Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) called on the Moroccan authorities to refrain from extraditing the 34-year-old Uyghur citizen, Yidiresi Aishan, to China and to release him immediately, describing the decision to extradite him as a major crime and a grave violation, as this poses a grave danger to his life and safety.
AOHR UK added that a Moroccan court agreed on Thursday, December 16, to hand over Aishan to the Chinese authorities, five months after his arrest upon his arrival at Casablanca airport on July 19 for having a Red Notice issued against him by Interpol at the request of China, before Interpol revised its decision last August and rescinded the arrest warrant.
According to AOHR UK, the Moroccan authorities presented Aishan to the court on July 20, and ordered his imprisonment in Tiflet prison, and after lifting his Red Notice and submitting a statement to the court, however, the Moroccan authorities ignored this and contacted the Chinese authorities, which insisted on his extradition.
AOHR UK stressed that Aishan is an Uyghur activist who resided in Turkey since 2012, and provided translation services to Uyghurs in exile with local authorities, in addition to his work for the Uyghur newspaper in Turkey. He had a prominent role in collecting testimonies about the atrocities committed by China in the region Xinjiang, and he was a public spokesperson for the Uyghur diaspora, and this is the real motive behind China’s insistence on his arrest.
AOHR UK emphasised that despite the just cause of the Uyghurs, a few countries in the world raised their voices rejecting the genocide they are being subjected to, especially European countries and the USA.
As for the Arab and Islamic regimes, most of them focused on their interests and did not want to anger China, but rather some of them supported China’s crimes against the Uyghurs.
The decision to extradite Aishan by the Moroccan authorities reveals and confirms that the Moroccan state is classified as one of the countries that support China in its crimes against the Uyghur people in flagrant violation of its international obligations and the ties of religion and culture linking the Uyghur and Moroccan peoples.
AOHR UK holds the Moroccan authorities responsible for the safety and security of Yidiresi Aishan, who will be at risk of arbitrary arrest, torture, and other cruel or inhuman treatment, which makes his extradition to China forcible deportation prohibited by international law that criminalises the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they may face persecution.
