Responsive Image

WEEKLY BRIEF: 11 SEPTEMBER 2020

WEEKLY BRIEF: 11 SEPTEMBER 2020

 

World Uyghur Congress, 11 September 2020

NEWS

Disney Remake of Mulan Criticized over Filming in East Turkistan
On 7 September, the Guardian reported that Disney thanked in its new movie adaption of Mulan the Public Security Bureau in Turpan, which has been involved in the internment camps in East Turkistan, and the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee, the CCP’s propaganda department in East Turkistan. Several scenes of the new Mulan movie were shot in East Turkistan, where 1.8-3 Million Uyghurs are forced to live under draconic conditions in internment camps. 

Furthermore, the actor Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan, has been criticised for her public support of the Hong Kong police responsible for the violent crackdowns on pro-democratic protesters. 

Activists are calling to boycott the new Mulan movie for being filmed in a region a genocide is taking place. WUC is calling on Disney to make a public statement and to be transparent about its connection to the authorities in East Turkistan. 

British MPs Condemn Human Rights Abuses in East Turkistan
On 10 September, a group of 135 cross-party British members of parliament wrote to China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. In their joint letter to Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, the British MPs condemned the rights abuses in East Turkistan, and called for their immediate end. “When the world is presented with such overwhelming evidence of gross human rights abuses, nobody can turn a blind eye. We as Parliamentarians in the United Kingdom write to express our absolute condemnation of this oppression and call for it to end immediately”, the Parliamentarians said. In response to the joint letter, Rahima Mahmut, World Uyghur Congress representative in the United Kingdom, said that it carried a “profound significance”, as it “proves that the Uyghur issue has reached the highest levels of the U.K. Government”. Furthermore, Ms. Mahmut expressed her hope that more officials in the UK and abroad will “speak as well as act more on behalf of the Uyghur people in the future.”

WUC Joins Global Call for For Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms on China
On 09 September, the World Uyghur Congress joined over 300 organizations in an open letter led by Human Rights Watch to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, and UN Member States, calling for the establishment of an international mechanism to address the Chinese government’s serious human rights violations. The open letter also reiterated an earlier call by over 50 UN experts, who urged the UN for a Special Session of the Human Rights Council to evaluate the range of violations by China’s government, and to establish an impartial and independent UN mechanism on the topic. This includes the Uyghur crisis, which despite being one of the most serious human rights situations in the world and meeting the UN definition for genocide, has not been discussed or addressed by the UN in any meaningful way.

WUC Joins Coalition Urging the IOC to Reverse Olympics Decision
On 8 September, a coalition of Uyghur, Tibetan, Southern Mongolian, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese Democracy and human rights campaign groups delivered a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach, urging the Committee to reverse its mistake in awarding Beijing the honour of hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 2022. The letter was delivered ahead of the IOC Executive Board meeting on the 9th September. President of the WUC, Dolkun Isa, said: “ It is clear that holding the 2022 Olympics in Beijing whilst China carries out genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim people is not compatible with the IOC Charter. The IOC can no longer claim ignorance of China’s genocide against the Uyghur people. If the IOC allows China to host the 2022 Winter Games, it is willfully and intentionally abandoning the values and principles that underpin the Olympic Movement.”

United States Set to Ban Imports from East Turkistan over Forced Labour
According to the New York Times, the US administration is considering a ban on products made with cotton from East Turkistan, as a consequence of its gross human rights violations in the region. A central element of the Chinese government’s strategy to dominate the Uyghur people is a vast system of forced labour, affecting factories and farms across the region and China, both inside and beyond the internment camps. East Turkistan known for its high quality cotton accounts for 84% of the cotton produced by China and 20% of the global cotton production.  

The announcement comes shortly after petitions filed on August 28 by a group of human rights, labour and investor organizations urging CBP to issue a regional withhold release order (WRO) on all cotton-made goods linked to the Xinjiang region of China based on evidence of widespread forced labour. UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), along with the World Uyghur Congress, filed a companion petition with CBP based on a similar complaint filed with UK authorities earlier this year alleging widespread prison labour. UK law also prohibits the import of prison labour-made goods.

Apple Commits to Freedom of Speech after Criticism of China Censorship
After being criticised for years for its complicity with the Chinese government, Apple issued a human rights policy respecting “freedom of information and expression”. This decision comes after several human rights organizations have advocated to end Apple censorship in China, in the ‘’Stop Apple Censorship’’ campaign, that includes the World Uyghur Congress. 

In recent years, the Chinese authorities requested  frequently from Apple to remove apps from its China app store such as a mapping app and VPNs used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. VPNs not only allow access to information but they provide critical, safe communication channels for Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Chinese dissidents and human rights defenders working to secure basic rights and freedoms.

WUC Stands in Solidarity with Southern Mongolians Defending Language Rights
On 4 September, the WUC expressed in a press release its solidarity with Southern Mongolians, who have been protesting the CCP’s decision to replace Mongolian with Mandarin Chinese as the primary language of instruction in schools. In the past five years in East Turkistan, we have witnessed the implementation of a coordinated and systematic attack on the Uyghur identity.The attack on the Mongolian, Uyghur and Tibetan language language is part of a broader campaign of assimilation from the Chinese government. The WUC fears that if nothing changes, the younger generation of Uyghurs, Mongolians and Tibetans will be cut off from their mother-tongue and their culture. This would not only lead to a ‘sinification’ of these people, but the world would lose truly unique languages and cultures.

MEPs Calling in a Joint Letter on the EU to Address Human Rights Violations in East Turkistan
On September 10, MEPs urged the EU to stand up for their values and to “meaningfully address” the human rights crisis in East Turkistan and Hong Kong. The letter to the President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron was written by the four MEP’s Raphael Glucksmann,  Reinhard Butikofer, Engin Eroglu and Miriam Lexmann. The letter, which was signed by over 60 MEPs, is also calling for “targeted sanctions and asset freezes against Chinese officials responsible for policies violating human rights”.

PARTICIPATE

End Forced Labor in East Turkistan
Interested in advocating to end forced labor in East Turkistan? The Uyghur Human Rights Project and the Uyghur American Association are holding Virtual Lobby Days this month. Interested constituents across the U.S. are welcome. Please sign up here!

Join human rights groups on the first day of New York Fashion Week (Sunday 13 of September at  12) as part of an international series of catwalk demonstrations to bring awareness to the fashion industry’s role in human rights abuses and in Uyghur forced labor. Stay tuned here!

Image by Badiucao