William Nee

Senior Manager for East Asia at @NEDemocracy. posts on China/中国, human rights, IR, Catholicism, trail running. Views expressed are my own.

[William Nee @williamnee]

📢 My op-ed in @thehill is out:

The piece answers a paradox: many Uyghurs overseas continue to deal with detained relatives & transnational repression.

Meanwhile, some non-Uyghurs may assume the situation has improved, as the re-education camps are no longer in global headlines

[Adrian Zenz @adrianzenz]

Rahile Omer, the youngest detainee photographed in the Xinjiang Police Files, has died in a Chinese prison at 23.

RFA Uyghur Service reports that officials in Konasheher County, Kashgar, had confirmed by phone that she died one to two months earlier.

Her case is documented in my 2022 study of the Xinjiang Police Files. She was the youngest of the 2,884 photographed persons confirmed as detained.

Xinjiang’s mass surveillance platform flagged her as a “Type 12 person,” meaning someone connected to an existing police case. Both of her parents had been detained on July 3, 2017. Her father was a government official. The records note that she was first spared because she was “14 years old, a non-adult student.” Police detained her on September 28, less than three months after her parents.

RFA has now reported what followed. A judicial official said that in 2019 she was moved from the camp to a detention center because the “education” had not taken effect, she had given no information about others in her case, and she had prayed through gestures in her dormitory. In October 2021, after she turned 18, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison. An officer said she died of a heart condition but gave no further details. These statements cannot be independently verified.

Rahile spent more than a third of her life in custody because of her family. Beijing should release her medical and prison records and disclose what has happened to her parents.

Report links below.

[Yaqiu Wang 王亚秋 @Yaqiu]

This is exactly the kind of stuff I feared would emerge from the Huang spy saga. It won’t really affect the extremely privileged people on this list, but the insinuations it makes could have real consequences for ordinary people in similar relationships.

[Victor Shih @vshih2]

Very important find! And as I suspect many cities in western and central China rely heavily on public employment and pension

[Uyghur Times English @uytimes]

Imprisoned Uyghur scholar Rahile Dawut wins 2026 Axel Springer Award for Courage

The Axel Springer Freedom Foundation has awarded imprisoned Uyghur scholar Dr. Rahile Dawut its 2026 Award for Courage. The foundation honored her work documenting and preserving Uyghur folklore, history and cultural heritage. Dawut is an internationally recognized ethnologist and an expert on Uyghur folklore.

https://t.co/7w24B2Msbs

[William Nee @williamnee]

I do not know their exact locations or the charges against them, nor do I know if they are still alive.”

https://t.co/hc6f50hb7v

[William Nee @williamnee]

.@YalkunUluyol on the death of Rahile Omer:

“Uyghurs in the diaspora are mourning Rahile. As a member of this community, I fear receiving similar heartbreaking news every day. My father, Memet Yaqup, is serving a 16-year prison sentence; my uncle, Emet Yaqup, is serving life…”

[Luke de Pulford @lukedepulford]

Mind blowing clip from the Chris Cash interview coming tonight (Cash was accused of spying on parliamentarians for China in 2023, case later collapsed).

1. BBC plays a voice message from Chris Berry (friend and co-defendant in the case until 2025) where Berry talks about Cai Qi (v senior CCP figure) having SEEN HIS REPORTS.
2. Cash knew. The voice note was to him.
3. Cash continued to text Berry in spite of his reports being read by one of Xi Jinping’s closest advisers because he “didn’t think much of it”. 🤯

[Damon M. Wilson @DamonMacWilson]

A powerful bipartisan statement of solidarity with political prisoners and their families worldwide!

Grateful to the U.S. Senate, @SenatorWicker, @SenatorShaheen & @SenWhitehouse, @vkaramurza, and our October 30 coalition.

Proud that through @NEDemocracy, the American people stand with those imprisoned for freedom—and the families awaiting their return.

#FreedomStartsWithAName

[Sophie Richardson @SophieDRich]

In December 2009 the govt of #Cambodia forced 20 #Uyghur #asylum seekers back to #China. Democratic govts failed then to act decisively to uphold intl #humanrights law, leaving people in endless limbo, at risk--and so here we are again.
https://t.co/d2OCuczOKh @CHRDnet @Reaproy

[Hong Kong Watch @hk_watch]

Today our Head of Advocacy and Research Thomas Benson visited @WhiteHouse and met with 🇺🇸 congressional offices, including @DanSullivan_AK, @RosenforNevada, @JohnCornyn, and @JamesWalkinshaw, to discuss legislative actions to address sanctions evasion via #HongKong.

[Nur. نۇرئىمان @NurKashgar]

Detained at 14. Killed at 23.

Her name is Rahile Omer.

Read for more: https://t.co/qIuYHhfckI

[William Nee @williamnee]

@AsiaLens Those Montana pics are stunning!

[Demetri @AsiaLens]

Want a short break from Jensen Huang stories? Check out my photography website, with photos from Afghanistan & Cuba to Japan, China & across the US.

https://t.co/mIUZFEZIeA

[Damon M. Wilson @DamonMacWilson]

Dr. Rahile Dawut devoted her life to preserving Uyghur history and culture. For that, she has been imprisoned.

Grateful to @RushanAbbas for accepting this well-deserved honor on her behalf, and to @NEDemocracy Chairman @PeterRoskam for his powerful tribute.

Her courage—and the Uyghur people’s identity—cannot be erased.

[Frances Hui 許穎婷 @frances_hui]

1/ Hong Kong Catholics are once again caught between faith and state control.

After police reportedly questioned a church about a Mass for 168 fire victims, the parish removed its explicit dedication to them.

Has even praying for the dead become a political threat?

[Elise Stefanik @EliseStefanik]

How we won the behind the scenes legislative drone battle to counter CCP drones and promote American drone dominance 👇

[Rushan Abbas @RushanAbbas]

It was an immense privilege to accept the 2026 Award for Courage on behalf of imprisoned Uyghur scholar Dr. Rahile Dawut at the German Bundestag, presented by the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation and its Executive Director, Antje Schippmann.

The powerful and deeply moving remarks by Evelyn Zupke @Evelyn_Zupke, Parliamentary Commissioner for Victims of the SED Dictatorship, and former Congressman and @NED Board Chairman @PeterRoskam were among the ceremony's most memorable moments. Their principled voices honoring Dr. Dawut's courage and sacrifice reminded us that the defense of human dignity and freedom transcends borders.

Dr. Dawut devoted her life to preserving Uyghur history, culture, and traditions. For safeguarding our people's identity, the CCP sentenced her to life imprisonment.

I am deeply grateful to prominent Uyghur leader Erkin Alptekin, @AHakimIdris, @nyrola, Gheyyur Qurban, and Anwar Ahmad from @UyghurCongress for standing alongside me in solidarity with Dr. Rahile Dawut and her family.

This award sends a powerful message: Dr. Dawut is not forgotten, Uyghur identity cannot be erased, and the CCP cannot silence our pursuit of justice.

As someone whose beloved sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, has been unjustly imprisoned for more than eight years, I know the anguish of families waiting for their loved ones. Behind every imprisoned Uyghur is a family that refuses to surrender hope.

Recognition must inspire action, and solidarity must become sustained international pressure until Dr. Rahile Dawut, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and all unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs are free.

My heartfelt thanks to the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation for honoring Dr. Dawut's courage and standing firmly for freedom, justice, and human dignity.

[William Nee @williamnee]

Wow. @EliseStefanik on CCP influence tactics:

“The Chinese had built a website for the fake company, chosen a small rural town thinking I wouldn’t know it well, and set up a front company with this man who came to my office under the pretense of discussing farm issues.”

[Daniel Twining @DCTwining]

Elected officials of all levels and global technology leaders need to be aware of the sophistication of the influence and intelligence operations of the Chinese Communist Party. @EliseStefanik
https://t.co/bq0AU96Tr1

[William Nee @williamnee]

NUR and CHRD Call on Thailand to Halt the Forced Return of Two Uyghur Men to China

Risk grows shortly after 21 governments press Thailand at UN on deportations

https://t.co/BadplG46Ix @UyghurNetworkHQ @CHRDnet

[William Nee @williamnee]

@Ethanoshi Exactly.

[William Nee @williamnee]

“14-year-old Rahile was also sent to a re-education camp.

Local officials told RFA that while in the camp, she was transferred to a detention center because she was deemed “unresponsive to re-education,” refused to name others involved in the case, and prayed in her dormitory.”

[李老师不是你老师 @whyyoutouzhele]

14岁被送进新疆再教育营，18岁被判12年，23岁死在监狱

11月6日，自由亚洲电台报道，维吾尔族女孩热伊莱·吾马尔（Rahile Omer）在新疆监狱中死亡，年仅23岁。

2017年，14岁的热伊莱在父亲被拘押后，也被送入再教育营。
当地司法人员向自由亚洲电台透露，她在教育营期间，因被认为“教育无效”、拒绝交代其他涉案人员，以及在宿舍做礼拜等原因，被转入看守所。
2021年，她在18岁时被判处12年监禁。

自由亚洲电台近日致电当地警察及司法部门，多名工作人员证实其死讯。
一名警察称她死于心脏病，但未说明具体病情及死亡经过。