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Weekly Brief January 4

Weekly Brief January 4

World Uyghur Congress, 4 January 2019

Pressure Growing for the Muslim World to Speak Out on Uyghur Human Rights Crisis

Last week on behalf of the Uyghurs in East Turkistan as well as the Uyghur diaspora, the World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa urgently appealed to the Muslim world, and leaders of Muslim-majority countries in particular, to finally end their long silence on the horrific persecution of Uyghurs. Thus far, the response of the Muslim world to the current crisis in East Turkistan has been incredibly disappointing. While Western states are increasingly active on the issue and have been publicly speaking out about the issue, Muslim-majority states have largely been indifferent or have completely ignored the situation.

The WUC notes that Muslim leaders seem to have a double standard with China. They raise the issues of Islamophobia and the persecution of Muslims in other situations, but remain shamefully silent when it comes to China. These countries have a moral responsibility to speak out against suffering of the Uyghur people, or at the very least to not be complicit in it. The WUC appeals to the Muslim world to stop putting Chinese money, investment and influence over human lives. The current silence of Muslim leaders contradicts the core values and principles of Islam.

Mr. Isa called for an end this hypocrisy and for these leaders to hold China accountable. These leaders cannot claim to be defenders of Muslims if they let money prevent them from speaking about one of the most serious instances of religious persecution of Muslims in the world.

China Trying to Hide Evidence of Internment Camps in Advance of Anticipated Investigation

Last year in mid December, Radio Free Asia reported that the Chinese authorities are preparing the internment camp in Awat county in East Turkistan ahead of possible international inspection.

Numerous reports are emerging of detainees being transferred to other facilities and being forced to sign ‘confidentiality agreements’ that would would not speak about the circumstances of their detention.

A confidentiality agreement for prisoners detained at a facility located in Awat County was obtained by The Epoch Times and they reported that this agreement, written in the Uyghur Arabic alphabet, says that prisoners must not “reveal the study, life, number of people, and internal workings of the training centers,” or they will be held accountable “according to the relevant laws and regulations of our country.” According to the Epoch Times Chinese language report in early September, Chinese police officers in Awat country have signed confidentiality agreements to not reveal that they are transporting Uyghurs elsewhere.

In October Radio Free Asia reported that as many as 300,000 Uyghurs have been secretly transferred to prisons in Heilongjiang province and other parts of China from East Turkistan since relocations began at the beginning of 2018.

The Chinese government has rejected or evaded multiple calls for independent investigators to be sent to East Turkistan in the past few months to look into China’s serious human rights violations occurring, especially the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in camps. The Chinese government first denied a request by the German government to send a delegation to investigate the serious human rights violations occurring in the camps in advance of the Germany-China bilateral Human Rights Dialogue. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also stated that the UN has been seeking to send independent investigators to EastTurkistan to look into the internment camps.

Report Indicates Massive Overcrowding in Internment Camps

According to a Bitter Winter report, so many Uyghurs have been detained in internment camps in East Turkistan that the facilities are massively overcrowded and  Chinese authorities appear to have trouble attracting enough prison guards to run the camps.

A local source told Bitter Winter that reports that so many people have been detained that rooms in the camps meant to detain 10 people are now holding 30 people and there is not even enough room to turn over when sleeping. The report also states that the Chinese government have launched another recruitment campaign for prison guards and security personnel. This indicates that more and more Uyghurs are being arbitrarily detained in these camps, with almost nobody being released.

Society For Threatened Peoples Demands That China to Close The Camps

In an open letter, the Society For Threatened People demanded that China close the internment camps in East Turkistan arbitrarily detaining over a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic muslim groups under the fake banner of counter terrorism measures.

Using the World Uyghur Congress president Dolkun Isa mother’s case as an example, the letter references the torture and brainwashing victims endure on daily basis. Mr. Isa’s 78 year old mother died in one of those internment camps despite Mr.Isa had not been in contact with her for years to protect her from it.

Despite the threats they have received from the Chinese government in their supporting role for the Uyghur human rights advocacy and the president of the World Uyghur Congress Dolkun Isa, the Society For Threatened Peoples stated that they will continue to work with Mr. Isa and will not keep their mouth shut about China’s crimes against humanity. The WUC thanks them for their enduring support and commitment to human rights.

Forced Labour and Arbitrary Detention in East Turkistan

Radio Free Asia recently reported that businesses in East Turkistan are exploiting the internment camp system where they are forcing detainees to work extra long hours with little to no pay, in addition to their indoctrination sessions.

In the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in East Turkistan, nine Kazakh women from Yining county were recently sent back to a internment camp after they refused to sign a labor contract. Recently several US companies, such as Badger Sports, have been criticised for purchasing products made using forced labor in the camps. The company has since stated it will halt any further purchases of products made through forced labor and the US government has launched an investigation into the role of US companies in the crisis.

Well-Known Uyghur Comedian Disappears

Adil Mijit, 54, a well known Uyghur comedian in East Turkistan, has been missing since early November last year. His family, who are living in Turkey, are worried for his safety fearing that Mijit is in an internment camps where his fellow countryman have been locked up since early 2017.

When Adil Mijit visited his daughter and son-in-law in Istanbul in 2017, they begged him to stay there as a number of the Uyghurs Muslim comedian’s friends and colleagues had disappeared, and they worried he could be next. However Mijit refused and chose to return home.

Two weeks before he went missing, he underwent heart surgery, and his daughter told Adile told Radio Free Asia that she’s worried about his health.