Family members of so-called Uyghur activists harassed, imprisoned or arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang?

Full of ignorance of and bias against China, some people from the US and other Western countries have recently made groundless accusations against and disseminated many fallacies about China's human rights conditions concerning Xinjiang.

Here is one of the rumors they spread, and the fact.

Rumor: Family members of Furqat Jawdat, Arapat Arkin, Zumrat Dawut and other so-called "activists" have been "harassed, imprisoned or arbitrarily detained."

Fact:

- Both Furqat Jawdat and Arapat Arkin are members of the World Uyghur Congress, an organization notorious for its violent, terrorist and separatist agenda. They make a living by fabricating stories and splitting their motherland. Their relatives, who are leading a normal life in Xinjiang, feel ashamed of having people like them in the family.

- Furqat Jawdat's mother is living a normal life in Xinjiang and has regular contact with him.

- Arapat Arkin's father was sentenced for taking part in violent and terrorist activities, but his mother and younger brother and sister are all living a normal life. None of them have been taken into custody. His mother has repeatedly urged him not to follow his father's path, "Your father did harm to our society. He is being punished for his wrongdoing. He is very sorry for what he has done. So please stop telling lies and leave the World Uyghur Congress before it's too late."

- Regarding the claim that "Dawut's elderly father, who had been detained and interrogated multiple times by the local authorities in Xinjiang, recently passed away under unknown circumstances", here is what really happened: Dawut's father had been living with his children all these years, without ever being "interrogated" or "detained". Suffering from a serious heart condition for many years, the octogenarian passed away in hospital in October 2019 after all medical treatment had failed. During his last days in hospital, the old man was attended by Dawut's older brothers and other relatives who stayed by his bedside.