Responsive Image

Weekly Brief – 05 February 2021

Weekly Brief – 05 February 2021

NEWS

BBC Report Reveals Systematic Rape, Sexual Abuse, and Torture in the Camps
On February 3rd, a new report by BBC revealed the harrowing reality for Uyghur women in China’s internment camps. Former detainees describe systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture. Gulzira Auelkhan, who was detained for 18 months in a camp, said that she had to handcuff Uyghur and Kazakh women and undress them before leaving them alone with Chinese men.  Another former camp detainee, Tursunay Ziawudun, was subjected to torture and later gang-raped on three occasions. Some women never returned back after they were taken away from their cells at night.

In the camps, women also were forced to undergo unexplained medical tests and to take pills injections. Furthermore, women were fitted with IUDs or sterilised. These measures are all part of the birth control policy established by the Chinese authorities to suppress the birth rate of the Uyghur population in East Turkistan. 

The U.S., Canada and the U.K. have already clearly condemned the mass rape and sexual abuses of Uyghur and Kazakh women. Furthermore, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) has called in an open letter on governments to pursue urgent investigations into allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity in the region. Giving the mounting evidence of the Chinese government committing genocide in East Turkistan, the international community has to make a legal determination on the situation and take appropriate action, including UN member states to call for an independent monitoring mechanism of human rights in China.

UHRP Report Analyses China’s Proof-of-Life Videos
On February 2nd, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) issued a new report on China’s proof-of-life videos of Uyghur individuals and families. In its report, UHRP identifies and analyzes observable patterns in state-produced portrayals of missing Uyghurs.The Chinese authorities are using these videos to silence Uyghurs living abroad and to create a counter-narrative. Many Uyghurs in the diaspora have remained silent on the severe human rights violations in their home country, because they feared draconic punishments for their families.   

Coalition of 180 Activists and Organisations Calls for Diplomatic Boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games
The WUC has joined over 180 rights groups and activists calling in a joint letter on governments to commit to a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Winter games in Beijing in 2022. Activists warn anything less will be an endorsement of China’s blatant disregard for civil and human rights. With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) completely failing to take action despite clear evidence of genocide and widespread worsening human rights failures the coalition states that “it now falls on governments to demonstrate that they have the political will to push back against the Chinese government’s reprehensible human rights abuses.”

WUC Program Manager, Zumretay Arkin, stated that “the Winter Games 2022 being awarded to China was a slap on the face of every Uyghur, Tibetan, Southern Mongolian, Hong Konger, Taiwanese, and Chinese democracy activists. Our sufferings were completely dismissed by the IOC. It’s now up to the governments to act on it, and show some decent humanity by boycotting a genocide Olympics.’’

Additionally, the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour calls in a statement “for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to articulate its human rights due diligence plan this month, in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics—one year ahead of the start of the Games”.

New Genocide Amendment Passes the House of Lords
A revised version of the Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill has passed the UK House of Lords with an overwhelming majority of 359 to 188. After the first version narrowly got defeated in the House of Commons, a cross-party alliance of MPs as well as many civil society and religious groups submitted a revised amendment. A successful adopted amendment to the UK Trade Bill would require the UK government to reconsider any trade deal with a country found by the high court to be committing genocide. For Uyghurs, this would been an important opportunity for a legal determination on whether China’s actions constitute a genocide. 

Uyghur Tribunal announced its First Hearing Dates
On January 4th, the Uyghur Tribunal announced that its eight-member panel has been finalized and that it will hold its first public hearing in May 2021. The independent Tribunal will consider whether the crimes against Uyghurs and Kazakhs commited by the Chinese government constitute a genocide according to the UN Genocide Convention. With the second set of hearings scheduled for September, the Uyghur Tribunal is aiming to deliver its judgement by the end of 2021.

24 Commemorative Day of the Ghulja Massacre 24th Anniversary
On the 24th anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) remembered the victims of the incident where hundreds of Uyghurs were arrested, wounded or killed during a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters by Chinese security forces. The event has proven to be a significant precedent for the further brutal repression which by now has culminated into a full-scale genocide against the Uyghur people by the Chinese government. To commemorate this day, global protest actions will take place today in Munich, Ankara, Istanbul, Adelaide and other cities to call on the international community to take concrete action to stop the genocide in East Turkistan. 

“The Ghulja massacre set an important precedent for the brutal crackdown on any form of dissent or any opinion that does not align with the CCP’s narrative”, WUC President Dolkun Isa said. “The events in 1997 highlighted that the Chinese government does not allow the Uyghurs’ legitimate grievances to be expressed, and its measures to silence the Uyghur people have only become more extreme since then. This has now evolved into an attempt to eradicate the Uyghur people as a whole, and silence them forever”.