Fifteen years ago, Cambodia deported 20 Uyghur asylum seekers back to China, where they were detained and, in some cases, tortured in prison, people with knowledge of the situation said.

One woman, who was released, had a miscarriage in detention due to the torture, which she said included electric shocks and being left nearly naked in a cold jail cell.

And a seriously ill man serving a 20-year sentence has had to perform labor in prison, sources said.

The Uyghurs fled northwest China’s vast Xinjiang region following unrest involving Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, in July 2009.

The deadly clashes led to some of China’s worst ethnic violence and served as a catalyst for the intrusive surveillance of Uyghurs and later mass detentions in “re-education” camps beginning in 2017.

The 20 Uyghurs landed in Cambodia where they were granted temporary asylum while waiting for a third country to accept them, but the government in Phnom Penh sent them back at Beijing’s behest, despite international outcry.

Once the Uyghurs were returned to Xinjiang, China held a secret trial in Kashgar on Dec. 24, 2010, sentencing them to prison.

Hidden suffering

But few details about their fate, including the torture, have emerged until now.

Ayshemgul Omer, a relative of one of the detainees, provided information to RFA on the returned refugees.

Before moving to Turkey in 2014, she met or talked with the family members of the deported Uyghurs in Xinjiang and maintained contact with them through various channels after she left China.

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Memettursun Omer, a family member who is serving a 20-year sentence in Daheyan Prison in Turpan prefecture, has been forced to work in prison though he is seriously ill, Ayshemgul Omer said.

A police officer contacted by RFA said she last saw Memettursun Omer in prison on Oct. 29 and confirmed that he was seriously ill, but still had to perform labor.

“Memettursun Omer’s health was not good,” she said.

“He told me that his eyes are bulging, his hands are shaking, his bones hurt at night, and he feels hungry almost every hour,” she said, adding that Omer suffers from Grave’s disease, or hyperthyroidism.

He requested medication from family members in Yarkant county, known as also Shache county in Chinese, but they could not provide it because of tight finances, Ayshemgul Omer said.

“The prison guards have helped him, but he is still working,” the officer said, adding that she mailed Omer medicine after completing her assignment at Daheyan Prison and returned to Yarkant, but didn’t know if he had received it.

Miscarriage and torture

One of the woman, named Shahide Kurban, had a miscarriage due to torture soon after she was deported to China, Ayshemgul Omer and police in Xinjiang told RFA.

Kurban, who was pregnant at the time of the deportation, and her two children are the only individuals who have been released from prison, Omer said.

“She told me how they were tortured and left in a cold room during December, wearing nothing but undergarments for 48 hours,” Ayshemgul Omer said. “They were on the brink of freezing, and after those 48 hours, they were finally returned to their cell.”

“During the initial six months of detention, they were interrogated for four months. During this time, they were subjected to electrocution, with their limbs connected to electrical currents. They endured severe torture.”

Kurban and the other Uyghur detainees first were taken to Urumqi for eight days of interrogation, then transferred to Aksu city and Kashgar for further questioning.

“She was around two months pregnant when she was returned from Cambodia,” said a police officer in Nazarbagh village, Kashgar city, where Kurban was registered. “She had a miscarriage in Aksu. I’m not sure if she was tortured while in Aksu, but I heard it happened in the prison in Urumqi during 7-8 days.”

After the trial, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that authorities had released Kurban and her children and had arranged good living conditions for them.

Omer confirmed that Kurban was released with her two children, but said that Akber Tuniyaz, who served as a translator for the refugees, was also sentenced to prison, although his term is unknown.

Kurban now has gynecological issues and is being treated in a hospital, Omer said.

Death and illness

Two other deportees, including Memet Eli Rozi, died in prison, while others have developed various illnesses, Ayshemgul Omer said.

Four individuals, including Mutellip Mamut, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Four others were given 20 years.

Another four, including Musa Muhammad, received sentences of 17 years, and four more, including Abdukadir Abdugheni, got 16 years in prison, according to lawyers representing the Uyghurs.

Cambodia deported the refugees on Dec. 19, 2009, at Beijing’s request despite international condemnation and concern for their safety once back in China.

The United States and the United Nations advised Cambodia not to deport the Uyghurs based on the international principle of non-refoulement, which asserts that refugees should not be returned to a country where they would face torture or other forms of persecution.

Two days after the deportations, Xi Jinping, then China’s vice president, signed deals with Phnom Penh for grants and loans worth about US$1.2 billion.

“China has thanked the government of Cambodia for assisting in sending back these people,” Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith was quoted as saying by The New York Times at the time. “According to Chinese law, these people are criminals.”

In April 2010, the U.S. punished Cambodia for its action by suspending a shipment of 200 surplus military vehicles to the country.

The U.S., Turkey, Japan and the European Union have all condemned China and Cambodia for the deportation.

Nearly 70 international human rights organizations issued a joint statement demanding transparency in China’s judicial proceedings and fair trials for the 20 Uyghurs.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.