Malaysiakini, 16 September 2018

By Ömer Kanat – China is conducting one of the largest mass internment campaigns known to history.

Journalists, academics, and activists have brought to light the extent of the human rights violations in East Turkestan (formally known as Xinjiang), including deaths in custody, torture, and systemic political indoctrination.

Legislators and officials from the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union have publicly called on China to end the repression. US Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Chris Smith have called for sanctions against Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, under the provisions of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

However, governments and civil society in Muslim-majority states remain largely silent. Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia, among others, have kept quiet as fellow Muslims in East Turkestan undergo the systemic eradication of their religious and ethnic identities.

Little can be expected from some of these governments given the kinds of human rights violations perpetrated against their own people; nevertheless, these administrations do speak out on occasion, as in the appalling case of the Rohingya. Uyghurs were encouraged by this stand and believed that over time they too would receive support.

The silence of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which describes itself as the “collective voice of the Muslim world,” is particularly disappointing. Let us be clear. What is happening in East Turkestan has nothing to with controlling Islamic extremism, as the Chinese authorities claim. It is an all-out war against a Muslim people.

At one time, the OIC declared the need to protect Uyghurs in China. In the aftermath of the 2009 unrest in Urumchi, the OIC issued a diplomatically worded statement asking China to confront some of the root causes of tension in the region.

Since then, the OIC has pivoted to promoting the economic opportunities of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative….

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