Press Release – For immediate release
08 February 2023
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

On the sidelines of the 73rd session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Uigurischer Verein Schweiz and Society for Threatened People Switzerland are holding a Rally in front of Palais Wilson in Geneva on February 15 from 9:30-13:00 to call on the United Nations to hold China accountable for its Genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples. During its 73rd Session, CESCR will review China’s report as well as civil society submissions. Ahead of the review, the WUC jointly with the Boston University School of Law submitted a report to CESCR highlighting China’s genocidal policies and providing recommendations to ensure China complies with the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Furthermore, the WUC will in cooperation with the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, show the Photo Exhibition “The Xinjiang Police Files: The Faces of the Uyghur Genocide” in front of the Palais Wilson in Geneva from February 14-16.

We kindly would like to invite you to interview the following activists in Geneva:

– Dolkun Isa, WUC President (in Geneva February 14-16 (English)):
Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress since 2017, has dedicated his life to defending the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the Uyghur people. He is the former student-leader of the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1988. Because of his activism, he had to flee to Germany in 1996, where he has been advocating for the rights of the Uyghurs. In exile, he is still subject to reprisals by the Chinese government.

– Qelbinur Sidik, Camp Survivor (in Geneva February 13-16 (translation available to English, German and French)):
Qelbinur Sidik was a Chinese language teacher in East Turkistan/Xinjiang. In 2017 she was taken to an internment camp to teach mandarin to Uyghur detainees. Quelbinur witnessed torture, sexual abuse and violence against Uyghurs inside the internment camps. She gave a statement at the Uyhur Tribunal in London. Since 2019 she has been living in the Netherlands.

– Enfili Memetkerim, President Uigurischer Verein Schweiz (in Geneva February 15 (German)):
Enfili Memetkerim is a Swiss-Uyghur activist and one of the founders of the Uigurischer Verein Schweiz. As the President of this Organisation, he is raising awareness of the severe human rights violations against the Uyghurs and engages with different political bodies in Switzerland.

– Zumretay Arkin, WUC Program and Advocacy Manager (in Geneva February 12-16 (English, French)):
Zumretay Arkin is a Canadian-Uyghur activist, who has been leading successful grassroots campaigns, such as the Olympics campaign and the forced labour campaign against international brands. She engages with different UN treaty bodies, special procedures, the office of the High Commissioner, diplomatic missions, and civil society organisations.

Contact:
Erkin Zunun (Chief Coordinator) +49 176 32985543