Until recently, it looked like Paul Rusesabagina would spend the rest of his life in prison. Though he’s renowned for heroically saving over a thousand people during the Rwandan Genocide (which inspired the film “Hotel Rwanda”), the current government of Rwanda saw him as a threat and locked him away.
But Paul’s family refused to accept this injustice. They pushed the U.S. State Department to take up his case and secure his release. A few weeks ago, I met Paul’s daughter Carine Kanimba. We immediately felt a connection formed by similar experiences — for the past six years, I have been fighting for the freedom of my own brother, Ekpar Asat. While it’s easy for me to relate to her struggle, the joy of success requires imagination.
Two weeks ago, Paul Rusesabagina was released to the United States, while Ekpar continues to waste away in the notorious Akqsu Prison. In a recent video call, Ekpar appeared to be starving. As he spoke, one could clearly see the contours of his skull. For me, Paul’s release is not merely hopeful news — it is proof that saving Ekpar is possible.
Back home in China, Ekpar was a famous tech entrepreneur renowned for his humanitarian work. Bagdax, the Uyghur-language social media platform he founded, was the first and best of its kind. Many citizens used Bagdax to seek redress for all forms of injustice, including official corruption. At first, the Xinjiang government, rather than shutting Bagdax down, responded to complaints through it. That was the right approach.
When corrupt officials in Gulja stole millions of Chinese Yuan from hardworking farmers, Bagdax was the place ordinary people went to demand the money be returned to its rightful owners. Such citizen oversight seemed aligned with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. Though he was a social media developer and founder, Ekpar is no Mark Zuckerberg. Among Uyghurs, he is genuinely beloved for the philanthropic work he devoted his time to, especially for the rights of people with disabilities in the region.
For his leadership and humanitarian work, then-U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus met with Ekpar and nominated him to the U.S. State Department’s prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP). In the Spring of 2016, Ekpar arrived in the U.S. with the Chinese delegation. “It’s an incredible honor to participate in the IVLP,” he posted on Wechat. “I am excited to gain profound insight into American media and culture.”
Those words ended up being the last he gave to the public. Immediately after returning to China, he disappeared. The rest of his cohort, meanwhile, continued to live freely. As Han, they were not marked as separatists merely for visiting another country.
Like Carine did with her father, I’ve been persistently demanding that the State Department secure Ekpar’s freedom, especially since it was participating in itsprogram that caused him to be targeted for imprisonment. For years, the State Department was slow to fully embrace Ekpar’s case, which required exploring creative diplomacy to secure his freedom.
The IVLP network counts 500 former heads of state, most of whom come from countries with close ties to China, including some strategic partners to the U.S. The State Department could have picked any of those IVLP participant countries to bring Ekpar home. Unfortunately, while the State Department cares about my brother’s ordeal, it has not yet made it a priority. The State Department saw Paul Rusesabagina’s legal residency status in the U.S. as reason enough to help him. But it has not fully embraced the special obligation it owes to the alumni of programs like ILVP who are put in danger by participating.
Neither Ekpar nor I ever thought that accepting an invitation from a U.S. ambassador could have such catastrophic consequences. It’s been seven years since Ekpar was taken hostage by the Chinese government. Meanwhile, the U.S.-China relationship has continued to deteriorate. People like Ambassador Baucus have begun to urge the U.S. government to improve its relationship with China. Like Baucus, many of us in the human rights community see American enmity with China as bad for the world.
But we wish their quest for better U.S.-China relations would include signs of real progress, not unilateral appeasement. Pursuing a path of peace with China must not mean giving up on Ekpar or any other Uyghur suffering in Xinjiang’s prison camps.
Tossed between the forces of geopolitics, individual self-interest and human apathy, my brother will likely spend yet another year in a dark cell. And yet, I’ve watched as the State Department carefully orchestrated the releases of Paul Rusesabagina and even Brittney Griner from Russia. Why should Ekpar’s case be any different?
Talking to Rusesabagina’s daughter Carine has filled me with difficult hope. As she shared joyful pictures of Paul surrounded by his family, I could not hold back my tears. I will keep fighting until I have achieved what I imagined in that moment: standing at the airport, embracing my brother and refusing to let him go.
Rayhan Asat is an Oxford Reuben-Blavatnik Scholar. She practices international human rights law and international criminal law. Follow her on Twitter @RayhanAsat.