NEWS

WUC Condems World Muslim Communities Council Support of Chinese Government Genocide
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has strongly condemned the World Muslim Communities Council (WMCC) visit to East Turkistan and its support of the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghur people. On 8-9 January, a WMCC delegation consisting of more than 30 Islamic figures and scholars from 14 countries participated in a Chinese government-organised propaganda visit to East Turkistan. In a statement following the visit, WMCC Chairman Ali Rashid Abudula Ali Alnuaimi congratulated the Chinese government on “the completion of the counter-terrorism plan in Xinjiang” and praised “the interest and determination of the Chinese leadership to serve all people in the region”.

“It is outrageous that the WMCC has participated in this propaganda visit and is now echoing the Chinese government’s narrative”, WUC President Dolkun Isa said. “The WMCC is betraying millions of their Muslim brothers and sisters who have been suffering at the hands of the Chinese government, and is acting in direct contradiction of its own Basic Charter”.

Ethnic Kazakh In East Turkistan Sends ‘Extremely Rare’ SOS In Bid To Escape Arrest
On January 6th, Radio Free Asia reported that Zhanargul Zhumatai, an ethnic Kazakh journalist and musician residing in Urumchi, East Turkistan, has been sounding the alarm about the pressure she is under from local security services. She said they have told her she faces arrest for communicating with a well-known Kazakh activist who lives in the United States but can “save herself” if she signs into a psychiatric hospital. Now she is hoping that the international community will support her in her bid to travel to Kazakhstan, where she has residency rights and once worked for government-funded media.

“If I disappear or if I die, I want the world to hold them responsible,” Zhumatai told Danish academic and East Turkistan expert Rune Steenberg in an international phone call on January 2.

Japan and U.S. Launch Task Force on Rights and Labour Standards in Supply Chains
On January 7th, the Japan Times reported that the United States and Japan have launched a task force to promote human rights and international labour standards in supply chains, amid shared concerns about the prevalence of Uyghur forced labour in global supply chains, and said they would invite other governments to join the initiative.

The two sides also signed an updated memorandum of cooperation on cybersecurity to strengthen operational collaboration and hosted a roundtable with Japanese business representatives on upholding human rights and preventing use of forced labour in supply chains, according to a U.S. statement.

US Detains Red Date Shipment from East Turkistan, Following UHRP Research
On January 5th, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted an update on how it is implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which bans all goods produced entirely or in part in East Turkistan over forced labour concerns. As part of this update on UFLPA enforcement, the CBP announced that it has detained shipments of red dates produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) after customs officials had identified the products entering the U.S. market. These actions are a response to research findings by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (URHP), which found that red dates produced by the XPCC were being sold in the U.S..

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Support Uyghurs’ Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity Case in Argentina
The World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project have launched a criminal case in the courts of Argentina in relation to the international crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity being committed against the Uyghur people. Please donate and be a part of this historical case.

Ask Volkswagen to Close its Plant in East Turkistan
Despite growing evidence of the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs, Volkswagen continues to operate in East Turkistan. The World Uyghur Congress is collecting signatures to demand Volkswagen to close down its plant in Urumqi. Please sign here.