Daughter of jailed Uighur activist accepts EU prize in his name

"To the members of parliament, use your laws to hold Chinese government officials accountable," she added.
China is the European Union's second trading partner by volume, but relations have been tested by unrest in Hong Kong and by the country's treatment of the Uighur people and other ethnic minorities in China's north-western Xinjiang region.
Since April 2017, Chinese authorities have placed more than 1 million Uighurs in internment camps, where they are forced to renounce their ethnic identity and religious beliefs and swear loyalty to the Chinese government, according to the EU legislature.
Before the Chinese government sentenced him to life in prison for separatism in 2014, economist Tohti had advocated for building bridges between China's Han majority and its persecuted Uighur ethnic minority.
Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek people are also imprisoned, Jewher Tohti said, while Hong Kongers, Tibetans and Chinese Christians also struggle to protect their identity.
Jewher Tohti, herself an author and advocate for the Uighur cause, said her phone and computer are sometimes hacked at her home in Washington DC. She studied and lives in the United States.
Ilham Tohti was departing China with his daughter to take up a teaching position in the US in 2013 when he was intercepted by authorities at the airport, Jewher Tohti told EU lawmakers.
"To be honest with you, I do not know where my father is," she said, adding that she fears that speaking out about Beijing's policy could bring her family in China harm.
European Parliament President David Sassoli called for Ilham Tohti's immediate and unconditional release.
The EU legislature has limited clout in foreign affairs but uses the Sakharov prize to call out rights violations around the globe. EU lawmakers drew up a shortlist for the prize in October, and representatives of all nominees attended Wednesday's ceremony.
The murdered Rio de Janeiro councillor Marielle Franco, who campaigned against racism and poverty, was one of the three Brazilians put forward, along with deforestation critic Claudelice Silva dos Santos, and indigenous leader and environmentalist Chief Raoni.
A group of five Kenyan students who developed an app called i-Cut to help those affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) were also shortlisted.
The Sakharov prize, which is awarded for contributions in the field of human rights and freedoms, was first handed out more than 30 years ago. It is worth 50,000 euros (55,600 dollars).
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