A Kazakh man from Xinjiang, Ke Yizhati Arken, recently shared his harrowing experience in an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times. He recounted how he was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” for discussing the history of the Yuan Dynasty on social media platforms. He endured torture before ultimately fleeing overseas. The ordeal shattered his trust in the CCP’s judicial system and ethnic policies.
Ke Yizhati, 37, originally from the Altay region of Xinjiang, moved to Fukang City, Changji Prefecture in 2010, where he worked in an administrative role and raised a son. He described himself as a history enthusiast who frequently discussed the Mongol Empire and the social structure of the Yuan Dynasty online with friends, unaware that it would lead to persecution by the authorities.
On June 19, 2023, during a live stream on the Chinese social media platform Douyin, Ke Yizhati mentioned that “Han Chinese were the lowest class at the time” when discussing the social hierarchy of the Yuan Dynasty, based on historical records. However, this remark led to his arrest after being reported to the local public security bureau for allegedly “splitting the country.”
Shortly after, multiple police officers raided his residence in Fukang City, confiscating all his history books and seizing a copy of the Quran from his bedside cabinet as “evidence” of religious extremism. Ke Yizhati was taken to the underground floor of the public security bureau, where he underwent 17 hours of continuous interrogation without food or rest, repeatedly questioned about allegedly using history to attack the Han Chinese or spread extremist ideas.
Accompanied by his 7-year-old son, Ke Yizhati is now in a refugee camp in Slovenia. He vehemently denied the accusations of “ethnic hatred,” citing his education in a Chinese school and his friendships with mostly Han Chinese, emphasizing that their discussions were purely historical with no discrimination or incitement of hatred involved.
Nevertheless, he was subjected to administrative detention on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred” and “discriminating against ethnic groups,” enduring violence during his detention. Recalling the prolonged torture he faced, including being punched with books on his chest and receiving electric shocks in his mouth with an electric baton, causing severe burns on his face and eyebrows.
Despite suffering from diabetes and experiencing severe hypoglycemia during detention, the guards refused to provide necessary dietary support, citing “mental health issues” to justify their harsh treatment. When he tried to voice objections, he was forcibly subdued by multiple officers.
Ke Yizhati revealed that the surveillance system in the detention facility was effectively nonexistent, with few records of the torture he endured. Despite ultimately regaining his phone on the grounds of “inconvenience,” he was released with strict restrictions imposed by the public security authorities, prohibiting him from leaving Fukang City. It wasn’t until December 4, 2023, that Ke Yizhati successfully escaped from China with his 5-year-old son, reaching Kazakhstan.
During his exile, he faced harassment from Xinjiang’s national security, urging him to return and threatening to cut off contact with his sister in Xinjiang. Ke Yizhati also disclosed that immigration officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan repeatedly searched for him in attempts to repatriate him to Xinjiang. To evade repatriation, he went into hiding until friends helped him raise funds for a flight ticket from Almaty to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he arrived on June 27, 2025.
The journey to escape was perilous, as Ke Yizhati recounted two encounters with black bears while traversing the forest on June 28, with the closest distance between them being only six meters. Fortunately, they managed to escape unharmed.
On June 30, Ke Yizhati and his son were deported by border police upon entering Croatia but re-entered the next day. They arrived in Zagreb on July 3 and subsequently, in Slovenia, where they currently reside in a local refugee camp. He plans to go to Germany, as he has heard that Germany accepts refugees from Xinjiang.
Ke Yizhati recalled a brief stint as an auxiliary officer in Fukang City in 2016, during which he witnessed police assaulting a Uyghur man, Abdulmu, leading to his death in custody. Despite his attempts to intervene, he was suppressed by the authorities. The official report from the detention center claimed that Abdulmu died due to “personal reasons.”
Following this incident, Ke Yizhati developed depression, resigned from his position as an auxiliary officer, and planned to open a beef patty shop at home as part of his preparation to leave China.
He revealed that the education camps in Xinjiang began in 2014, followed by a massive crackdown on Uyghurs and Kazakhs from 2016 onwards, peaking in 2017, instilling extreme fear among the minority groups. He lamented the widespread arrests, including disputes among spouses resulting in detention, highlighting the pervasive atmosphere of fear in which many minorities lived.
The human rights organization “Atazhülte Volunteer” in Kazakhstan confirmed Ke Yizhati’s account after he documented his experiences in a video statement in March this year, intending to provide evidence of the persecution of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang to the United Nations Human Rights organizations. The organization’s leader corroborated the information provided by Ke Yizhati after thorough verification.
As one of the minority ethnic groups in Xinjiang, Kazakhs have faced accusations from authorities for using social media platforms to discuss religion or ethnic identity. Despite international concerns raised by the United Nations and several human rights organizations over the oppression and torture of minority groups in Xinjiang, the Chinese government continues to deny allegations of widespread human rights violations.
Ke Yizhati emphasized that he shared his story to shed light on the realities faced by many in Xinjiang, asserting that they are ordinary people who are not terrorists or separatists, but merely individuals who seek to recount history truthfully.