Morocco’s National Council for Human Rights urges release of Uyghur journalist Yidiresi Aishan

Morocco’s National Council for Human Rights urged the head of government to release Uyghur journalist Yidiresi Aishan who faces extradition to China, as international rights bodies press the government to annul an extradition ruling on his case.

The Head of the council wrote in a letter to the head of a government that Aishan’s release hinges on Morocco’s commitment to the United Nations Convention against Torture.

In response, Moroccan authorities said Aishan’s arrest took place “on the basis of an international memorandum issued against him, and based on acts he committed criminalized by Moroccan law,” according to a statement seen by Hespress.

“The person concerned was informed by the police of the reasons for the arrest, (…) for terrorism-related reasons issued by China.”

Morocco’s Court of Cassation approved Thursday the extradition of Aishan,33, who was arrested in July upon his arrival to Morocco based on a Red Notice issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on March 13, 2017. The warrant was suspended in August 2021.

Chinese authorities accused Aishan of joining a terrorist group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), and carrying out or actively participating in activities within terrorist organizations under Article 120 of the Chinese Criminal Code.

Idriss Hassan or Yidiresi Ishan is a computer engineer and father of three. He has been based in Turkey since 2012, where he worked as a web designer and activist and had residency papers.

Hassan worked on an Uyghur diaspora online newspaper and assisted other activists in media outreach and collecting testimonies of abuse in China’s Xinjiang province, according to the Guardian.

Human rights’ activists say no state has the right to expel, return or otherwise remove any individual from its territory whenever there are “substantial grounds” for believing that the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture in the state of destination, said the experts.

Idriss Hassan would face in China risks such as arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, said the experts.

Under international human rights law, the principle of nonrefoulment ensures that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or other irreparable harm.