World Uyghur Congress, 24 May 2019

Uyghur Human Rights Bill Passes Senate Foreign Relations Committee

On May 22, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted with strong bipartisan support to pass the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act for consideration in the Senate.

The bill was originally introduced by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez later joined by Senators Cory Gardner, Ron Wyden, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal, Steve Daines, Chris Coons, Jerry Moran, Tim Kaine, Chuck Grassley, Chris Van Hollen, Tom Cotton, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Ed Markey.

“We are all Uyghurs, and China’s horrific and systematic abuse of its Uyghur minority is an affront to all people who value the principles of universal human rights,” said Senator Menendez after the bill passes the Senate Foreign Committee, pointing out the human rights crisis in East Turkistan should send a chill down the spine of every person.

The WUC is pleased with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee standing against the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and his vision of a dystopian authoritarian future. We hope that the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act will continue to gain support from other members of the congress and soon become an official legislation.

Kazakh and Uyghur Detainees Forced To Consume Pork

According to Radio Free Asia’s recent report, Kazakh and Uyghur Muslim detainees in internment camps are being forced to consume pork. If they refuse, they will face punishment.

Gulzire Awulqanqizi, an ethnic Kazakh who was held at one of the internment camps in East Turkistan’s Ghulja city testifies that detainees were told they must eat pork or face punishment such as solitary confinement.

According to Awulqanqizi, detainees were initially given post at one point without their knowledge and the Chinese authorities served pork for dinner more regularly in the name of creating “unity among nationalities” and getting along with ethnic Han Chinese.

Force feeding pork to Muslim detainees is just one of the tactics used by the Chinese government to eradicate Uyghur and Kazakh ethnic identities of detainees.

U.S. Considers Blacklisting Chinese Surveillance Company

A recent article published on Bloomberg on May 22 reported that the U.S. is now considering blacklisting Chinese surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., among four other Chinese tech firms.

Last week, the U.S. government announced that they will sanction Huawei Technologies Co, limiting their ability to buy American technology and access to the U.S. market. The move is a continuation of the U.S. decision last year to consider applying sanctions against companies and Chinese officials over the arbitrary detention of 1-2 million Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic Muslim groups in interment camps.

The WUC supports the U.S. government’s decision and hopes they will hold relevant Chinese companies and officials accountable for their crimes against humanity.