Weekly Brief August 31st
World Uyghur Congress, 31 August 2018
UN Committee to End Racial Discrimination Critical of China’s Treatment of Uyghurs in Findings
The UN Committee to End Racial Discrimination (CERD) published its concluding observations on its review of China on 30 August 2018. The Committee’s initial review of China gained widespread coverage as the Chinese delegation was forced to answer questions from the committee members of its rampant racial and ethnic discrimination of Uyghurs, Tibetans and other ethnicities. The Committee also raised China’s arbitrary detention of over 1 million Uyghurs in political indoctrination camps and brought considerable attention to the issue.
The concluding observations continued the Committee’s questioning of the policies of the Chinese government, again highlighting the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in camps, the forced return and disappearance of Uyghur refugees, asylum seekers and students and the general persecution of Uyghurs. They brought renewed attention to the issue, with many media outlets reporting on the findings, including the Guardian and BBC.
Finally, it calls on China to China to reveal the number and whereabouts of all people in arbitrary detention in the past 5 years and calls for basic legal rights to be respected.
US Senators and Congressmen Write Joint Letter Urging US Government to Take Action on Uyghur Issue
A Group of 17 US Senators and Congressmen have written an official bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urging them to take urgent action on the mass arbitrary detention of over 1 million Uyghurs by using targeted sanction through the Global Magnitsky Act.
The use of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to apply targeted sanctions to those individuals and entities responsible for the conception and implementation of the camp system is an important first step to improve the situation of the Uyghur people.
The WUC sincerely thanks all 17 Senators and Congressmen, especially Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris H. Smith who have been strong voices urging action to be taken to close the political indoctrination camp.
We join them in urging Secretaries Pompeo and Mnunchin in taking this important and necessary step, which would constitute the first concrete action taken by a state to address the human rights crisis in East Turkistan.
China’s Disappearance of Uyghurs Highlighted on the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
Thursday, August 30th marked the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. On this day, we remember the countless Uyghurs and all those around the world who have been forcibly disappeared. This day is an important occasion to keep the victims of enforced disappearance in our collective memory and to continue to seek justice and accountability on their behalf.
The WUC took a number of initiatives to draw attention to the countless Uyghurs who have been forcibly disappeared. The WUC issued a press release and video on the day detailing the trend of enforced disappearances of Uyghurs and calling for the international community and the Chinese government to take action to stop this horrific practice. The WUC also published a number of profiles of Uyghurs who had disappeared into the camps to share their story and keep them in our collective memory. Finally, WUC Project Coordinator, Ryan Barry, was interviewed by Al Jazeera News about the enforced disappearance of Uyghurs.
On the same day, Omer Kanat, the Executive Chairman of the WUC was interviewed by PBS NewsHour and Rahima Mahmut by BBC NewsNight about the political indoctrination camps and the torture and mistreatment that Uyghurs are subjected to in them.
Another important, related development was the fact that UN Independent Experts for the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances sent an official General Allegation letter of allegation to the Chinese government expressing their concern at the very high number of enforced disappearances of Uyghurs, especially those held in political indoctrination camps, and asking the Chinese government to provide answers about their whereabouts and well-being.
The WGEID recognised that all those being held in the camps have effectively disappeared, as their whereabouts are rarely disclosed, they have no legal rights and protections, they have not been officially charged with any crime and China has still not even acknowledged the existence of the camps.
The General Allegation also notes over 300 Uyghurs refugees, asylum seekers & students have disappeared after being forcibly returned to China in the past 15 yrs. China has used enforced disappearance in a systematic and wide-scale manner to persecute Uyghurs
Mass Arbitrary Detention of Uyghurs Raised in Norway and Sweden
This week, the political indoctrination camps and Chinese persecution of Uyghurs were substantively raised in both Norway and Sweden. In Norway, the Norwegian Uyghur Committee wrote an editorial in the national newspaper calling on the Norwegian government to raise the camps and China’s persecution of Uyghurs when the Foreign Affairs Standing Committee conducts its country visit to China next week. The activism from NUK spurred a wider conversation about Norway’s position towards China and put pressure on the government to remain true to their core values and to human rights.
In Sweden, a report by Jojje Olssen for Amnesty Press was published. The report focused on China’s harassment of Uyghurs in Norway and how the political indoctrination camps have affected the Norwegian Uyghur community. Interviewees shared accounts of how their friends and family had gone missing after they applied for asylum in Sweden or refused to spy on behalf of the Chinese government.