{"id":581,"date":"2021-04-28T15:20:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T12:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/?p=581"},"modified":"2021-04-28T16:39:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:39:52","slug":"uyghur-australian-woman-breaks-her-silence-as-her-husband-is-sentenced-to-25-years-in-a-chinese-jail-in-xinjiang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/uyghur-australian-woman-breaks-her-silence-as-her-husband-is-sentenced-to-25-years-in-a-chinese-jail-in-xinjiang\/","title":{"rendered":"UYGHUR AUSTRALIAN WOMAN BREAKS HER SILENCE AS HER HUSBAND IS SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN A CHINESE JAIL IN XINJIANG"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABC News<\/a>. 19 April 2021<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Below is an article published by ABC News<\/a>. Photo:Grace Tobin.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melbourne woman Mehray Mezensof has been married for five years, but her husband has been absent for most of that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, he has been in and out of detention centres and concentration camps multiple times in China\u2019s far north-western region of Xinjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof has never spoken publicly before, fearing it would make an already perilous situation more dangerous for her husband Mirzat Taher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But she has been pushed to breaking point after receiving devastating news two weeks ago that Mr Taher, an Australian permanent resident, has been sentenced to 25 years in jail for alleged \u201cseparatism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous, my husband would never do something like that,\u201d the 26-year-old nurse told 7.30 in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t something out of a movie, it is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof was born and raised by a Uyghur family in Australia \u2014 her parents emigrated to Australia from Xinjiang, China 35 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is home to more than 11 million Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in the region who are mostly Muslims and speak Turkic, a language similar to Turkish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are believed to have been targeted, detained and indoctrinated by Chinese authorities since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evidence of these abuses include satellite imagery showing the location of concentration camps and witness accounts detailing rape and torture, forced sterilisation and forced labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s foreign ministry and state media have repeatedly denied the allegations saying the camps are \u201cvocational education centres\u201d, and accused western media of fabricating stories about Uyghurs and Xinjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ms Mezensof knows only one truth \u2014 her husband is currently behind bars in China because he is Uyghur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, when Ms Mezensof was 22, she travelled to Xinjiang for the first time and met Mr Taher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was like this kind of spark \u2026 it sounds silly and so cliche, but I feel like honestly it was love at first sight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom that moment when I first spoke to him, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was just such a loving, caring and kind person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After marrying in Urumqi, Xinjiang\u2019s capital city, Ms Mezensof applied for an Australian visa for Mr Taher. The visa was granted on April 1, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was around this time when we were hearing of some unrest happening in the capital city,\u201d she told 7.30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were hearing whispers from people about how people were disappearing in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt never crossed my mind that something like that could be happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2017, China\u2019s crackdown on Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities was ramping up, with a massive arbitrary detention program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons behind detention can vary and could be as minor as wearing a headscarf, having a beard, or traveling overseas for vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Taher was on alert and the couple wanted to leave Xinjiang as soon as possible. They booked flights to Melbourne for April 12, but they never made it to the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple\u2019s worst fears were realised on the night of April 10, when police came knocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey confiscated my husband\u2019s passport and one of the first things they asked was, had my husband travelled overseas,\u201d Ms Mezensof recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrior to us getting married, my husband travelled to Turkey and he lived and worked there for about a year so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo hearing that straightaway, they were just like, OK, we have to continue this at the police station, and then they took him out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not return that night. It was the last time Ms Mezensof saw her husband for more than two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being questioned by local police for three days, Mr Taher was taken to a detention centre for 10 months before transferring to a concentration camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Taher was unexpectedly released on May 22, 2019, Ms Mezensof said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several weeks later, the couple reunited at the Urumqi airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was at work when I received the call, I was just like screaming,\u201d Ms Mezensof recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, Mr Taher told her what had occurred behind the high walls of the concentration camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said it was constant brainwashing \u2026 it just sounded crazy,\u201d Ms Mezensof said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearning about the Chinese Communist Party, reading books, and memorising speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter they released him, police officials were still keeping a really close eye on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey pretty much called him whenever they got the chance. It was constant surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof\u2019s six-month Chinese visa was running out, but the couple was unable to retrieve Mr Taher\u2019s passport from Chinese authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her application for visa extension was rejected, she had to leave Xinjiang, arriving back in Australia at the end of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof\u2019s plan to return to China was hindered by the coronavirus pandemic. Unable to travel, the couple stayed in contact over the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on the morning of May 19, 2020, Ms Mezensof noticed something was up: her messages went unanswered for hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was freaking out \u2026 every time I\u2019d text, he\u2019d always get back to me,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was constantly calling him and video calling him, and he just wouldn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen that was when I found out that [police] had come in and taken him again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said her husband was detained again on that day and allegedly taken to a camp until August 30, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Taher\u2019s Australian permanent residency was granted shortly before his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But only weeks later, Mr Taher was detained for a third time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.30 has seen a notice of arrest issued by Hami police in Xinjiang on October 23, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the notice, Mr Taher was arrested for the alleged crime of \u201corganising, leading and participating in terrorist organisation\u201d and was detained in Yizhou District\u2019s detention centre in Hami, south-east of the capital city Urumqi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof said her husband\u2019s court hearing occurred in January, where his family attended a court in Hami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks ago, on April 1, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Ms Mezensof said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy husband had been sentenced to 25 years prison by the [Chinese Communist Party], all because of time that he spent in Turkey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn their eyes, what they\u2019ve convicted him of is separatism. What they\u2019ve got on him is that when he went to Turkey, [they claim] he basically organised and participated in these kinds of political activities to try and establish an independent country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese embassy in Australia and China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to 7.30\u2019s questions by deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Mezensof said neither herself nor her husband\u2019s family in Xinjiang had received any written court document or notice about her husband\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.30 has approached local authorities in Hami multiple times to obtain Mr Taher\u2019s verdict and verify his whereabouts \u2014 the attempts were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His name does not appear on China\u2019s Judicial Process Information website relating to legal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.30 has also seen a police clearance issued by the Turkish authorities on January 2017, saying Mr Taher has \u201cno criminal records\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember just sitting and crying and shaking my head,\u201d Ms Mezensof said of learning his sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 30 now, if he carries out these 25 years, he\u2019s going to be 55 and I\u2019m going to be over 50 \u2026 that can\u2019t be true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie Richardson, the China director of international advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the case is \u201chorrifying\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwenty five years is a real outlier. That is an extraordinarily harsh sentence,\u201d she told 7.30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the pieces of information we uncovered was a Chinese government list of 26 so called sensitive countries \u2026 many of them have Muslim majority populations and Turkey is on that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very common place for [Uyghur] people to go and study or travel to or have business with, and presumably that was the trigger issue here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights Watch has released a legal assessment today which concludes that the Chinese government has committed and is continuing to commit crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Richardson said it is a significant but warranted step for the organisation to usethe term \u201ccrimes against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a term that refers to widespread systematic concerted crimes committed by authorities against a population and these kinds of abuses can take place in wartime or in peacetime,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrimes against humanity are among some of the most serious violations under international law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new report sets out the evidentiary basis for the use of the term and has uncovered a long and distressing list of crimes against humanity that the Chinese government commits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They range from mass surveillance, mass arrests, mass arbitrary detention in forced disappearances, sexual violence and forced labour that are targeted at Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said governments around the world, including Australia, should respond to the findings accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe that idea has to be challenged, and that it\u2019s imperative to contemplate investigations on this basis of Chinese government officials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the UN is holding \u201cserious negotiations\u201d with China to gain unfettered access to Xinjiang for investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty seven countries including Australia and the UK, have formally expressed concern over China\u2019s treatment of Uyghurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and Canada have both accused China of committing genocide against the Uyghur population, with Chinese officials facing mounting sanctions from the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Chinese ambassador to AustraliaCheng Jingye dismissed that allegation by holding a press conference in Canberra two weeks ago alongside high ranking Xinjiang officials, saying the government maintains \u201cethnic harmony\u201d in Xinjiang while cracking down on terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HRW stopped short of using the term \u201cgenocide\u201d in the latest report, but Ms Richardson said the report does not preclude that finding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very clear that if at such time, we are able to show the intent that\u2019s typically required for something like a genocide prosecution, we will have no trouble saying so,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe key next step really is for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to say that she will push for an investigation outside the country and move to assemble evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement to 7.30, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it \u201cis aware of the specific case but for privacy reasons we cannot provide further detail\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Foreign Minister recently set out the Australian Government\u2019s grave concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against Uighurs in Xinjiang,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Australian Government stands ready to provide consular assistance to Australian citizens overseas, but note our bilateral consular agreement with China only allows us access to Australian citizens who have entered China on an Australian passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not entitled to provide consular assistance to anyone who is not an Australian citizen in China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ms Mezensof, all she wants is to be with her husband and have a normal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt feels like I\u2019m telling a story that\u2019s not my own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrowing up in Australia, being born and raised here, and then hearing something like that, it just seems so unreal. But I lived through this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy life wasn\u2019t supposed to be like this. I just wanted to have a normal, boring life like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABC News. 19 April 2021 Below is an article published by ABC News. Photo:Grace Tobin. Melbourne woman Mehray Mezensof has been married for five years, but her husband has been absent for most of that time. Instead, he has been in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,32,36,35,37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}