PRESS RELEASE: Uyghur Delegates Elect New WUC Leadership at 8th General Assembly
Press Release – For Immediate Release
30 October 2024
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]
From October 24-27, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) successfully held its 8th General Assembly in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The General Assembly was preceded by an international conference on October 25 titled From the Bosnian to the Uyghur Genocide: Lessons Learned, which focused on various thematic topics, including atrocity crimes, transitional justice, international accountability, genocide denial, transnational repression, and solidarity building.
On October 26, elections for the new WUC leadership took place, with Uyghur delegates from over 27 countries exercising their democratic right to vote through an online platform. The WUC delegates voted on the presidency, committees, and executive board positions. 176 delegates from 27 countries elected 34 members to the WUC new leadership.
”This democratic process was an incredibly important moment for the Uyghur diaspora community. It was also a clear message to Beijing that no threats will stop us from exercising our fundamental rights,” said the newly elected President, Mr. Turgunjan Alawdun. ”We need the continued support of the international community to preserve our democratic processes.”
Ahead of the elections, the outgoing WUC leadership and its committees presented a report on the organisation’s activities from 2021 to 2024. Following confirmation of the election results, the General Assembly hosted internal meetings on October 27 for the elected leadership to plan and strategize the organisation’s priorities and activities for the next three years. During these meetings, the elected candidates also formed committees and outlined committee plans.
The new leadership and the delegates reviewed the existing by-laws and voted for the adoption of a new article (article 17) which includes a code of conduct paired with stronger reporting mechanisms. This is applicable to all elected delegates of the World Uyghur Congress.
To ensure that the General Assembly upheld the highest democratic standards, the election processes were overseen by four international, independent election observers, who monitored the work of the election administrator. The Election Committee report can be found here.
The newly elected President is Turgunjan Alawdun (Germany), the three vice presidents are Zumretay Arkin (Germany), Abdureshit Abdulhamit (Türkiye) and Arkin Akhmetov (Kazakhstan), and the Executive Committee Chair is Rushan Abbas (USA). For the rest of the elected candidates, please consult our 8th General Assembly page.