Akademiernas kommitté för mänskliga rättigheter har skickat ett nytt öppet brev till Kinas president med en vädjan om att den fängslade forskaren Ilham Tohti omedelbart friges.
Ilham Tohti dömdes 2014 till livstids fängelse efter sitt arbete med sociala frågor som rör uigurers situation i Kina. Enligt tillförlitliga rapporter har han under lång tid hållits under mycket hårda förhållanden i fängelse och nekats kontakt med sin familj.
Detta är fjärde gången Kommittén vädjar om Ilham Tohtis frigivning. Kommittén betonar samtidigt att hans förhållanden i förvar, fram till dess att en frigivning sker, måste överensstämma med FN:s minimiregler för behandling av fångar, inklusive regelbunden kontakt med familjen och full tillgång till nödvändig medicinsk vård.
Brevet i sin helhet:
Stockholm 11 May 2026
Your Excellency,
We are writing to ask for your assistance with the situation of Ilham Tohti, a Chinese scientific colleague imprisoned more than 12 years ago. Professor Ilham was sentenced to life in prison for peacefully expressing his opinions in apparent connection with his university teachings and scholarly work. We are deeply concerned about his health and well-being in light of reports that he has suffered from a number of health problems and has been deprived of contact with his family for years.
At the time of his arrest, Professor Ilham was a longtime professor of economics at Minzu University in Beijing and editor of a scholarly website that focused on social issues facing Uyghurs in China. As part of his work and in an effort to defuse rising ethnic tensions, he recommended various measures to address challenges, including poverty and joblessness, facing members of the Uyghur community. Despite widespread acknowledgement that he has always been a voice of moderation and reconciliation, he was detained by police officers in January 2014 and accused of subversive intent in his writings, classroom lectures, and interviews. In July of that year, he was formally indicted on charges of separatism. Following a two-day closed trial in September 2014 that failed to meet international due process standards, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Shortly thereafter, in a hearing held inside the detention center without his lawyer present, his appeal of this sentence was rejected.
It is our understanding that, at the time of his conviction, Professor Ilham suffered from a number of health problems—including heart disease, liver problems, and prostatitis—for which he was not receiving adequate medical care. Our concern for his well-being is heightened by reliable reports indicating that, during his detention, he has been held under unduly harsh conditions of confinement, including severe ill-treatment and deprivation of family visits for many years.
We understand that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Professor Ilham’s detention to be arbitrary, in violation of his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and to due process. We further understand that UN human rights experts’ requests to the Chinese government for specific information about his conditions of confinement, state of health, and access to medical care have gone unanswered.
In light of the information above, we respectfully request your help in ensuring that Professor Ilham is promptly released from prison. In the interim, we urge you to ensure that his conditions of confinement are brought into conformity with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), including regular communication with his family and access to all needed medical care.
Thank you, Your Excellency, for your attention to this matter of utmost importance.
Respectfully yours,
Stefan Svallfors
Professor, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of Sweden’s Scientific and Literary Academies
Akademiernas kommitté för mänskliga rättigheter består av representanter från Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Svenska Akademien och Sveriges unga akademi.
