the winter and as a result he walks with difficulties now.
Testimony 9: he needs medicine to survive. They heard that he stopped taking medicine for two months and then re-started. He's in poor health.
[Given Wusu Prison's likely ties to forced labor, it is very possible that the victim is being subjected to forced labor while there.]
how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation
Some of the information appears to come from relatives in China who were able to visit Kazakhstan.
Zhainagul mentions them learning about the situation from Zharqyn's brother, who saw the victim when the latter was hospitalized.According to NPR report: from relatives in China who visited Kazakhstan.
additional information
The victim's wife is unemployed. Samalhan, his mother, lost her eyesight after her son’s detention. His relatives had to borrow money to pay for Zharqyn's medical expenses.
My uncle Raman Zharkyn was born in Zhiek, a small hamlet in Kurty township. His name should be Rakhman. But it was a religious name—forbidden—so my family entered Raman in the ledger. He was a prominent man in our village, and in May 2017, he became the head of Zhiek. On November 20 of the same year, he was taken to a reeducation camp. He was abducted directly from his office.
The reason given for my uncle’s detention was this: Every Friday he’d been going to the mosque in Kurty, the administrative center nearby. At some point, he and a few friends decided to raise money for the building of a new mosque in Zhiek. He and his friends were all arrested.
For seven months after he was detained, he was in a prison under interrogation. He spent those months in a small, damp room, cuffed to a chair, his hands and feet restrained. He wasn’t allowed to lie down. He sat day and night. During his first month in the prison, he was also restrained by a cuff around his neck, connected by a chain to the table. This cuff created an open wound that wouldn’t heal. He developed a fever. At last, they took him to a hospital. They called his brother, another uncle of mine, to the hospital, and that’s how we heard all that had happened to him.
His brother said that when he first came to the hospital, there was a black cowl over Raman’s head. When they removed it, his brother didn’t even recognize him. His hair was matted and uncut. He’d lost weight. The wound around his neck was severe but he was still wearing the cuff. The officials refused to remove it until the doctors insisted that the wound wouldn’t heal otherwise. Only then did they take it off, after securing permission from some higher authority.
After this ordeal, he was sent to a political study camp, where he spent another eight months. But he got sick again and was returned to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. His mother managed to see him after he was transferred to the camp. It was the first time she had been able to see him. He told her that, compared with prison, the camp was like a home. At last my back can meet the mattress, he told her. His mother has since lost her eyesight. It’s the stress. She’s had two operations on her eyes, and one is now completely blind.
Raman’s wife, my aunt, had been a housewife. When her husband was taken to prison, she went to work as a dishwasher at a restaurant. But she had to quit to take care of her mother-in-law when she went blind. Now they’re surviving on charity.
In March, my uncle was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. My father is worried about the fate of his brother. But his own heart is bad, so we don’t tell him all the news. Only his wife is allowed to meet with him, and then only to bring him his tuberculosis medicine. [Through tears] I don’t think he will be alive by his release date. The conditions there are harsh. The food is bad. That’s the question that bothers us all: Will he be alive by the time he’s released from prison?His wife is unemployed. Samalhan, his mother, lost her eyesight after her son’s detention.
My uncle Raman Zharkyn was born in Zhiek, a small hamlet in Kurty township. His name should be Rakhman. But it was a religious name—forbidden—so my family entered Raman in the ledger. He was a prominent man in our village, and in May 2017, he became the head of Zhiek. On November 20 of the same year, he was taken to a reeducation camp. He was abducted directly from his office.
The reason given for my uncle’s detention was this: Every Friday he’d been going to the mosque in Kurty, the administrative center nearby. At some point, he and a few friends decided to raise money for the building of a new mosque in Zhiek. He and his friends were all arrested.
For seven months after he was detained, he was in a prison under interrogation. He spent those months in a small, damp room, cuffed to a chair, his hands and feet restrained. He wasn’t allowed to lie down. He sat day and night. During his first month in the prison, he was also restrained by a cuff around his neck, connected by a chain to the table. This cuff created an open wound that wouldn’t heal. He developed a fever. At last, they took him to a hospital. They called his brother, another uncle of mine, to the hospital, and that’s how we heard all that had happened to him.
His brother said that when he first came to the hospital, there was a black cowl over Raman’s head. When they removed it, his brother didn’t even recognize him. His hair was matted and uncut. He’d lost weight. The wound around his neck was severe but he was still wearing the cuff. The officials refused to remove it until the doctors insisted that the wound wouldn’t heal otherwise. Only then did they take it off, after securing permission from some higher authority.
After this ordeal, he was sent to a political study camp, where he spent another eight months. But he got sick again and was returned to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. His mother managed to see him after he was transferred to the camp. It was the first time she had been able to see him. He told her that, compared with prison, the camp was like a home. At last my back can meet the mattress, he told her. His mother has since lost her eyesight. It’s the stress. She’s had two operations on her eyes, and one is now completely blind.
Raman’s wife, my aunt, had been a housewife. When her husband was taken to prison, she went to work as a dishwasher at a restaurant. But she had to quit to take care of her mother-in-law when she went blind. Now they’re surviving on charity.
In March, my uncle was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. My father is worried about the fate of his brother. But his own heart is bad, so we don’t tell him all the news. Only his wife is allowed to meet with him, and then only to bring him his tuberculosis medicine. [Through tears] I don’t think he will be alive by his release date. The conditions there are harsh. The food is bad. That’s the question that bothers us all: Will he be alive by the time he’s released from prison?
