Turkistan Times | August 29, 2026
BUENOS AIRES — Imprisoned Uyghur scholar, writer, and former editor at the state-run Xinjiang Education Press, Yalqun Rozi, has been honored with the prestigious 2026 Graciela Fernández Meijide Award for the Defense of Human Rights. The award ceremony was hosted by the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) on August 23, 2026, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, commemorating the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism.
Before his arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities in Urumqi in October 2016, Rozi dedicated his career to protecting and promoting Uyghur language, history, and cultural identity within the official educational system. Between 2001 and 2011, he played a crucial role in compiling and editing over 90 textbooks and educational materials for elementary, middle, and high school students. However, his peaceful intellectual and cultural commitment was criminalized under Beijing’s sweeping crackdown. In January 2018, following public labeling as a "separatist," a Chinese court sentenced him to 15 years in prison on fabricated charges of "inciting subversion of state power."
A prominent Uyghur delegation attended the ceremony to accept the award on behalf of Rozi’s family. The delegation included Uyghur Academy President Dr. Rishat Abbas, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) Executive Director Rushan Abbas, Center for Uyghur Studies Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris, World Uyghur Congress (WUC) President Turgunjan Alawdun, and Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights President Dolkun Isa. Delivering the acceptance speech, Dr. Rishat Abbas highlighted that Rozi’s unjust imprisonment, along with the detention of his own sister Dr. Gulshan Abbas, reflects the ongoing genocide, forced assimilation, and transnational repression perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party.
According to CADAL’s selection jury, Rozi's case exemplifies the brutal suppression of nonviolent cultural advocacy and the systematic persecution of Uyghur intellectuals who defend their people's cultural and human rights. For the first time in 2026, CADAL expanded the award's scope globally to highlight forgotten political prisoners in authoritarian regimes, also honoring figures from Equatorial Guinea and North Korea.
Human rights organizations emphasize that since 2017, China’s campaign to eradicate Uyghur identity has drastically escalated. Nearly three million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in internment camps, facing political indoctrination, torture, forced sterilization, rape, and forced labor. Furthermore, thousands of Uyghur children have been forcibly placed in state-run boarding schools, while mandatory birth control measures have reduced Uyghur birth rates by half.
Despite last-minute Chinese diplomatic pressure that forced CADAL to change the conference venue, Dolkun Isa reported that the delegation successfully conducted briefings with international diplomats, university academics, media representatives, and civil society organizations in Buenos Aires. Originally established in 2023, the award honors renowned Argentine activist Graciela Fernández Meijide, whose son was forcibly disappeared during Argentina’s military dictatorship in 1976.
