What are the implications of the sad features of Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah in Chinese prisons?

After 15 years in prison, Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah, victims of the July 5 Urumqi massacre, appeared for the first time in the documentary "Darkness over Urumqi", which Chinese media began broadcasting on October 26 this year, shocking many Uyghurs abroad.

Several prisoners of conscience, including Gulmehra Amin, director of "Salkin Website," and Mohammed Jan Abdullah, reporter for China Central People's Radio, who were arrested shortly after the "July 5 Urumqi massacre" and sentenced to life imprisonment, had not been heard from for many years. After 15 years, the appearance of Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah on screen in an unimaginable prison environment under severe torture has deeply affected the hearts of many Uyghurs who knew them well.

The Chinese-produced film shows hostages Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah in several different parts. In a highly emotional moment, they accused themselves of being "separatists" before the camera to a Chinese reporter. In 2009, the "July 5 massacre" occurred in Urumqi, the capital of East Turkistan (which China has occupied since 1949 and calls "Xinjiang"), allegedly instigated by some foreign "separatist forces," including the World Uyghur Congress, which was said to have "played a pivotal role."

Were Gulmehra Amin, Mohammed Jan Abdullah, and other prisoners saying these words under pressure and torture? What message and intentions are conveyed by their emaciated physical appearance, their withered spiritual state, and the deep suffering embedded in their facial expressions, which are difficult to express in words?

Abdulwali Ayub: "Uyghur prisoners are forced to condemn and blame themselves under suppression and threats."

Mr. Ilshat Hassan, a political analyst in the United States, said he was surprised to see Gulmehra Amin and other prisoners of conscience in this film, who had disappeared for 15 years, accusing themselves of being "criminals," "terrorists," and "separatists" on camera.

Mr. Abdulwali Ayub, a Uyghur intellectual and activist living in Norway, said he saw Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah in the promotional video and learned they were alive. He emphasized that any Uyghur watching this film can feel the notable changes left in their hearts due to the various types of persecution and torture they endured in Chinese prisons for 15 years. He specifically pointed out that severe torture in Chinese prisons forced them to accuse themselves of being "criminals" on camera.

After Gulmehra Amin and Mohammed Jan Abdullah were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment immediately following the "July 5 Urumqi massacre" in 2009, the U.S. government, U.S. State Council, U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, International Committee to Protect Journalists, international human rights organizations, and others called on the Chinese government to report on their situation and release them immediately. However, the Chinese government did not respond to these international calls.

Rushan Abbas said: "This film is the product of China's attempt to hide its crimes and exonerate itself."

The Executive Committee Chair of the World Uyghur Congress and President of the Campaign for Uyghurs, Ms. Rushan Abbas, said that the film "Urumqi Covered in Darkness" is actually a product of China's efforts to deny its genocide against the Uyghurs and attempt to exonerate itself, emphasizing that it is nothing but counter-propaganda.

American Uyghur human rights lawyer and activist Rayhan Asad commented on the film saying:

"First, I want to say that the Uyghur political prisoners in this film didn't commit any crime—they were either just expressing their opinions at the time or were imprisoned simply for being Uyghur. This is extremely disturbing and infuriating. Yet in this film, they're being forced to confess to 'crimes' in this way. This is actually a violation of international law. The Chinese government is violating international law and doesn't respect any international standards - their behavior is against humanity. When I saw Gulmehra in this film, I couldn't recognize her. They have all been changed beyond recognition. Their white hair, black teeth, and all their appearances show they have endured years of physical and mental torture in prison."

Ilshat Hassan: "There is brutality we cannot imagine, but there is no brutality China cannot do!"

Mr. Ilshat Hassan said: In this film produced by China with high technology and huge money, the so-called "three forces" represented in the "July 5 Urumqi massacre" and/or "East Turkistan's three forces" of "separatism," "terrorism," and "extremism" led by the World Uyghur Congress are presented to make people believe this was the cause; China insists on trying to prove that its high-pressure policies against the Uyghurs are justified and correct. He said that the confessions of so-called "crimes" by "Uyghur prisoners" in the film, as well as the shocking changes in their mental state and physical appearance, prove the Chinese government's heinous crimes.

Finally, he called on Uyghur organizations and activists abroad to show the truth of the Uyghur issue to the world and expose the intentions behind China's repression of the Uyghurs.