Reunite Huseyin Celil with his family in Canada

Huseyin Celil is a member of China’s Uyghur minority and a human rights activist. In 2001, he fled China after being in jail for supporting the religious and political rights of the Uyighur people. The United Nations recognized him as a refugee.

Huseyin Celil (pronounced "Je-lil") arrived in Canada with his wife Kamila and their child in October of 2001. After they settled, two more boys were born and Huseyin became a Canadian citizen in 2005. In March 2006, when Kamila was pregnant with their fourth child, the family travelled to Uzbekistan to visit her family. That’s when things started going badly. The police in China found out that Huseyin was in Uzbekistan and asked the police there to arrest Huseyin. They did, and then sent him to China.

The Chinese authorities falsely accused Huseyin of serious offences because of his activities in support of Uyghur rights. They held Huseyin in a secret place. He was not given access to a lawyer, his family, or Canadian officials. The Chinese authorities threatened and tortured him and forced him to sign a confession. They refused to recognize Huseyin’s status as a Canadian citizen, and they did not allow Canadian officials to attend his trial. The trial was not conducted fairly, and he was sentenced to life in prison, later reduced to 20 years in February 2016.

Huseyin was held in solitary confinement for much of the time in the early years of his imprisonment. He lacked healthy food and was in poor health. His mother and sister, who live in China, were occasionally allowed to visit him. 

In 2016 China started a brutal crackdown on Uyghurs in Xinjiang province where his family lives and where he was imprisoned. No one has heard from Huseyin or his family since 2016. 

Sign the petition calling on Li Qiang, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, to release Huseyin Celil and allow him to be reunited with his family in Canada.