China sentences Uyghur academic to life in jail

Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uyghur academic who disappeared six years ago at the height of the Chinese government’s crackdown in Xinjiang, has been given a life sentence in prison, according to Dui Hua, a California-based human rights group.

A member of the Chinese Communist Party, former professor at Xinjiang University and leading scholar on Uyghur folklore, Dawut is among more than 300 intellectuals, artists and writers believed to be detained in Xinjiang.

The Chinese Government claims it is pursuing to better assimilate China’s Muslim minority and promote ethnic harmony, while rights groups have accused the Chinese government of committing “cultural genocide” by wiping out previously vibrant local Uyghur culture.