Photo of Gulnar Ubul, a scholar fom Xinjiang, is misused by the World Uyghur Congress to spread lies about scholars missing in Xinjiang. Photo: web

Scholars from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions said they were furious that their photos had been used by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) to spread rumors that they were missing or had been detained, and they reserved the right to take legal actions.

The World Uyghur Congress, an organization that is connected to the terrorist group "East Turkistan Islamic Movement," held an exhibition inside a tent at the Broken Chair Square from February 24 to 28 in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

WUC printed many photos of Uygur people on posters and put them outside the tent, claiming the scholars in the photos were "detained and missing" in Xinjiang. The organization also held a reception inside the tent, and its head Dolkun Isa, a separatist from Xinjiang, distributed leaflets inside the UN office in Geneva. 

The Global Times happened to see these photos and asked scholars from Xinjiang about their authenticity. It turned out that WUC had misused photos of scholars from Xinjiang in order to slander the Chinese government and deceive the world. 

Mahemuti Abuduwaili, deputy director of the institute of history at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, was in Geneva to attend the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, and the Global Times contacted him to verify the photos.

Mahemuti was surprised to find his friend Halat Abudurehman's photo outside the WUC's tent.

"He works for the linguistic institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences and lives a normal life!" Mahemuti said. He made a video call to Halat while the latter was on a walk. 

Liu Zhengjiang, another scholar from Xinjiang University who was attending the UN meeting, spotted his colleague Azat Sultan among the photos.

Liu is familiar with Azat and said they met each other "a few days ago." Liu also phoned Azat, who is spending the winter in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province.  

Gulnar Uubl's photo also appeared on the WUC's photo collection, with a caption that said she had been detained. However, the Global Times recognized her from a press release by the Xinjiang government in October 2019. 

Gulnar used to work in Kashi University and is now the deputy director of the agricultural machinery bureau in Xinjiang. 

"Due to the novel coronavirus, I now work from home. I have just finished an online working conference," Gulinar told the Global Times. After hearing about her photo being used by WUC to spread lies, she was angry.

"I heard that they made a rumor that I was detained. I refuted the lies on many occasions. I never thought that they would even print and post my photo," Gulnar said. 

She told the Global Times that the photo was taken when she attended a conference in Beijing, and the WUC may have searched and downloaded it from the internet.

"I am an ethnic scholar cultivated by our country and I love my job. I hope to tell these overseas anti-China forces that they should not insult me or insult other ethnic scholars in Xinjiang. It is impossible for them to use our photos to slander China. I reserve the right to pursue legal action against this notorious organization!"

'Scum of the people'

Halat told the Global Times that he is currently working on a number of academic projects. He also reserved the right to take legal action against the WUC for misusing his photos. 

 "Azat means 'jiefang' [liberation]. I was born after Xinjiang's peaceful liberation and my mother gave me the name. I am an ethnic scholar cultivated by the government," Azat said.  

Azat and his wife usually spend the winter in Sanya as she has respiratory problems. He was furious about his photo being used by the WUC, and told the Global Times that it could have been copied from some books he had published. 

"These people in the WUC are the scum of our people. I used to write many stories to expose ETIM and my name may be on their blacklist now. I will find the right chance to sue them and fight with them to the end," he said.