Ex-Civil Servant of Xinjiang Revealed Young Girl Imprenated After Being Raped in "Re-Education Camp" ［1/2]
Aisha Akhan, a Kazakh business woman from the Gongliu County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China fled to Kazakhstan last year. After hiding for a year and four months, with the help of a voluntary organisation last week, she publicised her experience when she worked as a civil servant in the government. She disclosed that a young girl was raped and subsequently impregnated, giving birth to a child in the "re-education camp". Worried that she would be hunted down by the Xinjiang police, she had hidden in her home in Kazakhstan for 16 months. Last Friday, with the help of a voluntary organisation, Atajurt, she finally talked about her experience. Her home town was the town of Gongliu in the Gongliu county. She was a businesswoman specializing in exports hence she frequently travelled between Ili and Kazakhstan. On 4th May 2018, when she was hospitalised and the phone was out of battery, the local police contacted her mum requesting an interview. She was detailed immediately when she arrived at the police station.
Threatening to transfer to "re-education camp" from the police
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Birkzat Mahsuthan, spokesman of Atajurt, stated that humanitarian support was given to Aisha after they received the call for help in hope that she can stay in Kazakhstan and be reunited with her husband and child. "She said that in spring last year she was asked a lot of questions by the police, mainly on her relationship with illegal organisations. They then asked what her intention was to travel frequently to Kazakhstan. The reason she travelled to Kazakhstan once or every few weeks was because she was a businesswoman. The police made up a reason and tried to get her into the "re-education centre". The next day before that could happen, a friend of hers managed to inform her secretly that her situation was dangerous and if she went to the police station again, it would be very likely that she would be locked up in the "re-education centre". Because of that she decided to smuggle to Kazakhstan."
Birkzat Mahsuthan said the police accused Aisha of joining an organisation in the city of Changji, Xinjiang but they could not point out what this organisation was guilty of, while Aisha had never been to Changji. The police then asked her about human right activist Serikzhan Bilash and said Aisha had attended his speech.
Make up charges from the police and limitation in freedom of travelling.
In an interview with us last Saturday, Aisha stated that during police questioning, they mentioned that Kazakhstan was listed as one of the twenty countries of terrorism by the Chinese government. The police also accused her of being part of a WeChat "Secret Lover" group and tortured her on a tiger chair for six hours. She was also asked to get her passport from her office and hand it over to the police. Aisha decided to flee China due to personal safety concerns. She said, "(The police) allowed her 3 days to do so and she fled to Kazakhstan on 7th May 2019."