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Weekly Brief May 18th

Weekly Brief May 18th

World Uyghur Congress, 18 May 2018

Academics and Journalists Shine Light on Mass Arbitrary Detention of Uyghurs

A number of important academic reports and journalist articles were published this week which highlight the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in so-called ‘re-education’ camps (a more accurate label would be indoctrination camps or concentration camps) and provide details about of the horrific things those detained in the camps are subjected to.

An excellent report about the ‘re-education’ camps was published by a German academic, Adrian Zenz, from the European School of Culture and Theology in Kornthal, Germany. His very detailed report is entitled “Thoroughly Reforming them Toward a Healthy Heart Attitude” – China’s Political Re-education Campaign in Xinjiang. All of his source material comes from interviews with Chinese government officials or from documents published by the Chinese government and provides the most detailed account yet of the scale and scope of the camps, as well as more information about what occurs in them. The disturbing findings indicate that, at the very least, 200,000 Uyghurs are currently being arbitrarily detained in the camps, but more likely 10% of the entire Uyghur population in East Turkistan are being held them.

The Associated Press published an interview with Omer Bekali, an ethnic Kazakh who was previously detained in the camps. The article provides many horrific details about what he and the hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs are subjected to in the camps, as they were forced to live in very poor and crowded conditions with insufficient food and water. Those detained were subjected to daily indoctrination aimed at eroding their ties to their religion and ensuring compliance to Chinese law and authority.

An article published by the Washington Post also interviewed former detainees of the camps, who recounted the brainwashing and torture they were regularly subjected to. Detainees who disobeyed their captors were placed in handcuffs and ankle cuffs, waterboarded and tortured in other ways. They were forced to listen to lectures about the ‘spirit of the 19th Party Congress’, sing communist songs and chant “Long live Xi Jinping”. The torture and poor conditions have reportedly led some detainees to commit suicide.

Rian Thum, a historian who has focused his work on East Turkistan, published a stirring opinion piece on the camps in the New York Times. Prominent Uyghur activist Mehmet Tohti also published an article in the Diplomat detailing China’s policy of arbitrarily detaining Uyghurs and outlining the Chinese government’s systematic attack on the Uyghur identity.

WUC and Affiliates Highlight Religious Persecution of Uyghurs During Ramadan

The World Uyghur Congress, in collaboration with its affiliates, will mark the holy month of Ramadan by drawing attention to the severe religious persecution and deprivation of religious freedom for the Uyghur people in East Turkistan.

Ramadan begins on the evening of May 15thand will continue until the evening of June 14th. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is an essential component to the Islamic faith. For 30 days, Muslims all over the world will take part in fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad.

To draw attention to the massive religious persecution of Uyghurs by the Chinese government, the World Uyghur Congress has decided to highlight a different issue relevant to the religious persecution of Uyghurs and the deprivation of their religious freedom for each day of Ramadan.

We will regularly publish videos, statements and interviews to inform the world about what is happening to the Uyghur people and the need for immediate action to be taken.

Chinese Officials Forcibly Move in With Uyghur Families

Human Rights Watch published an important report this week on the Chinese government’s ‘Becoming Family’ campaign, in which thousands of Chinese officials have been sent to live with Uyghur families in East Turkistan, against their will and without their consent. Human Rights Watch reports that at least 200,000 Chinese officials have been sent since 2014, but the WUC estimates that this number is much higher.

During these visits, families are required to provide officials with information about their lives and political views, and are subjected to regular political indoctrination. The families are constantly monitored by the unwanted guests, who look for indications of disobedience to the Chinese states and expressions of religious sentiment.

This is an unprecedented violation of the Uyghur people’s right to privacy. Not only are they constantly under surveillance in public, due to the dense network of security cameras, thousands of police stations, facial recognition technology and constant internet monitoring, now Uyghurs can not even find privacy in their own homes. These are inhuman and insufferable conditions. Even the most oppressive states have not gone to such an extent to insert the government into every aspect of the peoples lives.

This disturbing campaign is made even worse by the fact that 1 million Uyghurs, mostly Uyghur men, are arbitrarily detained in camps in East Turkistan. Uyghur men are being arbitrarily detained and subjected to indoctrination and horrible conditions, while Chinese officials are moving into their homes.

WUC President Dolkun Isa Speaks at Exchange of Views in European Parliament

WUC President Dolkun Isa addressed the Human Rights Sub-committee of the European Parliament (DROI) during a formal ‘Exchange of Views‘ on the subject of the Uyghur situation. Mr. Isa spoke on the mass arbitrary detention of approximately 1 million Uyghurs, religious persecution against Uyghurs and the growing influence of China in international institutions, especially the United Nations.

He was joined at the event by fellow speakers Ms Sophie Richardson (China Director of Human Rights Watch, Mr Ulrich Delius (Director of Society for Threatened Peoples), a video from the Tom Lantos Institute and by Members of the European Parliament. The speakers discussed the abysmal human rights situation in East Turkistan and the need for the European Union to take concrete action to address this issue.