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PRESS RELEASE: WUC Recognizes the Vital Work of Journalists on World Press Freedom Day

PRESS RELEASE: WUC Recognizes the Vital Work of Journalists on World Press Freedom Day

Press Release – For immediate release
3 May 2018
Contact: World Uyghur Congress
 
www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

On World Press Freedom Day, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) would like to recognize journalists around the world who put themselves at considerable risk to report on the human rights conditions in China. As China continues to hide its crimes against the Uyghurs from the rest of the world, it is so important that a free press continues to uncover the reality of the situation.

Freedom of the press is essential to the maintenance of any democratic and free society and the protection of our basic rights, but this has increasingly come under threat in China and abroad. Sadly, freedom of the press is non-existent in China and journalists who report in the country are subjected to strict censorship, harassment, intimidation and severe punishment for themselves and their families, merely for reporting the truth.

WUC President, Dolkun Isa, marked the day saying that: “The WUC would like to celebrate the crucial work of these journalists in shining a light on the many human rights abuses being committed against the Uyghurs by the Chinese government.” Isa continued, stating that, ”Without regular reporting on China’s repressive policies, the Uyghur people would be suffering in darkness.”

China consistently ranks as one of the worst countries with respect to press freedom. The Committee to Protect Journalists gave China a ranking of 0 in a recent report, putting it at the very bottom, only ahead of North Korea, Syria, Turkmenistan and Eritrea with regards to press freedom.

Access to East Turkistan in particular is extremely curtailed, with very few international journalists allowed entry. Journalists have their laptops, phones and cameras routinely searched at the many checkpoints and are routinely followed and harassed by Chinese police. A survey from the Foreign Correspondent Club of China reported increased intimidation of journalists and lack of access to East Turkistan in particular. The report specifies that 73% of respondents who traveled to East Turkistan in 2017 were told by officials and security agents that reporting was prohibited or restricted, compared with 42% in the FCCC’s 2016 survey.

The WUC would specifically like to acknowledge the diligent and necessary work of Uyghur journalists at Radio Free Asia. Their excellent reporting provides one of the few true glimpses behind Chinese censorship to show the reality of what the Uyghur people are being subjected to. For their fearless reporting, many of their reporters have had relatives still living in East Turkistan detained by Chinese police in the ‘re-education’ camps, in retaliation of their work. This is a grave human rights violation and constitutes an attack on the very idea of a free press.

We have also witnessed increasing pressure on journalists to cooperate with the Chinese government and refrain from reporting on ‘sensitive’ topics, such as issues involving Uyghurs and Tibetans, in exchange for greater access to the country. The WUC urges reporters to have the courage and journalistic integrity not to let the Chinese government dictate what they are able to say and to focus on reporting the truth. The Uyghurs and other groups who are routinely subjected to intense and violent repression rely on international media to let the rest of the world know about the human rights violations being committed.

As the Chinese government attempts to establish absolute control over what information enters and leaves the country, the role of the free press becomes even more crucial.