Address: House No. 13, Group No. 4, Yuqarqi Yengi'osteng Village, Beshtugmen Township, Aksu City, Aksu Prefecture.Tohti Emet, religious, prays five times a day. In 2013 and 2014 he helped many young people in his town to travel abroad. He is 67 years old (as of January 2020).
Testimony 5:
Address: No. 13, 4th Community, 25th Village, Beshtugmen Township, Aksu City.
He is a farmer and has a primary-school education.
current location
[Presumably in Aksu.][Presumably in Aksu.]
chronology of detention(s)
Unclear if detained.
The victim and his wife used to own two houses - a farm and a house in the city. According to what one friend told Abdurahman over WeChat, the city house has been demolished, while according to another friend in Xinjiang, whom Abdurahman contacted via Douyin in January 2020, they are not at the farm either. It is not clear what this means.Testimony 1: Unclear if detained, though the testifier expressed fears
Testimony 3: detained in 2017 and sentenced.
suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention
Not clear if detained, though it is mentioned that the victim is religious and prays five times a day, and that he helped many young people in his town travel abroad in 2013 and 2014. He and his wife also traveled to Turkey in November 2015, staying for a week and then going to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, before returning to China.Testimony 5: It is mentioned that Tohti and his wife Aynurhan went to Turkey in November 2015 for one week. They then traveled from Turkey to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, returning to China in December 2015.
last reported status
An earlier testimony had said that he was sentenced, but the latest appears to suggest that he is missing - not being at either of his two houses - making it possible but unconfirmed that he is in detention.
The victim suffers from heart disease and night blindness.Unclear. (Testimony 2: from very brief news obtained in January 2020, there is no one left at the testifier's home, suggesting that the victim too has been taken.)
Testimony 2: he suffers from heart disease and night blindness.
Testimony 3: sentenced.
how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation
Via WeChat and Douyin, through contacts in the region.
The speaker on This American Life (Durrie Bouscaren) and Abdurahman also called the police in Aksu and were allegedly able to get confirmation that there was no one left at the family's home (despite the fact that 13 people used to live there).Testimony 2: via the internet (Testimony 3: Douyin).
Testimony 4: Tohti Emet and Aynurhan Qasim reportedly had one house in the city [presumably Aksu] and another home, which was a farm [definitely in Aksu]. According to a friend of Abdurahman Tohti in Xinjiang, whom Abdurahman Tohti contacted via WeChat at an unspecified point in time, the house that Tohti Emet and Aynurhan Qasim owned in the city has been demolished. According to a different friend in Xinjiang, who wrote to Abdurahman Tohti through Douyin's direct messaging function in January 2020, Abdurahman Tohti's family (including his parents, brothers and sisters) is no longer in Aksu; they are reportedly not staying at the farm. Abdurahman Tohti is not entirely sure what this means; they may have been forced off of their land but living elsewhere, or they may have been detained in either a concentration camp or a prison.
Testimony 4: The speaker on This American Life (Durrie Bouscaren) and Abdurahman also called the police in Aksu and were allegedly able to get confirmation that there was no one left at the family's home.
additional information
As of January 2020, as there was no one left at the testifier's home, which the testifier fears means they were all detained.
