– I get scared every time I see someone in uniform. Even the Norwegian police scare me. Not because I think they will do something to me, but because the uniform reminds me of horrible things. Abduweli Ayup sits in his living room in Bergen with his wife and two daughters. He is Uyghur, a Muslim ethnic group that lives in northwest China. For several decades, it has been reported that the group is being actively suppressed by Chinese authorities. – Hang me up by my arms Almost 10 years ago, Ayup was arrested by Chinese police because he had started a kindergarten for Uyghur children. The aim was to maintain their language. Chinese police didn’t like that. He waited in prison for a year and a half of regular torture. – They hung me up by my arms. Hit me and throw water on me if I pass out. They wanted to break me down and make fun of me, he tells news. Abduweli Ayup now lives in Bergen and works to draw attention to the abuse of the Uyghur population. Photo: Up North Film AS Promoting Uyghur culture from Bergen After Ayup was released from prison, he moved to Turkey with his family, before finally ending up in Norway and Bergen as a freelance writer. Here he works to keep the culture and language of his people alive, in addition to telling about what is happening in his homeland. Last year he was asked by film director Håvard Bustnes if he would like to meet a man who worked as a prison guard in the area where he himself was imprisoned. The meeting was to become the documentary “Behind the Mask”, which premiered during the Tromsø International Film Festival on Saturday. My daughter had a panic attack – I didn’t want to. But there is only one former prison guard who has appeared in the media and told. And there is only one of me. I had to do it for the sake of our people, he says. The wife was less sure. – She thought it was going to tear up mental wounds again. I had nightmares and could scream at night, and she was afraid it would get worse, says Ayup. The 17-year-old daughter was also critical. – She had a panic attack when I was about to travel. She was afraid of how it would affect me. I feel guilty when I think about how it affects my family, he says. The family was skeptical that Abduweli Ayup should go to Germany and meet the prison guard. Photo: Up North Film AS – Glad I met him Nevertheless, the father of two chose to travel to Germany, together with director Bustnes. In a messy flat in a block of flats, Ayup met a man with a mask on his face and sunglasses over his eyes. The former prison guard himself has told about torture and abuse against Uyghurs in Chinese prisons. In the meeting, he tells the guest from Bergen about why he did what he did, what orders he received and that Ayup should be happy that he escaped the whole thing with his life intact. – I was nervous, but I couldn’t show it to him. I didn’t want him to see it, says Ayup today. Today, he is happy that he met the man. – It is important to me that what happens to Uighurs in China comes to light. Then the history of those who carry out the torture is also important. They provide important perspective. That’s why I wanted to meet him, explains Ayup. Uighurs Ethnic group of Turko-Tatar descent. China has about 12 million Uighurs, most of whom live in the Xinjiang-Uygur region and whose main occupation is agriculture. Most Uighurs are Muslims. The Uyghurs speak Uyghur – a Turkic language heavily influenced by Chinese and Arabic. The ethnic minority has lived under self-government for several periods, most recently when the state of East Turkestan was established in 1944. Many Uyghurs believe that the region was illegally incorporated into China in 1949 and therefore want self-government. Separatist groups have repeatedly resorted to violent uprisings. Both other countries and human rights groups such as Amnesty International are reacting to the Chinese authorities’ treatment of the ethnic group. Since 2014, China has implemented more and more measures against Uyghurs. The use of detention camps and monitoring of the Uyghurs has been criticized. Over a million Uighurs have been sent to prison camps and prisons in the region. The US has gone the furthest and in 2021 called China’s treatment of the Uyghurs genocide. Norway is among the countries that have the expression concern. SOURCES: Great Norwegian Lexicon, The New York Times Amnesty: – The most important voice Political adviser Gerald Folkvord at Amnesty says that Chinese authorities have suppressed the Uyghur culture for many decades. The work was stepped up in 2017. Already in 2018, the UN’s racism committee estimated that over one million Uyghurs had ended up in internment camps. – We do not know how many more there have been until today. In addition, many Uighurs are in custody, sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials, or have disappeared, says Folkvord. He praises Ayup and other Uighurs who dare to tell their story. – They are the most important voice for the Uighurs’ rights, people who tirelessly continue to tell about what is happening, often at great personal sacrifice, says Folkvord. Håvard Bustnes directed the film about Ayup, the family and the prison guard. Here from the premiere of “Trond Giske – Makta Rår”. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news Will shed light on the camp The meeting between Ayup and the prison guard has now become the documentary “Behind The Mask”. There you can also follow Ayup and his family before he leaves, and after he returns home. Director Bustnes, who is also behind the award-winning documentary “Trond Giske – Makta Rår”, says he primarily wanted to make a documentary that sheds light on the situation in China. – Before, I always wondered how the concentration camps in the Second World War could happen, without anyone doing anything. Then I read about what is happening in China, and realized that it is also happening now, says Bustnes. The director said that after meeting Ayup and his family, he realized that the story was also about community and love. – It was moving to see how the whole family was traumatized after Ayup was imprisoned. But also how much love they had for each other. And how they handled the trauma together, he says.
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Was tortured because he was a Uighur in China – news Vestland
