Huseyin Celil is a member of China’s Uighur minority and a human rights activist. In 2001, he fled China after being in jail for a time for supporting the religious and political rights of the Uighur 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 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 wrong. 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.