Advocates and supporters of Ekpar Asat â a tech entrepreneur and brother of Rayhan Asat, Harvard Law Schoolâs first Uighur graduate â gathered Wednesday in a virtual event commemorating five years since he was detained by the Chinese government and placed in a Xinjiang internment camp.
In a speech titled âFor You I Rise,â Rayhan Asat said that April 7, 2016 â the day her brother was forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government â marks the âbeginning of the nightmareâ she has experienced daily for five years.
âIâm still in disbelief how one personâs life can be ruined against all reason at the pinnacle of his career,â Asat said. âA visionary who created opportunities for many up-and-coming writers, musicians, artists, and other young people. His focus was always on making the world better for others through collective effort.â
Sondra R. P. Anton, a second-year student at Harvard Law School, has coordinated an open letter to the United Nations calling on the Human Rights Council to create a new resolution to promote accountability for human rights violations in Sri Lanka.
The open letter, which was sent in February, argues that “prospects for domestic justice and accountability efforts in Sri Lanka have dimmed entirely” since the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the Sri Lankan presidency in November 2019.
The letter was signed by 22 organizations, including Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Justice and Accountability, Human Rights Watch, and the World Organization Against Torture.