Yalkun Rozi Wins the 2026 Graciela Fernández Meijide Award

  • March 3, 2026

CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2nd, 2026
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
https://campaignforuyghurs.org/

 

Yalkun Rozi Wins the 2026 Graciela Fernández Meijide Award

Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) applauds the decision to award prominent Uyghur intellectual Yalkun Rozi the 2026 Graciela Fernandez Meijide Award, decided by Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina (CADAL). The award ceremony will take place in August during a conference marking the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism. 

This award recognizes individuals or organizations defending human rights in authoritarian states or democratic contexts lacking civil and political liberties, including when activists’ lives are at stake. In 2026, this award reached a global scale, with winners from Equatorial Guinea, China, and North Korea.

Yalkun Rozi has been imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party since 2016 on sham charges on the pretext of “inciting subversion of state power.” Mr. Rozi is a renowned literary critic, writer, and publisher with significant contributions to Uyghur literature. He worked in the editorial board for the Uyghur Textbook Department of Xinjiang Education Ministry and compiled and edited Uyghur literature textbooks for elementary, middle schools, and high schools. From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Rozi helped create more than 90 textbooks and extracurricular materials, enriching children’s understanding of Uyghur identity, history, and culture. In October 2016, as one of the first victims of the current atrocities, Yalqun Rozi was taken for investigation in relation to “ideological problems” in the literature textbooks. On January 3rd, 2018, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Urumqi. His unjust imprisonment by the CCP represents their ongoing crusade to destroy Uyghur identity and culture. 

“CFU is proud to see Yalkun Rozi honored as a recipient of the 2026 Graciela Fernandez Meijide Award,” said CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas. “Yalkun Rozi’s recognition is a victory for the Uyghur spirit. While the CCP attempts to rewrite our history by imprisoning our greatest scholars, this honor proves that our culture is resilient against the CCP’s war against Uyghur identity and our cause is global. We will continue to amplify his voice until he and every intellectual held in the shadow of this genocide are free. We are grateful to CADAL for shedding light on his case and Uyghur culture as a whole.” 

CFU reaffirms its call for the immediate release of Yalkun Rozi and all arbitrarily detained Uyghurs. We urge the international community to hold the CCP accountable for its grave human rights abuses against the Uyghur people. 

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