EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Uyghur Linguistic Rights Under Assault: Uyghur Language & Cultural Rights In East Turkestan
World Uyghur Congress, 13 March 2018
Considering the deplorable situation in terms of Uyghur language rights and the recent ban on its use in education in Hotan prefecture in 2017, the World Uyghur Congress under the co-sponsorship of the Norwegian Uyghur Committee and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, and with support from the National Endowment for Democracy will hold a conference at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, on March 16th from 10:00-13:00.
The conference, Uyghur Linguistic Rights Under Assault: Uyghur Language & Cultural Rights In East Turkestan, will focus on the current situation faced by Uyghurs and the use of their mother tongue. For the past two decades, the Uyghur language has been under assault from the Chinese government as part of a larger cultural assimilationist project, ostensibly aimed at a supporting a robust system of ‘bilingual education’.
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On March 7th, the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project will convene a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. at 12:30 PM. The press conference will feature WUC President Dolkun Isa, who will discuss the recent announcement from INTERPOL that it had deleted the ‘red notice’ on his name after important work from the UK-based organisation, Fair Trials, showed the notice to be politically motivated and the Chinese allegations of criminality unsubstantiated.
On 26 February 2018, the World Uyghur Congress in cooperation with the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), the Uyghur American Association (UAA) and the Unrepresented Nations and peoples organisation (UNPO) will hold a conference in Washington D.C. entitled ‘Religious Freedom and Cultural Values Under Siege’. The event will be held in the U.S. Congress in the Canon House Office Building and will last from 10:30 – 12:30. This conference will bring together U.S. officials and policy makers, human rights activists, academics and representatives from the Uyghur diaspora to discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation in East Turkestan and what concrete steps can be taken to address the urgent situation there.