Press Release– For immediate release
9 November 2020
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

While thanking the Trump Administration’s firm policy response to the atrocities in East Turkistan, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) congratulates Joe Biden for winning the Presidential Elections of the United States of America (U.S.). The WUC recognizes the importance of free and democratic elections, particularly given the fact that Uyghurs are denied political and socio-economic rights in their home country. The WUC appreciates President-elect Biden recognizing CCP crimes against Uyghurs as genocide early on and publicly speaking out during his presidential campaign against the collective punishment against the Uyghur people. WUC hopes that the new Administration will make the Uyghur genocide a priority in its agenda, and will continue to build on the work of the previous administration, which has worked to advance Uyghur human rights on both the national and international scenes.

The WUC recognizes the major developments in regards to Uyghur human rights under the Trump Administration, such as the signing into law of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act 2020, the multiple and ongoing efforts to hold Chinese officials accountable for their crimes against the Uyghurs through a Global Sanctions Regime, as well as taking the first necessary steps to prevent U.S. brands from being complicit in Uyghur forced labor. The WUC urges the President-elect to ensure that his Administration implements concrete measures to address the atrocious crimes against the Uyghur people. Moreover, the WUC expresses its hope that the U.S. will rejoin the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) under the Biden Presidency; its withdrawal has played an important role in allowing China to use the world’s main human rights body to avoid any scrutiny of its horrific human rights record.

Regardless of which President is in the White House, the Uyghur issue must not go unnoticed. The main powers in the international community, which include the U.S., share a major responsibility to address these egregious crimes, wherever they may occur. Over the past three years, the situation in East Turkistan has deteriorated rapidly, with 1.8 to 3 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims being detained in internment camps, where they are subjected to various forms of extreme maltreatment, including torture, sexual abuse, and other forms of ill-treatment. Moreover, the Chinese authorities have implemented a large-scale scheme of forced labor, moving tens of thousands of Uyghur into factories in both East Turkistan and other Chinese provinces, where they are forced to work for little or no payment. Finally, the Chinese government has implemented a targeted campaign to suppress Uyghur birthrates, subjecting Uyghur women to abortions, and forced sterilizations. Taken together, China’s crimes against the Uyghur people meet the criteria of genocide under the UN Genocide Convention.

The mounting evidence of the severe suffering of Uyghurs underlines the urgency for meaningful action to be taken. In light of this, the WUC urges the U.S. and the upcoming Biden Administration to meaningfully address the Uyghur genocide, both domestically as well as through multilateral cooperation with actors such as the European Union and the United Nations.

The WUC President said: ”The Biden administration will have the chance to show that the U.S. continues to take international human rights seriously, and is willing to cooperate with the international community, to hold the Chinese government accountable and put an end to the ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people. We also encourage the President-elect Joe Biden to work with Uyghur organizations and hear the voices and needs of the affected community.”