Yalqun Rozi, a son of the Uyghur people currently in a Chinese prison, has been honored with an international award as a symbol of resistance against authoritarianism.
Turkistan Times, February 27, 2026 / Istanbul: The Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) has officially announced the recipients of the 2026 "Graciela Fernández Meijide Human Rights Award." This year marks the first time the award has been distributed on a global scale, and Yalqun Rozi, the renowned Uyghur literary critic, writer, and educator currently serving a sentence in a Chinese prison, has been named a laureate.
In addition to Yalqun Rozi, the jury honored Anacleto Micha Ndong from Equatorial Guinea, as well as South Korean missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Choi Chun-gil, and Kim Kuk-gi, who are currently detained in North Korea. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place this August during the "Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarianism" conference.
The Award and the Jury's Rationale
The distinguished jury, composed of Inés Pousadellas, Eduardo Ulibarri, Vicente Palermo, and Rubén Chababo, announced that the award, previously limited to the Latin American region, would from 2026 onwards be bestowed globally upon heroes suffering under the persecution of despotic and totalitarian regimes. In evaluating candidates from countries such as Equatorial Guinea, China, and North Korea, the jury members praised the nominees' peaceful courage in the cause of democracy and human rights.
Regarding the decision to honor Yalqun Rozi, the jury stated:
"Yalqun Rozi is a respected literary critic, writer, and publisher who, prior to his arrest by Chinese authorities, dedicated his entire life within the formal education system to the preservation and development of the Uyghur language, culture, and identity. His peaceful intellectual and cultural endeavors were criminalized by the Chinese government and punished as part of a broad campaign of eradication against the Uyghur people."
The award committee further described Yalqun Rozi's case as a "textbook example of the suppression of non-violent cultural defenders and the systematic persecution of Uyghur intellectuals safeguarding their people's cultural rights." Furthermore, the committee specifically highlighted that since 2017, nearly 3 million Uyghurs have been interned in camps, with ongoing crimes against humanity such as forced labor, torture, and forced sterilization.
Uyghur Intellectual Yalqun Rozi
A talented literary critic, writer, and poet, Yalqun Rozi was born on March 4, 1966, in the village of Aghu in Artux. After graduating from the Faculty of Literature at Xinjiang University in 1987, he worked at the Xinjiang People's Radio Station and the "Xinjiang Education Daily." From 2005 onwards, he was engaged in compiling and editing Uyghur language and literature textbooks at the Xinjiang Education Publishing House.
By publishing masterpieces such as "The Golden Tassel in Taklamakan," "Memteli Efendi" (co-authored with Mirza Seyit), "The Awakening Spirit of Ancestors," and "The Secret of the Clay Fortress," he played a crucial role in awakening the historical and cultural consciousness of the Uyghur people. His contemporaries describe him as an intellectual who "filled the voids in the nation's spirituality and set a benchmark by planting a flag."
In his memoirs, the late Almas Haji described Yalqun Rozi as "a fearless warrior who raised a blade against colonial education and assimilation policies in the path of awakening and educating the national spirit." The literature textbooks compiled by Yalqun Rozi were of particular value for being imbued with the national spirit and manifesting national identity.
Arrest and Unjust Sentence
When Chinese authorities launched a massive campaign of arbitrary detention in East Turkistan under the guise of "counter-terrorism" starting in 2016, Yalqun Rozi was among the first targets. He was taken from his home in Urumqi in October 2016. The textbooks he had compiled, which had been used in schools for years with government approval, were suddenly deemed materials containing "ideological problems" and "inciting separatism." Yalqun Rozi was charged with "inciting subversion of state power." It was revealed on January 3, 2018, that he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Although the Chinese government attempted to tarnish his image in a 2021 propaganda documentary by portraying him as the compiler of "toxic textbooks," the international community and human rights organizations maintain that these accusations are entirely baseless and that the true objective is to "break the backbone" of the nation by eliminating the Uyghur elite.
International Reaction
The Campaign for Uyghurs and other human rights organizations warmly welcomed the news of Yalqun Rozi receiving this award. In a statement, the Campaign for Uyghurs emphasized that while the Chinese Communist Party attempts to rewrite Uyghur history and eliminate intellectuals, this award stands as proof that the Uyghur spirit remains unbroken.
Among other recipients of the award are Anacleto Micha Ndong, a lawyer and activist arrested for speaking out against the dictatorship of Teodoro Obiang in Equatorial Guinea, and South Korean missionaries sentenced to life imprisonment by North Korea for aiding North Korean refugees in China. The award report also strongly criticized the Chinese government's forced repatriation of North Korean refugees in violation of international law.
Yalqun Rozi's receipt of such an international honor today serves as yet another indication that the Uyghur people's struggle for justice and freedom is being recognized by the international community.
