World Uyghur Congress, 7 July 2020

NEWS

Advocacy Week in the German Parliament
From June 29 to July 2, the WUC met with members of the German Parliament to brief them on the latest developments, such as the report on forced sterilization and abortion on Uyghur women in East Turkistan, and to discuss what Germany can do. Since this week, Germany has held the Presidency in the EU Council and is also a Member of the UN Security Council as well as the human rights council. We thank the MPs we met for their important and encouraging support and hope that more MPs take the alarming developments in East Turkistan seriously and push the German government to take action. 

In Berlin, WUC President Dolkun Isa also gave an Interview to ARD and DW on the CCP’s mass sterilization and population control measures against the Uyghur people as detailed in Dr. Zenz‘s new report. “All the world promised never again, but never again is happening today to the Uyghur people,” he said in an interview with DW. 

11th Anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre
On July 5, 2020, the WUC commemorates the 11th anniversary of the Urumqi massacre in East Turkistan. From July 5-7, 2009, thousands of Uyghur protesters were killed, forcibly disappeared, or injured in a brutal response from the Chinese government to peaceful protests from mostly Uyghur students in Urumqi in response to China’s policies in the region. This proved to be a pivotal turning point in the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghur people. “We urge leaders and policymakers to find the courage and resolve to take concrete action. The legacy of the Urumqi massacre in 2009 shows what can happen if the world fails to act,” said Mr. Isa, President of the WUC. 

WUC and UHRP Hosted joint Panel 
On July 2, WUC and UHRP hosted a panel entitled “From Systematic Assimilation to Cultural Genocide” with Dr. Elise Anderson, Dr. Adrian Zenz, Dr. Timothy Grose, Ursula Gauthier, Dr. Rian Thum and Dr. Sophie Richardson. This panel shed a light on the events and legacy Urumqi Massacre of 2009, and served as a commemoration event for all those innocents that perished in the hands of a communist government. 

Lawyer for Uyghurs submitted communication to the UN
On July 1, Lawyers for Uyghur Rights submitted a communication to the UN Working group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises regarding Huawei Provision of 5G Infrastructure in the UK. 

Report on Mass Sterilization and Forced Abortion
A recent academic report from prominent scholar Adrian Zenz has provided concrete evidence of the CCP’s attempts to deprive the Uyghur people of a future through policies of mass sterilization and population control.

These horrific findings confirm witness testimony from camp survivors and previously unconfirmed rumors from Uyghurs in East Turkistan. The report demonstrates that these policies of population control targeted at the Uyghur people were issued directly from the Chinese government. It reveals a genocidal element of the CCP’s policies towards the Uyghur people as it tries to stop the continued existence of the Uyghur people. 

In regards to this new report on forced sterilization and abortion, 76 members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives called in a joint letter to the U.S. Administration seeking an “atrocity crime” determination and called for sanctions to be put on companies and individuals involved in the crimes against Uyghur people. “These human rights abuses demand a response from the United States as well as the international community because evidence strongly indicates that the Chinese government is internationally working to destroy and essentially wine out Uyghur families (….)”.

WUC President Dolkun Isa also spoke at a press conference with IPAC and Global ICRL in the Italian Senate on the CCP’s effort to diminish Uyghur birth rates. The new report was also addressed in the British Parliament. 

In an joint statement, the Chair, Mr Reinhard Bütikofer and Vice-Chair, Evelyne Gebhard of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China of the European Parliament, wrote “We are deeply shocked by the newest revelations about the Chinese Communist Party’s massive campaign to suppress Uyghur birth-rate in Xinjiang. The reports about forced sterilizations and abortions as well as severe sanctions against birth control violations are of an unprecedented atrocity and further corroborate the assessment that we may be witnessing the implementation of a genocide”.

Uyghur Hair Harvesting
On July 1, the Times reported that the federal authorities in New York stopped the shipment of 13 tons of human hair products worth $800,000 based on the suspicion that this hair has been taken from people in the internment camps in East Turkistan. Camp survivors have previously testified that the officials shaved their heads when they were detained.

Participate

WUC and UHRP host Panel 
In memory of the 11th anniversary of the Urumqi massacre, the WUC and UHRP will host a panel in Uyghur language on July 5. Please Register here!

Uyghur Solidarity Campaign Panel
Uyghur Solidarity Campaign Uk will host a panel entitled “Uyghurs’ struggle for freedom, on the 11th anniversary of the unrest and massacre in Urumqi” on July 5. Please register here!

The Uyghur Spirit Youth Conference
Please join the Uyghur Spirit Youth Conference on the topic “Success; What is success in Career, Faith, and Activism”, on July 3. Please register here!