Gulbahar Jalilova spent long months in a Uyghur camp in the Xinjiang region, where China is accused of persecuting this Muslim minority.

Refugee in France, she tells about her ordeal to Europe 1, in particular the abuse inflicted on the women locked up with them. 

TESTIMONY

Arrived in France in October, she now requests asylum.

Gulbahar Jalilova, a 56-year-old Kazakh citizen of Uyghur origin, spent more than a year in one of the camps set up by China to intern members of the Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region.

At the microphone of Europe 1, this former trader tells about her long ordeal, and her desire to continue to testify. 

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Gulbahar Jalilova was arrested on May 22, 2017 in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

The Chinese authorities, who accuse her of terrorism, ask her to sign a confession, which she refuses.

"As I refused to sign, they told me they would take me to a place where I would have to. They took me to another room where there was no camera. . I was tied to a chair, I couldn't move, ”she recalls.

"Then the guard took off his pants, put his cock in front of my mouth and he said: 'now you sign'". 

Women "deformed by the blows"

“He was a young man, says Gulbahar Jalilova. I cried, and said to him: 'How dare you do that, you don't have a mother? A sister?'. He hit me, m 'hit the head with an electric baton saying that I was not a human being, that I was a beast.

In the camp, for the first three months, Gulbahar Jalilova stays in a small cell with dozens of other women without being tortured, before her turn comes.

Today, the former trader remembers the abuse endured by her fellow prisoners.

"I saw young women that the guards came to look for in the cell, and who came back after the interrogation completely deformed by the beatings. I also saw women come out of the cell and never come back. I saw young women who went completely mad after being tortured, others come back after being thrown among the rats ", she narrates. 

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She did not feel safe in Turkey

When she left camp on September 3, 2018, Gulbahar Jalilova was sent to the hospital, where she was stuffed with vitamins, then to the hotel where they tried to hide the marks of her months of captivity: they dyed her hair. , we put makeup on.

When she is finally released, the authorities threaten her: if she speaks, they will find her, wherever she is in the world.

After returning to Kazakhstan, where she reunites with her son, Gulbahar Jalilova ultimately only stays 20 days in the country, before fleeing to Turkey, where she very quickly feels in danger, fearing the presence of agents working for Beijing.

And it was in France that she then decided to go, initiating an asylum application procedure.

And the Kazakhe intends to continue to testify, despite the threats, especially for the women who, unlike her, could not get out. 

"I will testify until my death"

"Extremely affected psychologically", Gulbahar Jalilova admits having, at the beginning, thought of starting a new life, "but it is impossible".

“Every time I drink water, I think of all those months spent in camp with these women. When I eat well, I think of all these hungry women, with whom I ate extremely badly. 'try to sleep, I think of those screams we heard every night, "she says. 

"It is impossible for me to even imagine stopping myself. I will testify until my death, until my last breath", promises Gulbahar Jalilova.

"I have seen young women die under torture. I testify for them, no one can stop me."