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PRESS RELEASE: WORLD UYGHUR CONGRESS COMMEMORATES VICTIMS OF BAREN UPRISING

<strong>PRESS RELEASE: WORLD UYGHUR CONGRESS COMMEMORATES VICTIMS OF BAREN UPRISING</strong>

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

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) commemorates the 33rd anniversary of the Baren Uprising, and the many Uyghur victims who perished under the Chinese government’s brutal repression. It is estimated that during and after the events in Akto County, Kizilsu Kirghiz Prefecture, from April 5 to 10, 1990, as many as three thousand Uyghurs died from police brutality and violent repression.

“The world should not forget the lessons of the Baren Uprising”, WUC President, Dolkun Isa, said. “33 years ago, the Chinese government already showed a glimpse of its intentions in East Turkistan, which has now come to fruition with the ongoing genocide. The international community must act, before it is too late.”

On the first day of the Baren Uprising, on April 5th 1990, around 200 Uyghur men gathered and marched to the local government office in Akto County, where they demanded greater representation and raised their voices against the significantly growing number of Han-Chinese migrants into East Turkistan. They also spoke out against the wider repression against the Uyghur people in East Turkistan in the political, religious, and cultural spheres.

On April 6th, the Chinese authorities reportedly dispatched well over 18,000 Chinese troops to crack down on the protests, even though the population of Baren at the time numbered only 19,000. In the days that followed, the demonstrations would be brutally suppressed, resulting in the deaths of an estimated two to three thousand Uyghurs. The Baren Uprising was one of the earliest expressions of growing resentment within Uyghur society in the 1990s over the increasing repression from the Chinese authorities. Similarly, the Chinese government’s violent crackdown of the protests would signal a wider escalation in the violence against the Uygur people. Subsequent demonstrations in the 1990s would also be brutally dispersed by the Chinese authorities, leading to thousands more Uyghur deaths.

In the decades that followed, these violent outbursts from the Chinese government would prove to be the catalyst for growing repressive policies, leading to the crimes against humanity and genocide we are witnessing today. The violent suppression of the Baren Uprising signalled how the Chinese government under no circumstances tolerates any dissenting voices and peaceful demonstrations. Since then, Beijing would intensify its crackdown on protest movements and the right to freedom of speech and expression.

In April 1990, the international community did not respond to the events in Akto County, and made no efforts towards accountability measures. Now that the persecution has escalated into crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghur people, the international community can not make the same mistakes again. Meaningful action to stop these atrocities is now more needed than ever, and will be the only proper way of commemorating the victims of the Baren Uprising and subsequent violence from the Chinese government.