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Canadian in Uzbekistan said to face execution

Canadian in Uzbekistan said to face execution

Ferghana.Ru, Canadian Press, 05.04.2006A Canadian man detained in Uzbekistan faces execution if surrendered to his native China because of his former career as a political dissident, a family friend said Tuesday.Huseyincan Celil has been held since March 26 in the capital city of Tashkent, said Seyit Aydogan, who fears the Uzbekistan government will hand Celil over to Chinese officials."Uzbekistan intends to repatriate him to China where he will face a definite execution because of his past political activities," said Aydogan."Celil holds only a Canadian passport. He denounced his Chinese citizenship."Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Kim Girtel confirmed Tuesday that a Canadian citizen is being detained in Uzbekistan."We are in touch with the next-of-kin and we are providing consular assistance," said Girtel, who could not confirm the detained person's identity due to privacy regulations.Celil's wife and three children, all Canadian citizens who have lived in Hamilton, since 2002, were in Tashkent when he was taken and remain there with relatives, awaiting news of his condition, said Aydogan."They can come back, but she wants her husband," he said.The family hasn't had any contact with Celil during his detention, Aydogan added.Celil was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uygur population in western China when he was arrested and tortured there, said Aydogan.Celil escaped from prison, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee.The family has lived in Hamilton since 2002.Celil became a Canadian citizen "three or four months ago," said Aydogan.
Wednesday , 05 April 2006

Friday Service Handout

HELP OUR BROTHER
HUSEYINCAN CELIL TO RELEASE!

ONLY WE CAN MAKE DIFFERENCE

Brth. Huseyincan Celil is in need of our help
and It is our duty to help as much as we can possibly…
He was the Imam of the Ebu Bekr Mosque in East Downtown of Hamilton
Please try to contact your local MP and other government deparments to protect our brother

SEND YOUR LETTERS, CALL THEM OR EMAIL THEM WITH YOUR CONCERNS

Department of Foreign Affairs
Hon. Peter Gordon Mackay

Tel: 1 800 267-8376 (toll-free in Canada)(613) 944-4000 (in the National Capital Region and outside Canada)(613) 944-9136 (TTY)
Fax: (613) 996-9709
Enquiries Service (SXCI)Foreign Affairs Canada125 Sussex DriveOttawa, ON, Canada K1A 0G2
Email: enqserv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Mike Wallace, MP of Burlington
Email: Wallace.m@part.gc.ca
Burlington Mall, Suite 209
777 Guelph Line
Burlington L7R 3N2
Tel: 905.639.5757
Fax: 905.639.1091
763 Confederations
House of Commons
Ottowa K1A OA6
Tel: 613.995.0881
Fax: 613.995.1091

Wayne Marston – Hamilton East
Parliament Hill:
37 West Block, House Of CommonsOttawa, ON K1A 0A6Tel: 613-992-6535Fax: 613-992-7764marstw@parl.gc.caConstituency: 40 Centennial Parkway North, Unit 2Hamilton, ON, L8E 1H6Tel: 905-662-4763Fax: 905-662-2285marstw1@parl.gc.ca

Chris Charlton – Hamilton Mountain
Parliament Hill:129 West Block, House of CommonsOttawa, ON K1A OA6
Tel: 905-995-9389
Fax: 905-992-7802Charlc@parl.gc.ca
Constituency: 845 Upper James Street, Unit 230BHamilton, ON L9C 3A3
Tel: 905-574-3331

David Christopherson – Hamilton Downtown
Parliament Hill:House of CommonsOttawa,
ON K1A OA6Tel: (613) 995-1757
Fax: (613) 992-8356chrisd@parl.gc.cahamilton@davidchristopherson.ca
Constituency: 22 Tisdale Avenue South Hamilton,
ON L8N 2V9
Tel: (905) 526-0770
Fax: (905) 526-9943

Canuck at risk

Canuck at risk
by CP

TORONTO -- A Canadian man detained in Uzbekistan faces execution if surrendered to his native China because of his former career as a political dissident, a family friend said yesterday.
Huseyincan Celil has been held since March 26 in the capital city of Tashkent, said Seyit Aydogan, who fears the Uzbekistan government will hand Celil over to Chinese officials.
"Uzbekistan intends to repatriate him to China where he will face a definite execution because of his past political activities," said Aydogan. "Celil holds only a Canadian passport. He denounced his Chinese citizenship."
Foreign Affairs spokesman Kim Girtel confirmed yesterday that a Canadian citizen is being detained in Uzbekistan.

Canadian in Uzbek jail

Canadian in Uzbek jail
By Gregory Bonnell, The Canadian Press
Wife of detained Hamilton man makes desperate plea for help

The wife of an Ontario man detained in Uzbekistan urged the Canadian government Wednesday to save her husband from possible deportation to China where she fears he faces execution as a political dissident.
Jamile Celil has not been allowed to speak with husband Huseyincan Celil, both residents of Hamilton, since he was arrested on March 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
“China wants to take him. He can’t go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him,” Celil said in a phone interview from Tashkent.
“The Canadian government has to take him from Uzbekistan.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs confirmed that a Canadian citizen was being detained in the capital city of Tashkent and that the family has been granted consular assistance.

But while the family has spoken with consular officials, Celil said they were able to offer little information on her husband.
“I have been in the consulate in Tashkent, but they didn’t see (my husband) and they didn’t talk with him yet,” said Celil.
“(The Uzbekistan government) said they will not send (him) to China, but we are afraid because we don’t believe them. We are very afraid about that.”
The family says Huseyincan Celil was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uighur population in Xinjiang province, in northwestern China, when he was arrested and tortured there.
Authorities in Beijing view the region as a potential powder keg of separatist sentiment fuelled by the Uighurs, who are Muslim.
Celil escaped from prison, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee in 2001. He became a Canadian citizen late last year.
His wife and three of his children, all Canadian citizens who have lived in Hamilton since 2002, were in Tashkent when he was taken and remain there with relatives, who are awaiting news of his condition. Celil also has three other children that he was forced to leave behind when he fled China, said Seyit Aydogan, a Hamilton resident who alerted the media to his friend’s plight.
Celil travelled to Tashkent last month in the hopes of reuniting his family, said Aydogan.
He was renewing his visitor’s visa on March 26 at a government office in Tashkent when he was arrested, his wife said.
“I couldn’t talk with him, they didn’t allow it,” she said before adding the plaintive plea: “Please help me.”
In a report published last month, the United Nations found that torture by authorities remains commonplace in China. A UN investigator based his findings on visits to detention centres in Beijing, Tibet and the Xinjiang province in late 2005.
Uzbekistan, a former republic of the Soviet Union, is a close ally of Beijing.

Wife begs feds to fight deportation

Thu, April 6, 2006
Wife begs feds to fight deportation
By CP

TORONTO -- The wife of an Ontario man detained in Uzbekistan urged the Canadian government yesterday to save her husband from possible deportation to China, where she fears he faces execution as a political dissident.
Kamila Celil has not been allowed to speak with husband Huseyincan Celil, both of Burlington, Ont., since he was arrested March 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
"China wants to take him. He can't go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him," Celil said. "The Canadian government has to take him from Uzbekistan."
Foreign Affairs admitted a Canadian citizen was being de-tained, and that the family has been granted consular assistance, but cited privacy laws in declining to provide specifics on the case.
"We are in touch with the wife, who is the next-of-kin," said spokeswoman Kim Girtel. "I can assure you that everything that is possible to be done is being done."
While the family has spoken with consular officials, Celil said they were able to offer little information on her husband.
"I have been in the consulate in Tashkent, but they didn't see (my husband) and they didn't talk with him yet," Celil said.
"(The Uzbekistan government) said they will not send (him) to China, but we are afraid because we don't believe them. We are very afraid about that."
The family says Huseyincan Celil, 37, was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uighur population in Xinjiang province, in northwestern China, when he was arrested there and tortured.
Celil escaped from prison in 1998, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee in 2001. He became a Canadian citizen late last year.

Anxiety grows for jailed father

Anxiety grows for jailed father

Wife fears husband will be killed in China
By Marissa NelsonThe Hamilton Spectator(Apr 7, 2006)

A Burlington father of six, who helped lead Friday prayers at a Hamilton mosque, is now in jail in the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, his pregnant wife worried he will be shipped to China and killed.
Huseyincan Celil, 37, was raised in eastern Turkistan -- the most westerly region of China invaded by that country more than 50 years ago.
There, Celil was a political dissident advocating for independence and democracy for the Uygur people. For that political involvement, his friends say he was sentenced to death in absentia.
Those same friends now fear he'll be returned to China by Uzbekistan and killed.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa would only confirm that a Canadian national is being held in an Uzbekistan jail. Kim Girtel said officials are in contact with the detainee's next of kin but couldn't provide details because of privacy legislation.
"We are providing consular service," she said.
Canada has an honorary consulate in Uzbekistan, but it falls under the jurisdiction of the Moscow embassy.
"Everything possible is being done to ensure the person's safety and a positive outcome," Girtel said. She wouldn't say whether anyone has seen Celil.
Celil, who lives near Brant Street and Plains Road East, went to Uzbekistan with his wife, Kamila, and three sons about two months ago to visit his wife's family. He also has three children he left behind in China.
Burhan Celik, a close friend of the family and a political science graduate student at Carleton University, said Celil was told by Canadian officials they couldn't help get the three Chinese children out of that country, but would recognize them if they were out of China.
Celik says part of the reason for the trip was to try to get his other three children out of China, which won't recognize his parental rights. But he was arrested when he went to renew his visitor's visa March 26 in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan.
Celik says his friend has lived an incredible life, enduring much to get to this country.
Celil reportedly ran away from China to save his life. He first fled to Kyrgyzstan, a part of the former Soviet Union.
"He passed through the mountains. It took between one and two months," Celik said. "He was running for his life."
Celil, in Kyrgyzstan illegally, was caught. While he was in prison, China asked for him to be returned. Celil was acquitted by a Kyrgyzstan court and was about to be released, but China pressured officials and he was held for nine months.
Celik isn't sure how he eventually got out -- whether he escaped, bribed the guards or was released -- but he did and fled to Uzbekistan, another part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
From there, he and his wife fled to Turkey "on foot or sometimes by horse and cart," Celik said. "When you long to save your life, you'll do anything."
Celil sought asylum and was given status under the Geneva Convention. Canada recognized him and allowed Celil, his wife and young son to resettle as refugees in this country in 2001.
The couple has since had two more sons, with another child on the way. Celil, his wife, and their three children are all Canadian citizens.
The son they brought to Canada is severely handicapped and needs 24-hour care. Celil's wife was pregnant when they fled to Turkey, Celik said.
Celik, who has spoken to Celil's wife, said embassy staff met her and have scheduled another meeting today, but she hasn't seen her husband.
"No one has spoken to him," Celik said.
He fears Uzbekistan's government will give in to Chinese pressure to return Celil.
mnelson@thespec.com
905-526-2409

Canadian in Uzbekistan said to face execution

Canadian in Uzbekistan said to face execution
Updated Tue. Apr. 4 2006 11:26 PM ET

Canadian Press
TORONTO — A Canadian man detained in Uzbekistan faces execution if surrendered to his native China because of his former career as a political dissident, a family friend said Tuesday.
Huseyincan Celil has been held since March 26 in the capital city of Tashkent, said Seyit Aydogan, who fears the Uzbekistan government will hand Celil over to Chinese officials.
"Uzbekistan intends to repatriate him to China where he will face a definite execution because of his past political activities," said Aydogan.
"Celil holds only a Canadian passport. He denounced his Chinese citizenship."
Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Kim Girtel confirmed Tuesday that a Canadian citizen is being detained in Uzbekistan.
"We are in touch with the next-of-kin and we are providing consular assistance," said Girtel, who could not confirm the detained person's identity due to privacy regulations.
Celil's wife and three children, all Canadian citizens who have lived in Hamilton, since 2002, were in Tashkent when he was taken and remain there with relatives, awaiting news of his condition, said Aydogan.
"They can come back, but she wants her husband," he said.
The family hasn't had any contact with Celil during his detention, Aydogan added.
Celil was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uygur population in western China when he was arrested and tortured there, said Aydogan.
Celil escaped from prison, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee.
The family has lived in Hamilton since 2002.
Celil became a Canadian citizen "three or four months ago," said Aydogan.

Wife of Canadian held in Uzbekistan pleads for help

Wife of Canadian held in Uzbekistan pleads for help
Apr. 5, 2006. 06:26 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
The wife of an Ontario man detained in Uzbekistan urged the Canadian government Wednesday to save her husband from possible deportation to China where she fears he faces execution as a political dissident.
Kamila Celil has not been allowed to speak with husband Huseyincan Celil, both residents of Hamilton, since he was arrested on March 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
“China wants to take him. He can’t go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him,” Celil said in a phone interview from Tashkent.
“The Canadian government has to take him from Uzbekistan.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs confirmed that a Canadian citizen was being detained in the capital city of Tashkent and that the family has been granted consular assistance.
But while the family has spoken with consular officials, Celil said they were able to offer little information on her husband.
“I have been in the consulate in Tashkent, but they didn’t see (my husband) and they didn’t talk with him yet,” said Celil.
“(The Uzbekistan government) said they will not send (him) to China, but we are afraid because we don’t believe them. We are very afraid about that.”
The family says Huseyincan Celil was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uighur population in Xinjiang province, in northwestern China, when he was arrested and tortured there.
Authorities in Beijing view the region as a potential powder keg of separatist sentiment fuelled by the Uighurs, who are Muslim.
Celil escaped from prison, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee in 2001. He became a Canadian citizen late last year.
His wife and three of his children, all Canadian citizens who have lived in Hamilton since 2002, were in Tashkent when he was taken and remain there with relatives, who are awaiting news of his condition.
Celil also has three other children that he was forced to leave behind when he fled China, said Seyit Aydogan, a Hamilton resident who alerted the media to his friend’s plight.
Celil travelled to Tashkent last month in the hopes of reuniting his family, said Aydogan.
He was renewing his visitor’s visa on March 26 at a government office in Tashkent when he was arrested, his wife said.
“I couldn’t talk with him, they didn’t allow it,” she said before adding the plaintive plea: “Please help me.”
In a report published last month, the United Nations found that torture by authorities remains commonplace in China. A UN investigator based his findings on visits to detention centres in Beijing, Tibet and the Xinjiang province in late 2005.
Uzbekistan, a former republic of the Soviet Union, is a close ally of Beijing.

Deportation to China feared

Deportation to China feared
Apr. 7, 2006. 06:42 AM
NAOMI CARNIOL
IN TORONTO

Michael Mainville

A Burlington Muslim religious leader arrested in Uzbekistan for his past political activities is a respected community figure who was trying to bring three of his six children to Canada, friends say.
Huseyincan Celil, a human rights activist jailed for working on behalf of the Uighur population in China's northwest Xinjiang province before his 1998 escape, was arrested last month while trying to renew his visitor's visa in the neighbouring Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
Family and friends of Celil, a Canadian citizen since last year, fear he will be deported to China, where they say he faces certain death.
Mustafa Agtas and Ibrahim Ozcelik say they're worried about the friend they describe as quiet and polite.
"He's never done a bad thing," Ozcelik said.
"He's a good guy," Agtas added. "He's not a criminal."
Both want Canadian officials to work faster at getting him released. "Canada has a strong government. If they want to help, I think he will be saved," Agtas said.
Friends say Uzbek authorities have also taken the passports of Celil's wife Kamila and their three other children — all Canadian citizens — who are in Tashkent working for his release.
Celil's wife is frantic.
"China wants to take him," she said by telephone. "He can't go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him."
Celil, 37, was sentenced in absentia to death by a Chinese court for founding a political party to work for the rights of the Uighur people.
Alexander Antonov, Canada's honorary consul in Tashkent, confirmed Celil is being held in an Uzbek prison.
"The reasons for his detention are still unclear," Antonov said. "We have not met with the detainee yet and we have no information from official sources regarding him. We hope to see him in the coming days."
Celil and his family, who arrived in Canada as refugees in 2001, settled in Hamilton where he became active in the Muslim community. The family moved to Burlington last year.
The imam often led prayers at the Hamilton mosque. "He has a beautiful voice," Ozcelik said. "When he talks you listen."
Celil also taught children at the mosque, Agtas added.
Although Celil started a new life in Canada, he often worried about the two sons and daughter he had to leave when fleeing China, Agtas said. "Some nights he couldn't sleep."
So Celil travelled with his wife and other three children to Tashkent last month in the hopes of reuniting with the rest of the family.
His wife insists Celil's only hope is a swift return to Canada.
"The Canadian government has to take him from Uzbekistan," she said. Dismissing Uzbek reassurances that Celil will not be returned to China, she said: "We are afraid, because we don't believe them. We are very afraid about that."
She has not been allowed to speak with her husband since his arrest. "They didn't allow it," she said.
According to friends in Canada, her telephone has been cut off and she can no longer make outgoing calls.

Help man held in Uzbekistan, Ottawa urged

Help man held in Uzbekistan, Ottawa urged
Apr. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM

The wife of a Burlington man detained in Uzbekistan urged Canada yesterday to save her husband from possible deportation to China, where she fears he faces execution as a political dissident.
Kamila Celil has not been allowed to speak with her husband Huseyincan Celil since he was arrested March 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
"China wants to take him. He can't go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him," Celil said in a phone interview from Tashkent. She said that while officials in Uzbekistan have said they will not send her husband to China, "we are afraid because we don't believe them."
The family says Huseyincan Celil, 37, was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uighur population in Xinjiang province, in northwest China, when he was arrested and tortured. He escaped from prison in 1998 and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee in 2001. He became a Canadian citizen last year.
A letter outlining Celil's plight has been sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and others in Parliament, said Burhan Celik, an Ottawa-area man working on Celil's behalf.
Celik, who began making calls to the government last Friday, said a consular official told him there may be bilateral agreements between Uzbekistan and China that supersede any protection Celil's Canadian passport could offer.
Foreign Affairs acknowledged that a Canadian citizen was being detained, and that the family has been granted consular assistance, but also cited privacy laws.
Celil, who travelled to Tashkent last month to reunite with his family, was renewing his visitor's visa on March 26 at a government office in Tashkent when he was arrested, his wife said.
Canadian Press

Wife of Canadian detained in Uzbekistan makes plea for help

Wife of Canadian detained in Uzbekistan makes plea for help

Gregory Bonnell,
Canadian PressPublished: April 6, 2006

The wife of an Ontario man detained in Uzbekistan urged the Canadian government Wednesday to save her husband from possible deportation to China, where she fears he faces execution as a political dissident.
Kamila Celil has not been allowed to speak with husband Huseyincan Celil, both of Burlington, Ont., since he was arrested on March 26 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. "China wants to take him. He can't go to China, because they will arrest and they will kill him," Celil said in a phone interview from Tashkent.
"The Canadian government has to take him from Uzbekistan."
A letter outlining Celil's plight has been sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton, and several other officials, said Burhan Celik, an Ottawa-area man working on Celil's behalf.
Celik, who began making calls to the government last Friday, said a consular official told him there may be bilateral agreements between Uzbekistan and China that supersede any protection Celil's Canadian passport could offer.
Foreign Affairs acknowledged that a Canadian citizen was being detained, and that the family has been granted consular assistance, but cited privacy laws in declining to provide specifics on the case.
"We are in touch with the wife, who is the next of kin," said spokeswoman Kim Girtel.
"I can assure you that everything that is possible to be done is being done."
While the family has spoken with consular officials, Celil said they were able to offer little information on her husband.
"I have been in the consulate in Tashkent, but they didn't see (my husband) and they didn't talk with him yet," Celil said.
"(The Uzbekistan government) said they will not send (him) to China, but we are afraid because we don't believe them. We are very afraid about that."
The family says Huseyincan Celil, 37, was a political activist fighting for the rights of the Uighur population in Xinjiang province, in northwestern China, when he was arrested there and tortured.
Authorities in Beijing view the region as a potential powder keg of separatist sentiment fuelled by the Uighurs, who are Muslim.
Celil escaped from prison in 1998, and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before coming to Canada as a refugee in 2001. He became a Canadian citizen late last year.
His wife and three of his children, all Canadian citizens who have lived since 2002 in Burlington, some 60 kilometres west of Toronto, were in Tashkent when he was taken and remain there with relatives, who are awaiting news of his condition.
Two of the children were born in Canada, while the third was born in Turkey.
Celil also has three other children that he was forced to leave behind when he fled China, said Seyit Aydogan, a Hamilton man helping alert the media to his friend's plight.


Wife of Canadian detained in Uzbekistan makes plea for help

Gregory Bonnell, Canadian PressPublished: April 6, 2006


Celil travelled to Tashkent last month in the hopes of reuniting his family, Aydogan said.
He was renewing his visitor's visa on March 26 at a government office in Tashkent when he was arrested, his wife said.
"I couldn't talk with him; they didn't allow it," she said before pleading: "Please help me."
In a report published last month, the United Nations found that torture by authorities remains common in China. A UN investigator based his findings on visits to detention centres in Beijing, Tibet and Xinjiang province in late 2005.
Uzbekistan, a former republic of the Soviet Union, is a close ally of Beijing.
© The Canadian Press 2006

Uzbekistan arrests Canadian national wanted by China: wife

YAHOO NEWS

Wed Apr 5, 11:24 AM ET

TASHKENT (AFP) - A political dissident from China who is now a Canadian citizen has been arrested in the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan and could face extradition to China, his wife said.
Huseyincan Celil, 37, an ethnic Uighur from western China, was arrested on March 27 in Tashkent, Komila Telindiyeva told AFP.
"We came to Uzbekistan to visit my parents who live here. Ten days ago we went to the police office to extend our Uzbek visa and there the police arrested my husband," Telindiyeva said.
Matthew Meyer, an official from Canada's embassy to Moscow, which also covers Central Asia, said: "The embassy is of course aware of the case... Canadian consular officials are working to resolve the matter."
Telindiyeva said she had not been able to see her husband since his arrest and police told her that he was arrested because "China and Kyrgyzstan want his arrest through Interpol."
Celil campaigned as a political activist fighting for the rights of the mostly Muslim population of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China and had to flee to Kyrgyzstan in 1996 to escape prison, his wife said.
China has long been criticised by human rights advocates for violating the rights of the native Uighur people in western China under the pretext of clamping down on religious extremism and a separatist rebellion.
Celil was tried in Kyrgyzstan for criticising Chinese policy on the Uighur population but was then acquitted, Telindiyeva said.
He and his wife live in Hamilton, eastern Canada, where Celil was given refugee status in 2002. Telindiyeva said Celil was given Canadian citizenship "three or four months ago."