Radio Free Asia reported (May 25) the death in custody of Ms Mihray Erkin, a graduate of Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University with a degree in plant biotechnology who had gone on to complete a related master’s degree in Tokyo University before becoming a researcher at Japan’s Nara Institute of Science and Technology, returned to the XUAR in August 2019 after authorities in Kashgar put her parents under pressure to call her home. The report said that RFA’s Uyghur Service had reported in late 2020, that Erkin was believed to have died while in detention in one of the XUAR’s vast network of internment camps. It said while few details of Erkin’s status were available when RFA learned of her death last year, a source from her hometown of Toqquzaq (Tuokezhake), in Kashgar’s Kona Sheher (Shufu) county, recently confirmed the reports and said police had since made threats to her family.The source was quoted saying “Mihray died in November 2020 while in detention and after she died, authorities told the family members to remain silent about it.” “Reports of her death came out on Dec. 20—the same day she was buried while under surveillance by local police. Three family members participated the burial.” According to the source, the day after Erkin’s burial, police told family members that if they spoke out about the death, they would be “imprisoned” for “disclosing state secrets” and “defaming the police.” The source said Erkin had died while being detained and investigated by members of the Kashgar Public Security Bureau at the Kashgar Yanbulak Detention Center, suggesting that her death may have been the result of interrogation. RFA spoke with a national security officer in Toqquzaq who said that while he was not among the people who handled Erkin’s case, his colleagues told him she had died in the Yanbulak Detention Center. He said he was unaware of the exact date of her death. Another official confirmed that she had been detained “for some time” at the detention centre before her death. “She was being held in Yanbulak… in Doletbagh, within Kashgar city,” he said.
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