Uyghur Organ Harvest Witness Narrowly Escaped Deportation

Epoch Times: Mr. Abudureyimu told The Epoch Times that while he knew a deportation attempt was coming, he did not expect it so soon, nor the force with which the authorities attempted to execute the procedure.

“They came with a lot of cars, a lot. And many police officers… There were a lot of people in the room. ‘Stand up, come with us!’” he said, recounting the raid. “They told me take all my clothes off, to get naked. I refused.”

Just before he was to board the plane that afternoon at the international airport, Mr. Abudureyimu was able to consult with his lawyer, Philippe Currat. Mr. Currat advised that he had the right to refuse to board the plane. This he passed on to the police in the strongest terms—

“I was extremely agitated, I said ‘I tell you: I will not board the plane!’”

—and after more back and forth, the authorities allowed his return to his residence. The parting words of the police were that they will be back to try to deport him—when, he does not know.

As the only witness of state-run organ harvesting who is outside China and willing to speak of his experiences, Abudureyimu’s case is important to researchers of human rights in China, and in particular of state-run organ harvesting, who see both immediate and long-term significance in how his case is handled.

“Up to now, I am the only Chinese to come out talking this way about live organ harvesting, and also the only police officer to have worked in a detention center seeing this happen,” Mr. Abudureyimu said.

Researchers Ethan Gutmann and Jaya Gibson (an Epoch Times staff member) were the first to learn of Mr. Abudureyimu and his experiences several years ago. His case has been followed with concern and increasingly, frustration, as European governments have consistently failed to address the crux of the issue.

“The West must stand up against tyranny and protect witnesses such as Nijat,” Mr. Gibson said

in a written statement. At stake is not just one individual, Mr. Gibson argued, since if Mr. Abudureyimu’s case is handled judiciously—if he is able to give testimony to an official body, and granted protection as a political asylee—more witnesses may stream forth.


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