WUC weekly brief: Uyghur writer Yalqun Rozi marks ten years in detention; organisation welcomes EU Parliament's new China recommendations
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) marked ten years since Uyghur writer, scholar and literary critic Yalqun Rozi (亚力坤·肉孜) was detained in Urumqi on October 6, 2016 and later sentenced in January 2018 to 15 years in prison for 'inciting subversion of state power'. In August 2026 he received the Graciela Fernández Meijide Award from the Latin American think tank CADAL for contributions to human rights in authoritarian states; he remains imprisoned. The brief also welcomed the European Parliament's new recommendations on EU-China political relations, adopted on October 7, calling for ties with Beijing to be based on respect for international law and human rights.
Why it matters
This is the WUC's dedicated commemoration of ten years of Rozi's detention: as a former chief editor of Uyghur-language school textbooks and a prominent literary critic, his 15-year sentence is treated as an emblematic case of the criminalisation of Uyghur cultural expression. The brief pairs the commemoration with the European Parliament's new report — including its demands for the release of Ilham Tohti, Gulshan Abbas and others — showing how advocacy organisations are linking individual cases to EU-level political pressure. The account of Rozi's case comes from the organisation's own public statement, which this site has not independently verified in full; the record is therefore marked 'under ongoing verification'.
Full report
According to an October 10 report by the Asian News International (ANI) news agency, datelined Munich, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) in its weekly brief marked ten years since Uyghur writer, scholar and literary critic Yalqun Rozi was detained in Urumqi on October 6, 2016; in January 2018 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 'inciting subversion of state power'. Rozi worked as an editor at the Xinjiang Education Press and served as chief editor of Uyghur language and literature textbooks. In August 2026 he received the Graciela Fernández Meijide Award from the Latin American think tank CADAL (Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina) for contributions to human rights in authoritarian states; he remains imprisoned. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) religious-prisoners-of-conscience database also lists his case, with a 15-year sentence and status 'not released', citing ethnoreligious identity as the reason for persecution. [1][2]
The brief also welcomed the European Parliament's new recommendations on EU-China political relations, adopted on October 7 by 454 votes to 86 with 110 abstentions. As cited by the brief, the recommendations call for the EU's ties with Beijing to be based on respect for international law and human rights; they recognise that three million Uyghurs have been subjected to forced labour and mass imprisonment; call on China to end mass imprisonment policies; and demand the release of detained Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, Uyghur physician Gulshan Abbas, and the siblings of former WUC president Dolkun Isa. The recommendations also include two clauses condemning China's new ethnic unity law. The brief additionally highlighted efforts to preserve the Uyghur language. [1]
Verification note: this record documents the publicly reported act — the WUC's release of its weekly brief (reported by ANI and carried by multiple outlets). The account of Rozi's case and the organisation's rendering of the European Parliament's recommendations are that organisation's own statements; the parts concerning the Parliament's report are consistent with this site's October 8 record of that report's main text and can be cross-checked. This site has not independently verified all the details of Rozi's case, and the record is marked 'under ongoing verification'. This site will continue to follow up. [1][2]
Primary sources
Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or assessments. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.