A Sound from Endless Desert:
A Conversation with Abduweli Ayup
and Screening of “Behind the Mask“

November 25, 2024 at 3:00 PM
Social Sciences Building (SOS), Room B40

A talk and screening with Abduweli Ayup with faculty moderator Prof. Travis Major (Linguistics)

Organized by the USC Dornsife East Asian Studies Center
Cosponsored by USC Dornsife Center for International Studies and USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

(Join us in person)

Abduweli Ayup, a Uyghur scholar and activist, will give a presentation about the Uyghur people and the current crisis they face. This will be followed by a screening of the documentary short film “Behind the Mask“, which is centered on his experiences as a survivor of a Uyghur internment camp and subsequent opportunity to confront a former guard from his camp. However, he must consider the effect on his children, who witnessed his arrest. The documentary will be followed by a Q&A.

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Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur activist born in Kashgar, China, in 1973. In August 2013, Ayup was detained by Chinese authorities for his efforts to promote Uyghur linguistic rights by opening schools to teach children the Uyghur language. His detention lasted until November 2014. During this time, he faced harsh interrogation and abuse. Ayup recounted being subjected to interrogation techniques involving threats, physical violence, the tiger chair, and psychological pressure. He described being detained in various facilities, including the Yanbulaq Detention Center in Kashgar and the Urumqi Detention Center, where he witnessed and experienced beatings and sleep deprivation among other forms of mistreatment. Throughout his ordeal, Ayup maintained his innocence, enduring beatings while refusing to confess to false accusations of involvement in separatist activities or illegal fundraising. After 15 months in detention, Ayup fled China with his family to Turkey. In 2016, Ayup founded the non-profit Uyghur Hjelp to investigate and document the plight of Uyghurs and advocate for their cause. He has continued his efforts to open Uyghur language schools and publish Uyghur language textbooks in the diaspora.

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