BEIJING — A
group of leading rights organizations has awarded its annual prize for human rights defenders to
imprisoned Chinese Muslim minority economics professor Ilham Tohti, shining new attention on a
case that has brought strong international condemnation.

The Martin Ennals Award is
bestowed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and eight other human rights groups. The
award ceremony will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday evening.

Tohti was given
a life sentence on charges of separatism in September 2014 after a two-day trial. A member of the
Turkic Muslim Uighur ethnic group, he taught at Beijing’s Minzu University and was an outspoken
critic of Beijing’s ethnic policies in the far western region of Xinjiang. Tohti denied advocating
separatism or violence.

Tohti has “sought reconciliation by bringing to light repressive
Chinese policies and Uyghur grievances. This is information the Chinese government has sought to
keep behind a veil of silence,” the group said in a statement, using an alternative spelling for Uighur.

“He remains a voice of moderation and reconciliation in spite of how he has been treated,” it
said.

Tohti’s sentence brought statements of condemnation from numerous Western
governments and the European Union, and in January this year several hundred academics petitioned
China’s authoritarian communist government to release him.

Many Uighurs say Chinese
government policies and an influx of migrants belonging to China’s majority Han ethnic group have
threatened their culture and left them economically marginalized. Such sentiments are seen as driving
occasional outbursts of violence, including deadly riots in the regional capital of Urumqi in 2009.

China’s government had no immediate comment on the award, but generally denounces such
accolades as part of a hazy foreign plot to smear China’s reputation and undermine its Beijing’s
authority.

“The award not only duly recognizes Prof. Ilham Tohti’s courageous work promoting
minority rights and dialogues between Hans and Uighurs, it also highlights the Chinese government
increasingly harsh punishment against its critics,” said Maya Wang, a Hong Kong-based researcher
with Human Rights Watch.

“Instead of reacting angrily to the news, the Chinese government
should release Ilham Tohit and reverse its repressive policies in Xinjiang,” Wang said.

Prevented from publishing, Tohti turned to the Internet, running the site Uyghurbiz.net to foster
discussion about the economic, social and developmental issue Uighurs face.

Seven of
Tohti’s students were also sentenced in what was seen as a move to strengthen the government’s
case against him.

Authorities accused the professor and the students of forming a criminal
gang that sought to split Xinjiang from China

This year’s other finalists for the award were
Ethiopian independent journalism collective Zone 9 Bloggers, and Syrian human rights lawyer, activist
and journalist Razan Zaitouneh. TVJ