Press Release: 50 Uyghur Groups Urge Heads of State to Condemn Uyghur Genocide during Xi Jinping visit to Saudi Arabia
Press Release – For Immediate Release
08 December 2022
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]
A group of 50 Uyghur organizations from 20 countries is urging heads of states and leaders of international organizations that are meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Saudi Arabia to condemn the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs, and call for an end to the ongoing genocide. On the same occasion, the WUC urges the Saudi authorities to release the four Uyghurs detained in Saudi Arabia for nearly a year. Their extradition to China would be in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
Xi Jinping is currently on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, which also includes several summits, including the “Saudi-China”, “Golf-China” and “Arab-China” summits, bringing together more than 30 heads of states and leaders of international organisations.
“Those who are meeting Xi Jinping in Saudi Arabia should be aware that they are meeting with the leader of a regime responsible for a genocide against Uyghur muslims”, WUC President, Dolkun Isa, stated. “Especially those heads of muslim-majority states must urgently break their silence on the Uyghur genocide. It is their religious responsibility to protect Islamic values.”
On various occasions, Uyghur organizations have expressed their great disappointment over the silence of muslim-majority countries on the Uyghur genocide, which has involved the arbitrary detainment of millions of Uyghurs in concentration camps, where they are forced to renounce their religious beliefs and practices. Furthermore, thousands of mosques, shrines, graveyards and other sites of religious significance in East Turkistan have been destroyed or damaged. Furthermore, several religious practices have been forbidden in East Turkistan. For example, Uyghurs cannot give Islamic names to their children, fast during Ramadan, and have been forced to eat pork and drink alcohol.
In October, at the UN Human Rights Council, many muslim-majority countries voted against or abstained on a resolution that sought to debate the assessment of the Office of the High Representative for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the situation in East Turkistan. The failure of these countries to allow a space for debate at the Human Rights Council, a body which was created to do exactly that, contradicts the core values and principles of Islam.
As Xi Jinping visits Saudi Arabia, our organizations are reminding the leaders of the global Ummah of their existing duty to protect other Muslims and thus to address and condemn the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people. Failing to do so would be an egregious betrayal of the shared Islamic values of the global Ummah. The WUC calls on world leaders to urge Saudi authorities not to repatriate the four Uyghurs back to China.
Signed:
- Australian Uyghur Association
- Alberta Uyghur Association
- Austria Uyghur Association
- Belgium Uyghur Association
- Campaign for Uyghurs
- Center for Uyghur Studies
- Dutch Uyghur Human Rights Foundation
- Darul Iman Association
- East Turkistan Association of Canada
- East Turkistan Federation
- East Turkistan Science and Enlightenment Foundation
- Eastern Turkistan Foundation
- East Turkistan People’s Unity Association
- East Turkistan Union in Europe
- East Turkestan Union of Muslim Scholars
- Finnish Uyghur Culture Center
- Ili Mashrap Foundation
- Institute of China Studies
- International Pen Uyghur Center
- Isa Yusup Alptekin Foundation
- Japan Uyghur Association
- Justice 4 Uyghurs
- Knowledge and Service Solidarity and Cooperation Association
- Norwegian Uyghur Committee
- Sweden Uyghur Union
- Swiss Uyghur Association
- Taklamakan Uyghur Publish House
- Uighur Society “Ittipak” of the Kyrgyz Republic
- Uyghur Academy Australia
- Uyghur Academy Canada
- Uyghur Academy Europe
- Uyghur Academy Foundation
- Uyghur Academy Japan
- Uyghur Academy USA
- Uyghur Center for Human Rights and Democracy
- Uyghur Cultural and Education Union in Germany
- Uyghur Human Rights Project
- Uyghur PEN Center
- Uyghur Projects Foundation
- Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
- Uyghur Refugee Relief Fund
- Uyghur Research Institute
- Uyghur Science and Civilization Research Foundation
- Uyghur Science and Education Foundation
- Uyghur Transitional Justice Database
- Uyghur U.K. Association
- Uyghur Youth Union in Kazakhstan
- Victoria Uyghur Association
- World Uyghur Congress Foundation
- World Uyghur Congress