Contact: Annee Kahler, Media Coordinator, 267-210-8278, Annee@ChinaAid.org; Jenny McCloy, Directory of Advocacy in Washington, DC, 202-213-0506, Jenny@ChinaAid.org; www.ChinaAid.org, www.MonitorChina.org

TEXAS, May 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- On the eve of the U.S.- China Human Rights Dialogue, ChinaAid has partnered with fifteen other concerned organizations to call for justice on behalf of Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti, sentenced to 15 years in prison for his faith.

In a signed Open Letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton submitted today, the Free Alim Campaign endorsers urge the Secretary of State to make a public statement about Alimujiang's case and to raise his case during the Human Rights Dialogue between the United States and the People's Republic of China over the next two days.

The National Endowment for Democracy's 2008 Democracy Award recipient and noted Chinese human rights attorney, Dr. Li Baiguang, has called Alim's verdict "the most severe of its kind in over a decade."

The Letter outlines the primary points in this severe case of religious persecution against Alimujiang Yimiti, who was sentenced in 2009 after being held illegally without sentence for over one year.

"Alim's shocking sentence and brutal treatment is an unjust reaction to his choice of religious belief and to his ethnic status. His sentence violates Article 36 of China's Constitution, which acknowledges religious freedom for all Chinese citizens. Furthermore, the illegal actions of the Xinjiang courts, double-jeopardy secret trials, severe sentencing, and harassment of Alim's lawyers violate Chinese law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which the People's Republic of China has signed."

The concerned endorsers of the Free Alim campaign further call for specific action from the Secretary of State.

"We request you to give a public statement and raise his case during the discussions, to express deep concern for Alim's case. We request that you urge Chinese leaders to adhere to ageless principles of justice and the international norms of religious freedom to which they have committed, and that they take immediate actions to review the case and, in consideration of the utter lack of relevant, convicting evidence, release Alim and restore his full rights as a Chinese citizen."

Read the Open Letter to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, issued May 12, 2010.

Visit www.FreeAlim.com to learn more about Alim's Story.