“Like we were enemies in a war”

China’s Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang

“Like we were enemies in a war” China’s Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang

Illustrations by Molly Crabapple

Gῠlzar Seley

古丽扎尔 ·色来

Assumed Location

Prison, Karamay

Suspected Reasons for Arrest or Detention

Living abroad

Official Reason for Arrest or Detention

Unknown

Last Contact

June 2016

Gῠlzar is a paediatrician from Karamay. Gῠlzar’s sister told Amnesty International that the last time the two sisters spoke was in June 2016. That month their mother was hospitalized and the sisters, both living abroad, travelled back to Xinjiang to see her. Gῠlzar was arrested with her baby as soon as she landed in Urumqi. A few days later the police called the family informing them that Gῠlzar was detained. Initially, she was in an internment camp in Karamay but after more than six months she was transferred to a prison, still in Karamay. It is not clear whether she had a trial, but she was allegedly sentenced to 14 years in prison starting at the end of 2016. Gῠlzar’s sister, now based in Turkey, believes that the main reason for her detention is having lived abroad.

Personal Details

Gῠlzar suffers from a heart disease and has some hearing issues for which she had to undergo surgery twice. She is a kind and generous person, mother of five children, four now in Turkey and one in Xinjiang. Gῠlzar really wanted them to study science in China.

Date of Birth

10 December 1973

Ethnicity

Uyghur

Hometown

Karamay

Profession

Doctor

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