A Uighur Muslim doctor has been jailed on terrorism charges, Beijing confirmed on Thursday, a day after her family told U.S. politicians that she had been sentenced to 20 years.
Gulshan Abbas vanished into detention two years ago, but her relatives told a U.S. congressional committee Wednesday that the 58-year-old had been sentenced to 20 years in prison because of activism on behalf of Uighurs.
Rights groups say an estimated one million Uighurs and other Turkic minorities languish in detention camps in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region in prison-like conditions. China insists they are “vocational training centres”, but activists say inmates face torture and forced labour.
‘According to law’
“Gulshan Abbas has been sentenced according to the law by Chinese judicial organs for taking part in organised terrorism, aiding terrorist activities and seriously disrupting social order,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. He did not give further details of her alleged crimes. “We urge U.S. politicians to respect facts, stop fabricating lies to smear China, and stop using the Xinjiang issue to interfere in China's domestic affairs,” he added.
A retired doctor , Ms. Abbas was detained in 2018, according to the testimony from her sister, Rushan Abbas, provided to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year. Ms. Rushan, who is based in the U.S., has been campaigning for her sister’s release.
