Congress of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20515
February 3, 2010
Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Dear Mr. Ambassador:
We are writing with regard to Mr. Alimuj iang Yimiti from Kashgar, Xinjiang province. Mr. Yimiti (ID card 650104197306104712), has been sentenced to a IS-year prison term having been charged with "providing state secrets to foreigners."
Mr. Alimujiang Yimiti was arrested on January 12,2008, on charges of "jeopardizing national security and providing state secrets to foreign countries." On February 20, 2008, Mr. Yimiti was arrested, and one week later, he was denied a meeting with his lawyer. On May 27, 2008, the Xinjiang Court returned the case to state prosecutors for lack of evidence and ordered further investigation. On July 28, 2009, Mr. Yimiti was tried again on the charge of"providing state secrets to foreigners," and on August 6, 2009, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but neither himself, his family members, nor his attorneys were notified about his sentence until December 2009. This is a clear violation of Chinese law.
In Opinion No. 29/2008, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Mr. Yimiti's arrest to be arbitrary. Further, the period of time Mr. Yimiti was detained in pretrial arrest far exceeded that prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. Based on this procedure, he should have been either sentenced or released back in September 2008.
The lack of evidence and procedural breaches associated with this case indicate that Mr. Yimiti's detention has been because of his religious beliefs. Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion or belieffor all Chinese citizens.
Furthermore, the National Human Rights Action Plan states that China is committed to fully implementing policies that protect citizens' right to freedom of religious belief and guarantee the rights and interests of religious believers.
In light of this commitment, we urge you to ensure that Mr. Yimiti's case is carefully reviewed and fairly decided. Mr. Yimiti has appealed the Court's ruling, and we write to ask that his case be decided based on the facts . It is our sincere hope that justice will be done and that Mr. Yimiti will be cleared of all charges.
I thank you for your time and attention to this case and for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Joseph R. Pitts, Member of Congress
Bob Inglis, Member of Congress
Chris Smith, Member of Congress
Mike Pence, Member of Congress
Jean Schmidt, Member of Congress
Steve King, Member of Congress
Scott Garrett, Member of Congress
John Kline, Member of Congress
David Roe, Member of Congress
John Shadegg, Member of Congress
Frank Wolf, Member of Congress
Lloyd Doggett, Member of Congress
Thaddeus McCotter, Member of Congress
Trent Franks, Member of Congress
Michele Bachmann, Member of Congress
Sue Myrick, Member of Congress
Kenny Marchant, Member of Congress
Phil Gingrey, Member of Congress
Doug Lamborn, Member of Congress
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