World Uyghur Congress, 12 July 2019

Unprecedented Coalition of Countries Opposes China’s Atrocities Against Uyghurs at UN

On July 10, a group of 22 UN Human Rights Council member states, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia, addressed a letter to the Council President and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to stop the “large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghurs” and to end the severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. The group of states further urged China to uphold national laws and international obligations and to allow independent experts “meaningful access” to the Uyghur region.

President of Slovakia Calls Chinese Foreign Minister out on Human Rights Abuses

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova “expressed concerns and worries about the worsening state of human rights in China” during the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Bratislava on 10 July. The Slovak leader stressed particularly her country’s concerns about the arbitrary incarceration of millions of Muslims and the “widespread crackdown on religious institutions in recent years”.

Destruction of Religious Symbols Reaches Private Homes

Residents throughout East Turkistan have been ordered by the Chinese authorities to remove architectural features from their private homes called mihrabs, which are domed niches that denote the direction in which Mecca lies. The CCP presented this measure as part of its campaign to fight “religious extremism”. Officials in Kashgar and Hotan prefectures were quoted as stating that “Muslims are being made to carve out the domed shape of mihrabs, or to fill them in completely, lest they face punishment that could include detention in an internment camp”.