Person profile: Huseyincan Celil (玉山江•吉力力)
This archive preserves the documented media and organizational record of the case of Huseyincan Celil (玉山江•吉力力), also rendered Huseyin Celil, a Uyghur-Canadian activist imprisoned in China since 2006. Entries are ordered by publication date. Allegations by each side are attributed; they are not independent findings of this site.
Key organizational records
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders — Prisoners of Conscience database, record 玉山江•吉力力 / “Huseyin Celil” (retrieved 2026-10-09): born 1969-03-01, Payzawat County, Kashgar; Canadian citizen; arrested March 2006 in Uzbekistan, renditioned to China; first-instance sentence April 19, 2007 (life for splittism plus 10 years for terrorist-organization participation, combined to life); appeal rejected July 10, 2007; commuted February 1, 2016 to 15 more years (term to 2031-02); held at Xinjiang No.1 Prison; Canada denied consular access; visits by Xinjiang family stopped after 2016. Database search page (human-rights NGO prisoner database; status: verified retrieval).
- Amnesty International Canada — “Huseyin Celil” campaign page (opened 2026-10-09): records the UN-recognized refugee history, 2001 arrival, 2005 citizenship, March 2006 Uzbekistan arrest and deportation, torture allegation and forced confession, denial of Canadian citizenship and consular access, life sentence later reduced to 20 years (February 2016), no contact since 2016, and the current petition to China’s premier. URL: https://amnesty.ca/campaigns/huseyin-celil/
- Uyghur Human Rights Project — “Learning From the Deportation and Imprisonment of Huseyin Celil, Uyghur-Canadian Imam” (March 27, 2024) (opened 2026-10-09): March 27, 2006 arrest, June 2006 deportation despite Canadian appeals, April 19, 2007 life sentence, solitary confinement and health decline, February 1, 2016 commutation (rendered here as 19–20 years), family visits ending 2016, no consular access despite bilateral treaties, the 2022 House of Commons petition. URL: http://uhrp.org/insights/learning-from-the-deportation-and-imprisonment-of-huseyin-celil-uyghur-canadian-imam/
- Wikipedia — “Hüseyincan Celil” (opened 2026-10-09; verified as reference aggregator): consolidated chronology citing CBC (2006–2007), BBC (April 20, 2007), the Globe and Mail (2007), the U.S. Congressional Record (Senate resolution, September 2007), Amnesty International, and the 2021 CTV interview; records the name-variant issue (“Yushanjiang” misread as the Han-style “Yu Shanjiang”), the 1994 first imprisonment, the disputed Guler Dilaver identification, Prime Minister Harper’s 2006 and 2009 interventions, and House Resolution 497. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hüseyincan Celil
- Rights Defense Network (维权网) — Issue 131 monthly in-custody report (August 31, 2026): lists 玉山江•吉力力 / “Yushanjiang•Jilili” in the 15-year sentence group among in-custody political prisoners (verified as roster record).
Official and diplomatic record
- Canadian government: Prime Minister Harper raised the case with President Hu Jintao at the November 2006 APEC summit; Canadian diplomats attempted to attend the trial; repeated consular-access requests refused.
- U.S. government: House Resolution 497, voice vote September 17, 2007, calling on China to release Celil.
- PRC official position (attributed, not a finding): Foreign Ministry statements (February and May 2007 press conferences) treating him as a Chinese national only, rejecting dual citizenship and denying that consular obligations apply; membership allegations against an East Turkestan organization; assassination/kidnapping accusations.
- PRC court judgment text: no publicly available judgment text for the 2007 sentence or the 2016 commutation was located.
Contradictions and limitations
The published accounts disagree on the 2016 commutation amount — one database records 15 more years (term to 2031-02), Amnesty International Canada says 20 years, and UHRP/Dui Hua render 19–20 years. The 2026 roster’s 15-year band aligns with the database figure. No definitive term length is published here. The Uzbek/Kyrgyz identification of Celil as “Guler Dilaver” is disputed by his family, Canada, and Amnesty; it is presented as disputed, not resolved. Sources differ on the number of children (six or seven). No verified information about his current condition has been available since 2016; no release date is verified.
Person profile: Huseyincan Celil (玉山江•吉力力)