Dolkun Isa Speaks at UN Side-Event: “UN Participation Challenges”
World Uyghur Congress, 14 September 2017
World Uyghur Congress General Secretary, Dolkun Isa, joined UNPO, Society for Threatened Peoples & Tibet Justice Center to discuss challenges in UN participation for human rights defenders at a Side-Event at the 36th session of the Human Rights Council.
Dolkun Isa spoke about the challenges that human rights defenders and activists seeking to address human rights violations in China routinely face when trying to raise these issues in the UN. He shared his own experiences of repeated harassment by Chinese officials and attempts to stop him from speaking at the UN and other international forums.
The United Nations, especially the Human Rights Council, is meant to be a place of inclusion, where the voices of the oppressed are heard, human rights are the utmost priority and states are held to account. Sadly, it increasingly seems like we are moving further away from this ideal to a UN where only the strong have a voice and can use their power and influence to silence the vulnerable.
The side-event endeavored to address this issue by focusing on the positive steps that the UN and its member states have taken and might take to ensure that a range of voices and perspectives are heard at the UN, and on what resources are available to groups to inform and strengthen themselves.
Watch a clip of Dolkun’s speech at the side-event here:
https://www.facebook.com/uyghurcongress/videos/vb.205248562843309/1636688273032657/?type=2&theater