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testifying party (submitted by third party)

All testimonies are delivered by Merdan Abliz, an Uyghur-Kazakh athlete and businessman originally from Ghulja but now a Kazakhstan citizen residing in Almaty. Testimony 1-3: Mardan Ablezuly, born on May 11, 1977, is now a Kazakhstan citizen. His ID number is 16454884.

victim's relation to testifier

The victim is Merdan's mother. Testimony 1-3: mother

about the victim

Sara Islam is a well-known doctor in the Ghulja region, having previously worked at the Ili Prefecture Friendship Hospital (伊犁州友谊医院) as a gynecologist but having now retired. She had been living in Almaty with her youngest son and had a small clinic there.

Address: Apt. 406, Third Floor, Fourth Entrance, Building No. 4, No. 2 Fourth Alley, Ehmetjan Road (阿合买提江路), Ghulja (Yining) City, Ili, Xinjiang.

She is a Chinese citizen. Her Chinese passport (expired) number: G15081178. Her Kazakhstan green card (expired) number: 026050047. Sara Islam, born on March 9, 1943, is a Chinese citizen. She worked at Yili Prefecture Friendship Hospital (伊犁州友谊医院) as a gynecologist and retired. She is a well-educated and well-known doctor in the region. Her passport number is G51081781178 (expired); her Kazakhstan green card number is 026050047. She went to her hometown in China in April 2017 as she was summoned by her old work unit and had her passport taken. In Autumn the same year, local police announced her to be re-educated and her relative was a guarantor so she could stay at home not in the camp. Unfortunately, her relative passed away in January 2018 and she was taken to the camp on March 10, 2018, and released to house arrest after three days because they started implementing a new policy which allows the elderly older than 70 to stay at home. She has been staying at home since but she was refused to get a new passport. There are two people from the community (社区) who visit her once a month. They bring presents for her and stay overnight. she suffers from diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease.

Address: Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture, Yining city, Ahmetijan Street (阿合买提江路), Fourth Alley, No. 2, Building 4, Unit 4, Third Floor, Apt No. 406

current location

At her home in Yining. Yining city, Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture

chronology of detention(s)

She went to her hometown in China in April 2017 as she had been summoned by her old work unit, and had her passport confiscated upon her return. In the fall of the same year, local police announced that she needed to be re-educated, but allowed her to stay at home, without going to camp, by making one of her relatives a guarantor. Unfortunately, this relative passed away in January 2018, which resulted in her being taken to camp on March 10, 2018. However, she was released to house arrest 3 days later because of a new policy that allowed elderly people above 70 to stay at home. end of April 2017

suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention

Installing WhatsApp on her phone. installing Whatsapp client on her phone

last reported status

She has been staying at home, but has not been given a new passport by the authorities, even though all the procedures are supposedly complete and the passport itself is ready. Her family in Kazakhstan claims that someone in the government office told her that the reason was simply her ethnicity - although the family is ethnically mixed with most members Kazakh, Sara Islam is Uyghur and for this reason is not being given her passport (which would allow her to reunite with her family in Kazakhstan).

There are two people from the neighborhood administration office (社区) who visit her once a month, bringing presents and staying overnight. She is supposedly very liked by the people in the neighborhood.

Her family in Kazakhstan worries as she is elderly and has no one to look after her, however. This is especially worrying as she suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. the local authorities are not issuing her a passport

[from testifier on June 10, 2019: the passport is ready, but they won't give it to her because she is Uyghur]

how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation

The testifier and the victim are able to stay in touch directly via WeChat, without major limitations. The victim can also call her family in Kazakhstan from a special office reserved for such phone calls. He regularly contacts with the victim through Wechat.

In Testimony 3, however, he says that he can no longer call her directly.

additional information

The testifier has gone to the Chinese consulate in Almaty several times. Their answers have been positive, but there's never been any progress. She had been living in Kazakhstan with her youngest son and she had a small clinic in Almaty.

The testifier has gone to the Chinese consulate in Almaty several times. Their answers have been positive but there's never been any progress. He sent her mother an invitation letter, but the local authorities didn't issue her a passport. They never say no, but they don't do anything either.

Testimony 3: Chinese officials required Abliz to send his documents to “clarify a mistake”, since Abliz’s application for citizenship had 1977 written as year of birth, when in fact it was 1973.

supplementary materials

entry created on: 2019-03-02

entry last modified on: 2019-06-10

last update from testifier(s): 2019-08-17