NEWS 

IRF Summit and WUC’s Side Event: China’s Criminalization of Islam in East Turkistan: The Policy Agenda

From July 13th – July 15th , the 2021 International Religious Freedom Summit took place in Washington D.C.; the World Uyghur  Congress (WUC) was one of its supporting partners. On the 14th of July, WUC, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), and Uyghur American Association (UAA) organized a side event titled “China’s Criminalization of Islam in East Turkistan: The Policy Agenda” that discussed China’s persecution of Uyghurs and the criminalization of religious practice, as well as current and proposed actions to respond to the crisis. UAA’s Kalbinur Gheni testified on her experience with family members detained; Dolkun Isa, WUC President, in a video message provided personal testimony and highlighted proposed actions in the EU; finally, UHRP’s Peter Irwin discussed the organization’s report, Islam Dispossessed,which describes the detention and persecution of Uyghur imams.

EU & US Publish guidelines/updated advisory on (Uyghur Forced Labour)

The WUC has welcomed the U.S. Updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory, issued on July 13th by six Government departments, as an encouraging further step toward holding the Chinese Government accountable for the continued human rights abuses in East Turkistan. The Advisory included a forceful statement, which said that “[g]iven the severity and extent of these abuses, including widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance taking place amid ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, businesses and individuals that do not exit supply chains, ventures, and/or investments connected to Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating U.S. law.”

On the same day, the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) published a new Guidance on due diligence to help EU companies to address the risk of forced labour in their operations and supply chains. While welcoming the guidance, the WUC reiterated that more is needed to end Uyghur forced labour, such as guidance specific to the Uyghur Region, import bans on products from East Turkestan, in combination with mandatory human rights due diligence legislation, as well as supply chain transparency requirements.

U.S. Senate passes Bill to ban the import of products from East Turkestan and US State Department’s annual report to Congress on genocide                                                                     

On July 14th, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to ban the import of products from East Turkistan made with Uyghur forced labour. The passed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would shift the burden of proof to importers, whereas the current law bans goods if there is reasonable evidence of forced labour. The bill must also pass the House of Representatives before it can be sent to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law. Furthermore, in the 2021 US State Department’s annual report to Congress on genocide, the US reiterated its statement that “the People’s Republic of China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs. The crimes against humanity include imprisonment, torture, enforced sterilization, and persecution.”

UK Parliament Passes a Motion for Diplomatic Boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing

On July 15th the UK House of Commons unanimously voted in favour of a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The WUC welcomed the motion, which referenced credible accusations of mass atrocity crimes in East Turkistan and called for UK government representatives to decline invitations to the Games. The motion follows growing global calls to stage a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics. Last week, the European Parliament passed an Urgency Resolution on Hong Kong which called for EU Member State leaders to decline invitations to attend the Beijing Olympics. 

Rahile Dawut confirmed as being imprisoned by chinese authorities

On July 13th, Radio Free Asia reported that Rahile Dawut, an internationally recognized expert in Uyghur folklore and ethnographer, who disappeared in December 2017 in East Turkistan,has been confirmed as being imprisoned by authorities. Rahile Dawut was detained along with other members of the Uyghur intellectual and cultural elite, sentenced, and is now in prison, RFA’s Uyghur Service discovered early this month through a series of interviews with employees of Xinjiang University.

EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting Calls for an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative

On the 12th of July, the Council of the EU approved conclusions on a new connectivity plan, which aims to advance the EU’s “economic, foreign and development policy and security interests and to promote European values”. While not explicitly mentioned, one of the reasons for the new connectivity strategy, called “A Globally Connected Europe”, is to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and counter the latter’s repressive influence in third countries.