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WEEKLY BRIEF – AUGUST 10

WEEKLY BRIEF – AUGUST 10

World Uyghur Congress, 10 August 2018

WUC Representatives Attending Meetings in Geneva For The 96 Session of CERD of China

From 8-16 August, WUC representatives are attending the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s review of China in Geneva, Switzerland to draw attention to China’s systemic racial and ethnic discrimination being perpetrated against the Uyghur people by the Chinese government. The WUC has drafted a parallel report to be considered during the session.

The report is a comprehensive overview of China’s discriminatory treatment of the Uyghur population in East Turkistan – particularly since China’s previous CERD review in 2009. The WUC representatives met with member states and UN officials to discuss how the WUC can work with them to take action to end the human rights crisis in East Turkistan, particularly on the issue of the mass arbitrary detention of over one million Uyghurs in political indoctrination camps.

WUC and Uyghur Community Protests in Front of the UN in Geneva

The WUC and Uyghur community in Switzerland together protested in front of the UN in Geneva on August 10thjust before China is reviewed by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The silent protest was organised to demonstrate against China’s continues systematic discrimination and oppression of Uyghurs in East Turkistan. Protesters handed pamphlets with detailed information about the current situation of the Uyghurs in East Turkistan.

US Senator Marco Rubio Calls On the USA to Take Action to Stop China’s Oppression of Uyghurs

In a recent opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, the US Senator Marco Rubio outlined the current human rights crisis in East Turkistan and China’s persecution of the Uyghur people.

He stated that given the gravity of situation, the USA must find the political will to act ‘stop this evil’ and called on the US to “apply Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo.”

Senator Rubio is one of the few U.S. officials to call out on China’s continues human rights abuse on Uyghurs and other ethnic groups. During the last month Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing, one of the chairman Senator Rubio, who spoke about serious and deteriorating human rights situation faced by Uyghur Muslims and members of other Muslim ethnic minority groups and highlighted that U.S. and multi-national corporations are selling products to the Chinese government that assist in its repression and human rights violations in East Turkistan.

East Turkistan’s Kucha County Officials Reveals that Tens and Thousands of its Residence are held in Internment Camps

A growing amount of evidence has been gathered by the Radio Free Asia recently on the possible numbers of detainees and camps at in Kuchar (in Chinese, Kuche), one of the counties in Aksu (Akesu) prefecture of East Turkistan.

According to the RFA report, a staff member at the Kuchar county police department recently disclosed information on the numbers of detainees in the camps. The staff member stated that more than 45,000 residents of a mostly Uyghur-populated county in (East Turkistan) are being held in three main political “re-education camps”. The local official said the facilities are guarded by armed personnel.

Radio Free Asia also reported that another 6,000 Uyghurs have been held in township of Haniqatam in East Turkistan for up to 2 years, citing a local official. The official stated that none of 6000 had been released from the camps yet.

The Chinese government has been operating extensive internment camps holding an estimated one million Uyghurs as well as ethnic Kazakhs since early 2017 — the camps are operated extra-legally as Uyghurs are not charged with any crimes.

Extensive reporting has revealed many details of the camp system, including the use of forced assimilation tactic, abuse and torture. The international community has remained strikingly silent thus far.