Suppiyem Tochti
Assumed Location
Internment camp
Suspected Reasons for Arrest or Detention
Travelling abroad, contact with family abroad, religious practices
Official Reason for Arrest or Detention
Unknown
Last Contact
After 2015
Suppiyem went missing after April 2015, after a trip to Turkey to visit family members and relatives, including her granddaughter. In November-December 2019, the granddaughter and her family living in Germany were told by relatives still in China that Suppiyem was in an internment camp. According to her granddaughter, before visiting Turkey, Suppiyem received a threatening call from a police officer who said: “If you don’t come back from Turkey, we will take your son.” Once back in China, Suppiyem cut off all communication with the family abroad. Her granddaughter recalled her saying: “Don’t call me anymore, we are fine here.” The granddaughter’s family does not have any official documents on Suppiyem’s case and has now lost all connections with relatives in China. The family is worried about Suppiyem’s health, because she suffers from diabetes and heart problems.
Personal Details
Suppiyem, now about 60 years old, is a hard-working woman who often travelled on business. She owns a shop selling clothes, hats and assorted items in Shahyar. Her granddaughter remembers her as always busy with family and business, adding: “She didn’t have an easy life.” She also recalls her grandmother’s surprise when she saw how people could talk without restrictions in Turkey. “She [Suppiyem] was saying, ‘Oh, you can speak so loud here, so freely here.’ She wasn’t used to it.”
One of Suppiyem’s daughters, Hepisem Mehmet, also went missing after the same trip to Turkey and might have been sent to an internment camp sometime between 2016 and 2017.
Date of Birth
Unknown
Ethnicity
Uyghur
Hometown
Xayar (Shayar), Aksu prefecture
Profession
Businesswoman
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