Press Release – For immediate release
18 January 2019
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is deeply concerned by reports that more than 45 contributers for Bitter Winter have been arrested or have disappeared in China since August 2018. Bitter Winter is a magazine published by CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, headquartered in Torino, Italy, which focuses on issues of human rights and religious freedom in China. These reporters had risked their lives to report on and raise awareness of numerous human rights violations and suppression of religious freedom across China. The WUC is very concerned for their safety and calls for their immediately release.

The reporters were arrested, interrogated and charged with espionage by the Chinese government for reporting on the real situation in China, including on the internment camp system in China. Since April 2017, over 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic peoples have been rounded by Chinese authorities and arbitrarily detained in these camps, where they are subjected to serious human rights violations including torture and forced indoctrination. Some of the Bitter Winter reporters have been reportedly sent to internment camps themselves to undergo forced indoctrination, or have been subjected to torture and other forms of abuse.

Their excellent reporting has shined a light on the persecution of Uyghurs, Christians, Tibetans and other groups in China. Their reporting has contributed greatly to the collective understanding of the rapidly deteriorating situation and has provided important evidence of China’s serious human rights violations and persecution of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious groups.

In particular, Bitter Winter reporters have published crucial information about the internment camps and persecution of Uyghurs in East Turkistan. In November 2018, Bitter Winter published one of the only confirmed videos inside one of the camps. The video shows the camps resembling a large prison, where detainees are kept in overcrowded cells and monitored by security cameras. This video, amongst a number of other important articles, have provided clear evidence refuting China’s portrayal of the camps as ‘vocation training centres’. The reporter who captured the video has since been disappeared.

In this way, China continues to attempt to silence voices with the courage to reveal the truth about what is happening in the country. We must not forget about those who dare to seek the truth and we urge the international community to loudly call on the Chinese government to release these reporters and respect freedom of the press.

While the Chinese government consistently misrepresents conditions on the ground in East Turkistan, reporting from Bitter Winter has given the world a glimpse at horrific persecution of ethnic and religious groups. Their efforts are greatly appreciated by the WUC and the wider Uyghur community. These courageous individuals risked their lives and well-being to inform the world about what is happening inside China.

As the Chinese government holds absolute control over information entering and leaving the country, the role of the press has become even more crucial. The WUC stands in solidarity with the detained reporters and calls for their immediate release.