World Uyghur Congress, 21 August 2020

NEWS

WUC President Dolkun Isa Participates in US Subcommittee Joint Briefing on China’s Oppression of Uyghur Population
On August 17, World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa testified at a joint briefing held by subcommittees at the US Congress, on actions needed to address the Uyghur Genocide, calling on the US government to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, along with other recommendations.

According to Mr. Isa, “The Administration should not wait for the Congress.  The U.S. should act now to declare that all products from the Uyghur region are banned because of forced labor.  This will protect the American consumer from buying facemasks or clothes or ketchup made by the Chinese government genocidal forced labor chain.” 

WUC and 70 Other Organizations Urge Canada and the U.K. to Join Global Magnitsky Sanctions
On August 18, The World Uyghur Congress, together with 70 other organizations, released a statement which urged the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom to join the United States in sanctioning senior Chinese leaders and entities responsible for egregious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples in China.

The organizations called for “greater coordination between your governments as one critical element in your broader strategies to promote respect for human rights and fight corruption globally”, which would represent “a significant step towards ending impunity for many of the world’s worst crimes”.

Demba Ba Call for Uyghur Solidarity Protest over Treatment by China
On August 19, former Premier League and Senegal striker Demba Ba spoke out publicly for the Uyghur cause in an interview with BBC Sport. “I have to try and organise something so football players can get together and, in the meantime, talk about this matter because not a lot of people want to”, Ba said. Calling upon football players as well as their clubs to stand up for the Uyghur people, Ba emphasized that “as sportspeople, we have a power we don’t even know. If we get together and talk, things change. If we stand up, people stand up with us.”

Beijing Is ‘Extending’ Uyghur Model Surveillance to the Rest of China
On August 16, Sky News Australia reported that mass surveillance programs used to target ethnic minorities in central China are likely to be an extension of similar programs that have been used to systematically target the Uyghur people in East Turkestan. According to Sky News host Sharri Markson, a major security leak has uncovered the Chinese government’s surveillance targeting the Tujia and Miao Autonomous Zone in the city of Tongren in central southern China via facial recognition.

Amid Crackdown in China, Uyghur Diaspora Artists Promote their Culture
As Uyghur artists inside China have disappeared, people outside China have increased their efforts to preserve Uighur culture. Uyghur-language schools are being established in many countries; people are creating online cultural archives for songs and poems; and there are various Uyghur YouTube channels and Instagram accounts. Given the cultural genocide that Uyghurs are facing within China, such efforts are essential in keeping the Uyghur culture and identity alive.

Uyghur Obstetrician Claims Hospitals Abort and Kill Babies Outside of Established Family Planning Limits
In an article published by Radio Free Asia on 17 August 2020, an Uyghur obstetrician has told that hospitals in East Turkestan are targeting Uyghur mothers, who were forced to abort and kill babies born in excess of family planning limits or who were in utero less than three years after the mother’s previous birth. These claims follow reports that highlight the dramatic increase in recent years in the number of forced sterilizations and abortions targeting Uyghurs in East Turkestan.

U.K. Muslim Group Calls for Action Against China’s ‘Ethnic Cleansing of Uyghur Muslims’
On August 18, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the United Kingdom’s largest umbrella group of muslims, released a statement in which it calls upon the British government to ‘take strong action’ against the widespread human rights abuses against the Uyghur people in East Turkestan.

PARTICIPATE

End Forced Labor in East Turkestan
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!

The Wall of the Disappeared in Geneva
Help us highlight the individual stories of the disappeared relatives of Uyghurs in the diaspora.Send us a photo of your detained/disappeared relatives and their story until 8/21/2020, for our exhibition “THE WALL OF THE DISAPPEARED” in front of the United Nations in Geneva in September. Please find more information here!