Rebiya Kadeer

In light of the recent unrest in Xinjiang, a northwest territory of China in dispute by the indigenous Uyghur people, I'm showing some video from an interview with Rebiya Kadeer. A native of Xinjiang – called East Turkestan by Uyghurs before its occupation in 1949 and still today – Kadeer rose to prominence as one of the wealthiest people in China. In 1997, she openly criticized a violent crackdown of Uyghur protestors that left many dead, and was eventually imprisoned in 1999 for organizing against the Chinese Government. She was released to the US in 2005, and has continued to lead her people's fight for human rights, freedom and democracy while in exile as the president of the World Uyghur Congress. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, she is considered a separatist and a terrorist by China where, like the Dalai Lama, it is illegal to possess her picture.

This interview – at an August 2008 protest march in Washington DC, where Tibetans, Uyghurs and other groups protested the Olympics in Beijing – was the first and last time I had the privilege to meet her. This article quotes a line that sums up her indomitable spirit: after a police chief reportedly told her, “We will crush you like a snake”, she replied, “And I will emerge from prison like an eagle”.

Note: the sub-titles here are rough translations taken from the interview translator, Alim Seytoff.