Below is an article published by Coda Story. Photo:AFP.
When Xinjiang camp survivor Erbakit Otarbay, from Kazakhstan, decided to give evidence at London’s Uyghur Tribunal earlier this week, he felt proud of himself. Here was a chance to be a witness at an independent hearing that sought to investigate the human rights crisis in the northwest of China. Before a panel of judges, he would be able to recount the horrors he experienced in government-run detention centers between 2017 and 2018, after visiting family in Xinjiang.
Below is an article published by Reuters. Photo:REUTERS/Denis Balibouse.
A U.S.-backed Uyghur photo exhibit of dozens of people who are missing or alleged to be held in Chinese-run camps in Xinjiang, China opened in Switzerland on Thursday amid high tensions over human rights between Beijing and Washington.
Below is an article published by Radio Free Asia. Photo courtesy of Kalbinur Gheni.
A Uyghur woman who met with a U.S. official in December to discuss the imprisonment of her sister by authorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region has been pressured to stop speaking out about her siblings, while her relatives have been subjected to frequent questioning by police in their hometown.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has in the past few years attempted to legislate away religious freedom by passing laws forcing Sinicization and regulating religious leadership, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a report published on Monday last week.
Police in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region took in for questioning more than 170 Uyghurs who attended prayer services without permission from authorities during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holy days, a senior police officer said.
IRF Summit and WUC’s Side Event: China’s Criminalization of Islam in East Turkistan: The Policy Agenda
From July 13th – July 15th , the 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit took place in Washington D.C.; the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) was one of its supporting partners. On the 14th of July, WUC, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), and Uyghur American Association (UAA) organized a side event titled “China’s Criminalization of Islam in East Turkistan: The Policy Agenda” that discussed China’s persecution of Uyghurs and the criminalization of religious practice, as well as current and proposed actions to respond to the crisis. UAA’s Kalbinur Gheni testified on her experience with family members detained; Dolkun Isa, WUC President, in a video message provided personal testimony and highlighted proposed actions in the EU; finally, UHRP’s Peter Irwin discussed the organization’s report, Islam Dispossessed,which describes the detention and persecution of Uyghur imams.
Join the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), Uyghur American Association (UAA), and World Uyghur Congress (WUC) for a presentation of new evidence of China’s persecution of Uyghurs and the criminalization of religious practice, as well as discussion of current and proposed actions to respond to the crisis.
Kalbinur Gheni, Uyghur advocate and UAA member, will provide testimony on her experience with family members detained for religious practice; Elfidar Iltebir, Uyghur advocate and UAA Board Member will speak about the work of UAA in the U.S.; Dolkun Isa, WUC President, will provide personal testimony and actions in Europe; Ataullah Şahyar, President of the East Turkistan Ulema Council, will provide personal testimony on his experience of repression as a religious leader in the Uyghur homeland; and Peter Irwin will discuss a new UHRP report, Islam Dispossessed—featured by the BBC—which exposes the detention and persecution of Uyghur imams.
Opening remarks will be provided by Ambassador Samuel Brownback, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, Rep. Michael McCaul, and UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat.
