PEN America condemns death of Uighur writer

PEN America is among the many organizations condemning the death of an author held for several months in a Chinese detention camp.

The Guardian, citing Radio Free Asia, said Uighur author Nurmuhammad Tohti had been in custody from November 2018 to March 2019.

The seventy-year-old had diabetes and a heart condition, neither of which his family believes were treated adequately in the camp. 

One of Tohti’s grandsons said on a now-deleted social media post that his grandfather “was a respected writer; no affiliation with terrorism, which is what the Chinese government claims these concentration camps are fighting against.”

China has only recently acknowledged the existence of these camps and calls them “re-education” centers.

Uighurs, an ethnic minority in China, have their own territory in the country, similar to how Tibet operates.