Uyghur activist remains under extradition threat in Morocco

45 human rights organizations declared that Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan, known as Idris Hasan remains under threat of extradition from Morocco to China.

Multiple international bodies and associations are calling on Morocco not to extradite the activist, in accordance with the fundamental principle of non-refoulment.

Among these associations on the list of signatories are the China Research Institute, the Dutch Uyghur Human Rights Foundation, the MENA Rights group, and Front Line Defenders.

The NGOs are constantly highlighting the risks Hasan will face the second he arrives in China, where he is wanted by the government.

Arrested in July 2021, after a red notice issued by Interpol at China’s request, Hasan was brought before the prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Casablanca, who ordered that he should remain in custody in the Tiflet prison, pending the decision of the Court of Cassation.

The court’s approval of the extradition request is the only thing between him and extradition, despite Interpol’s cancellation of the red notice issued against him in Augsut 2021. Since then, he has remained detained in that same prison.

Before landing in Morocco, Hasan had been living in Turkey with his family since 2012.

Whilethere, Hasan reportedly provided translation assistance to other Uyghurs in exile and helped collect testimonies on human rights violations in Xinjiang.

As a previously active member of the Uyghur community, Hasan faces risks of torture as well as prolonged arbitrary detention, if he gets extradited to China.

In August 11, 2021, several UN Special Procedure mandate holders sent an urgent appeal to Morocco, recalling the non-derogable prohibition against returning a person to a place where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Members of the diaspora who are not firmly settled in third countries are facing a risk of detention and refoulment.