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WEEKLY BRIEF – 26 MARCH 2021

WEEKLY BRIEF – 26 MARCH 2021

EU, US, UK, Canada Impose Sanctions on Four Chinese Officials and one Entity
The World Uyghur Congress applauds the decision of the European Union (EU), Canada, United Kingdom and the United States to sanction four Chinese officials and one Chinese entity over their complicity in the atrocities against the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in East Turkistan.

The sanctioned officials are Zhu Hailun, former Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Political and Legal Committee and current Deputy Secretary of the Xinjiang People’s Congress; Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB); Wang Junzheng, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Uyghur Region; and Mingshan Wang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Uyghur Region, and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the XUAR. Finally, the blacklisted entity is the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC, also known as Bingtuan) , a state-owned paramilitary organization responsible for operating the camps and the ‘forced labour transfer schemes’. These are the first sanctions adopted by the European Union targeting China since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

 In an immediate response on Monday, China announced it blacklisted 10 EU individuals and 4 entities; on Thursday, it subsequently sanctioned 9 individuals and 4 entities in the UK. 

Furthermore, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell announced this week that the EU and the  US will relaunch the European Union-United States dialogue on China.

CNN Report on Family Separation
After a report by Amnesty International on the separation of Uyghur families, journalists from CNN went to East Turkistan to search for the children of Uyghurs abroad who have been separated from them. They tracked down  the daughter of Mahmutjan Abdurehima Uyghur living in Australia, who has been separated from his wife and children for more than 5 years.. His wife was forced to return to East Turkistan to renew her passport, andshe has been detained by the Chinese authorities since then. His daughter’s tears tell the heartbreaking story of Uyghur families being separated by the Chinese government.

#FastFashionLabour Call-Out Action
In a 3 Day call out action, the WUC together with the Forced Labour Fashion Group targeted Zara, Apple and Nike to sign the Brand Commitment to Exit the Uyghur Region immediately. Yet Zara, Nike and Apple continue to profit from China’s state-sponsored system of forced labor. 

Parallely, fashion retailers H&M and Nike are facing boycotts in China after expressing their concerns over Uyghur Forced Labour. Several companies are starting to cave in to China’s threats by removing their forced labour policies from their websites, and even going as far as promoting ‘’Xinjiang Cotton’’ on their websites, which reports show is tainted with Uyghur forced labour. The fashion industry should collectively respond to China’s aggressive retaliation, and cease its operations in the Uyghur region.

China Targets Uyghurs Living Abroad
On March 24, the Guardian reported that Facebook has blocked a group of hackers in China which targeted Uyghurs abroad on the platform to infect their devices and enable surveillance. According to Facebook, there were fewer than 500 individuals targeted by the hackers known in the security industry as Earth Empusa or Evil Eye. 

The WUC Joined Over 190 Human Rights Groups in an Open Letter to Airbnb
In a Joint letter, the WUC and 190 global campaign groups called on Brain Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, to urgently remove Airbnb’s support for the Beijing 2022 Olympics over severe human rights violations against Uyghurs, Tibetans and other peoples. “By terminating this agreement, Airbnb has an opportunity to send a clear message that it will not tolerate dealing with governments that profit from occupation, genocide, and human rights violations and would be leading the way in the travel sector and demonstrating a true commitment to ending human rights abuses” they wrote. This would also send a strong message to the the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has completely failed to take action despite clear evidence of genocide and widespread worsening human rights.

In this week’s edition of The Economist, the WUC Program Manager, Zumretay Arkin criticised sponsors and the IOC for failing to ackowledge the Uyghur genocide. 

Italian Parliament is Tabling a Genocide Motion
On March 24,  Paolo Formenti, Italian IPAC member and Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, announced that a motion on the Uyghur Genocide will be tabled in the Italian Parliament. Last Month, the Canadian and Dutch Parliament recognized the human rights violations against Uyghurs as genocide.  

EU Human Rights Ambassadors Condemn Gender Based and Sexual-Violence against Uyghur Women
In a joint statement 10 EU Human Rights Ambassadors expressed their deep concerns over reports on gender based and sexual-violence against Uyghur Women. “Reports about the existence of large network of re-education camps, widespread surveillance, systemic restriction of the freedom of religion or belief of Uyghurs and other minorities, forced labour and the above mentioned sexual violence must be adressed immediatly”, they wrote in their statement.