Nuremberg’s Lord Mayor Marcus König (CSU) already suspected it. After the jury voted in favor of awarding the Nuremberg International Human Rights Prize to Sayragul Sauytbay in 2021, he expressed the suspicion that this would not go without “reaction” in China. The 45-year-old doctor, who enjoys asylum in Sweden, is being honored with the renowned prize because, according to the jury, she “stands up for the Muslim minorities in China with admirable courage” and uncovers the “crimes committed there against Uyghurs and Kazakhs”. Due to the pandemic, the award could not be presented last year, this will be made up for this Sunday in the opera house. The feared “reaction” they believe they feel in Nuremberg for a long time.
Nuremberg is the sister city of the Chinese metropolis Shenzhen, soon the 25th anniversary of a friendship should be celebrated. Last but not least, the “cultural exchange” between the two municipalities plays a “major role”, according to city publications. Little will be noticed of this, however. A concert by the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, a high-profile traveling orchestra, with Chinese hosts? Nothing will come of it. Joint events for the anniversary? Looks bad.
The town twinning continues to exist on paper. Since the announcement that Sauytbay will receive the EUR 15,000 prize, however, one has to imagine the dialogue between the two partners on a modest level. Mayor König had regretted this in advance in 2021. It should be possible, especially among friends, to confront each other with criticism, he said.
“Bold and extraordinary human rights activist”
König praises the Muslim Kazakh Sauytbay as a “courageous and exceptional human rights activist” and whistleblower, who is an example of the fate of the Uyghur and Kazakh ethnic groups in China and who, despite “constant threats and attempts at intimidation”, bears fearless testimony about their fate. Sauytbay was born in the Chinese province of Xinjiang in northwestern China and initially worked as a doctor.
According to the Nuremberg Human Rights Office, she was forcibly recruited into a so-called re-education camp in 2017 and held there. During this time she got an insight into the camp system. Although she was released in 2018, she was supposed to return to the camp shortly afterwards as a prisoner. She then managed to escape, first to Kazakhstan. She and her family have been granted asylum in Sweden since June 2019. Together with the author Alexandra Cavelius, the book “The Crown Witness” was created there on the basis of several interviews. Sauytbay emphasizes that the world must know what is going on in the camps.
According to Lord Mayor König – chairman of the international jury – she responded to the announcement that she was being honored by the city with the sentence: “Yeah – I’m happy to accept the award.” Before the award ceremony, she will sign Nuremberg’s Golden Book on Saturday.