Press Release – For immediate release
21 February 2012
Contact:  World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

László Tőkés MEP, in cooperation with Kristiina Ojuland MEP and Vytautas Landsbergis MEP, will convene a conference, ‘50 Years After Test 596: China’s Nuclear Programme in East Turkestan and Its Impact Today’ at the European Parliament in Brussels on 29 February 2012 in collaboration with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), and the Belgian Uyghur Association.

“With this conference, my colleagues and I wish to draw attention to the neglected topic of nuclear testing in East Turkestan, China, and make a call for a meaningful recognition of the civilian victims of the tests,” said László Tőkés MEP.

Multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominee and WUC President, Rebiya Kadeer, noted that “the Uyghurs have long suffered from the health and environmental effects nuclear testing in Lop Nor…it is time to address the devastating impact of radioactive exposure that have affected probably millions of people.”

While Beijing celebrates its nuclear capability, Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary, warned that “a ‘Wall of Secrecy’ prevents experts from discovering the true effects of the Lop Nor tests and their real and devastating human cost in what amounts to a systematic violation of citizens rights”.

Among those contributing to the conference will be Enver Tohti (Uyghur and Independent Medical Researcher), Vincent Metten (International Campaign for Tibet), Dominique Lalanne (Nuclear Physicist and Chair of Abolition 2000 Europe), Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong (Authors of “Certificate no. 000358, Nuclear Devastation in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, the Urals and Siberia”). Under discussion will be possible compensation models and the scope for inclusion of the issue in future Human Rights Dialogues.

The Lop Nor testing site, located in East Turkestan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), was used for a total of 46 individual nuclear detonations over three decades (1964–1996).  These were the largest series of tests to be carried out in a populated area. Since the termination of the tests in 1996, the environmental and health impact of radioactive contamination in the area has never been fully known and Lop Nor remains largely inaccessible.

More information on the conference is available from
www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=13832 and www.unpo.org/article/13835

For media queries please contact:

Andrew Swan (English)
+32 (0)472 577 518
[email protected]

Abdulmuttelip Imerov (French)
+32 (0)488 048 655
[email protected]

Details of the event:

Wednesday, 29 February 2012, 9.30 – 12.30
Room P7C050, Paul-Henri Spaak Building, European Parliament
60 Rue Wiertz, Brussels, Belgium

Registration is required and must be submitted before 24 February 2012.
Please send your full name, date of birth, place of residence, nationality, organisation to: [email protected]