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Weekly Brief March 23rd

Weekly Brief March 23rd

World Uyghur Congress, 23 March 2018

One Voice, One Step Worldwide Demonstrations Gain International Attention

Last Thursday, 15 March 2018, hundreds of Uyghurs demonstrated in cities around the world to draw attention to the Chinese government’s repression of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan and urge the international community to take action. Demonstrations were held in 15 cities in 14 countries around the world, including: the USA, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, the UK, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, France, Finland and Japan.

The demonstrations were organised by the One Voice, One Step Initiative, a group of Uyghur women based in the United States and Europe who are taking action to mobilise and unite the Uyghur women in the diaspora community to work together to improve the situation for the Uyghur people through concrete actions. The successful demonstrations were the initiative’s first action taken, as the organisers succeeded in mobilising hundreds of Uyghur women, children and men across the world in a true example of the power of collective action. The World Uyghur Congress was very proud to support this initiative and sent representatives to participate in the protests.

WUC Concludes Round Table Discussion at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway

The World Uyghur Congress held a round table discussion on March 16, Uyghur Linguistic Rights Under Assault: Uyghur Language & Cultural Rights In East Turkestan, under the co-sponsorship of the Norwegian Uyghur Committee and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway.

The roundtable brought together Uyghur activists and academics as well as representatives from civil society in Norway to discuss and examine the deplorable situation in terms of Uyghur language rights and how China’s policy on language rights.

A great deal of lively discussion between panelists identified some of the major problems that still exist in a new era for civil society and states, and speakers enunciated their approaches to countering the toxic effects of China’s continued aggression towards states, civil society and individuals.

WUC Holds Successful Human Rights Advocacy Training Workshop for Uyghur Youth in Oslo, Norway

Last week, from 16 -18 March 2018, the WUC, in cooperation with the Norway Uyghur Committee and with support from the National Endowment for Democracy, held a successful human rights advocacy training seminar for Uyghur youth in Oslo, Norway.

The participants were taught about the nature of human rights advocacy on Uyghur-relation issues in the Norwegian context, but also internationally. A wide range of speakers from civil society, human rights NGOs, the European Parliament and the Uyghur community provided the participants with concrete steps to take action and strategies to successfully advocate for the human rights of the Uyghur people.

The training concluded with a group activity, where the participants applied what they learned throughout the training to develop an advocacy strategy centered around a case study. Each group presented their strategy before all of the participants and engaged in constructive dialogue to determine which actions might be most effective.

Uyghurs Continue to be Sent to Re-education Camps by Chinese Police

Multiple reports emerged this week of even more Uyghurs being sent by Chinese police to ‘re-education’ camps across East Turkestan. On 19 March 2018, Radio Free Asia reported that scores of Uyghur in the city of Ghulja were detained and sent to the camps in the past few weeks. Local officials in the city were reportedly criticized by the Chinese government for not meeting quotas for the number of Uyghurs sent to the camps and were pressured to increase the number of Uyghurs detained. It was also reported this week that Chinese authorities were using age as a criterion for deciding who is sent to the camps. Uyghurs born after 1980, and particularly males, are being targeted in particular for being “violent” and “untrustworthy”.

However, at the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Canada became the first state to acknowledge the use of ‘re-education’ camps that hold hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs without charge. The Canadian representative stated, “The lack of transparency and due process in the cases of thousands of Uyghurs detained in so called re-education camps continues to call into question China’s commitment to the rule of law.”

China’s UN Resolution Undermining Human Rights Passes Despite Outcry

On Friday, 23 March 2018, a resolution initiated by China, which may undermine the foundations of human rights in the UN, sadly was passed by a majority of states. While the Chinese marketed the resolution as ‘win-win’ and based on dialogue between states, in reality it seeks to undermine the universality of human rights and protect countries with poor human rights records from criticism. Leading up to the vote, some states, NGOs and civil society loudly denounced the resolution, including Human Rights Watch and Navi Pillay, the former UN High Commissioner for human rights, on behalf of ISHR. The resolution stresses ‘sovereignty’ and ‘development’ as the principles of human rights, making human rights concerns a domestic issue rather than an international one based on common humanity. This resolution is a significant threat to the current human rights system and may have future impediments to human rights organization seeking to highlight urgent situation in the UN.

WUC President Dolkun Isa Speaks on Persecution of Uyghurs Living Outside China

This week, WUC President Dolkun Isa spoke to Asia News about the harassment and persecution of Uyghurs living outside China, the Chinese government’s use of reprisals against the families of students and activists and re-education camps. He also spoke about his own situation, stating:

“As for my family – with whom I have no contact –, I have a father who is almost 90. I do not know if he is alive or dead. I know that my older and younger brothers have been arrested and sent to a re-education camp. I do not know how many other relatives are detained.”

“This is my personal story,” but “All Uyghurs living abroad have at least one or more family members in re-education camps.”