NEWS

World Uyghur Congress Organises Protest Outside BASF Annual Meeting
On April 23, ahead of BASF’s Annual General Meeting, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), and Critical Shareholders called on the new BASF CEO, Markus Kamieth, to publicly explain how the company will ensure that its business relations in China are not affected by Uyghur forced labor in the future. Subsequently, on April 25, the organisations staged a joint protest in front of the BASF Annual Meeting in Mannheim, Germany, criticising BASF’s enthusiasm for China-focused ventures instead of addressing human rights violations. Gheyyur Kuerban, head of the WUC Berlin office, stated, “The recent public statements and interviews with CEO Mr. Brudermüller cast doubt on the sincerity and seriousness of the company’s commitment to its human rights obligations.” He demanded that the new CEO uphold the company’s promise to eliminate forced labour from its supply chains.

During the annual meeting of BASF, the WUC’s Berlin-Office Director, Gheyyur Kuerban, addressed the company’s shareholders and executive directors on recent revelations exposing the brutality of the Chinese government against Uyghurs and the complicity of private companies. Employees from BASF’s joint venture partners are implicated in the mass internment, torture, forced sterilization, and forced labor of Uyghurs, including surveillance measures within Uyghurs’ homes. Mr. Kuerban stated, “As a representative of the Uyghurs, I stand before you today to demand clear answers and accountability. I would like to put some critical questions to the Board of Executive Directors to understand how BASF intends to address these serious problems and prevent future violations.”

European Parliament Votes in Favour of Forced Labour Regulation
On April 23, the European Parliament voted in favour of the EU’s Forced Labour Regulation that will ban products made from forced labour inside and outside the EU, and aims to safeguard European consumers by preventing them from unknowingly purchasing products associated with forced labour. The regulation together with the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires companies to carry out due diligence processes concerning human rights and environmental issues across their supply chains.

Zumretay Arkin, WUC Director of Global Advocacy, commented, “The parliament’s vote is a positive one and will require companies to address forced labour in their supply chains. Unfortunately, the EU has missed a crucial opportunity to agree on an instrument that could meaningfully address forced labour when the government is the perpetrator, like in the Uyghur Region in China. We welcome this milestone but stress that all related guidance, guidelines, and considerations of when to investigate cases be created in a way that ensures the regulation can effectively ban products made with state-imposed forced labour.”

China Prohibits Uyghurs From Accessing Social Media Applications
On April 18, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Chinese authorities implementing a ban prohibiting Uyghurs from using various social media apps, including TikTok, and tools to bypass censorship. The announcement was made through a video notice released by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps,  a state-run economic and paramilitary organisation known for brutally suppressing Uyghurs. Violators could face arrest, hefty fines, and deductions in China’s social credit system. Alongside TikTok, usage of platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, as well as involvement in Bitcoin transactions, is prohibited.

Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, vice chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress highlighted that the ban indicates a strong possibility of another round of mass oppression by China, and stressed that Chinese officials use social media platforms to deny the Uyghur genocide while simultaneously enforcing strict control over information and punishing Uyghurs. He stated “China tightly controls information and arbitrarily punishes Uyghurs to conceal the ethnic genocide in the Uyghur region.”

World Uyghur Congress President Interviewed by the American Thought Leaders
On April 24, Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, was interviewed by American Thought Leaders, hosted by Jan Jekielek, Senior Editor of the Epoch Times. In the interview, Mr. Isa discussed his firsthand experience with the Chinese government’s tactics to silence and manipulate dissident communities abroad through transnational repression. In 1997, the Chinese communist regime labelled him a “criminal” and placed him on Interpol’s list of most dangerous fugitives. Following 9/11, he was branded a terrorist and detained in several countries, including Germany, the US, Italy, India, and Turkey. Additionally, he recounted how his repression affected his family in both East Turkistan and Germany.

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