Weekly Brief: November 15
World Uyghur Congress, 15 November 2019

WUC Calls Attention to UN Concerns on Uyghur Internment Camps
In an official Joint Letter sent on November 1 and made public this week, ten UN Special Rapporteurs and two Working Groups offered comments on the effect and application of China’s Counter-Terror Law and Implementing Measures for the Uyghur region.
The letter addresses a broad range of associated issues relating to the use of extra-judicial detention, criminalization of the Uyghur identity, and the invasive use of surveillance measures.
WUC Program Manager, Peter Irwin, said in response to the Letter that, “This represents the UN’s clearest expression of concern on the mass, arbitrary detention of Uyghurs since the camps opened in 2017.” Irwin noted its significance, stating that, “The power and credibility of the Letter stems from the independent nature of the broad range of experts from diverse backgrounds who have all thrown their weight behind it, defusing potential claims of politicization.”
Festival of Uyghur Culture and Democracy in Munich
On November 9, the WUC, in cooperation with the East Turkistan Union in Europe, the Uyghur Mothers in Germany, the Uyghur Women Association Arzu and the Ilham Tohti Initiative held a cultural event in Munich to commemorate the founding of the two East Turkistan Republics in 1933 and 1944. The event is open to the general public and is supported by the Migrationsbeirat and the Kulturreferat of the city of Munich.
The event included speeches by WUC President, Dolkun Isa and Member of the Bundestag for the Green Party, Margarete Bause, as well as cultural and artistic performances by members of the Uyghur community from across Europe. The Munich public witnessed Uyghur dance and music performances, an acrobatics display and a Uyghur fashion show.
World Bank Ends Funding to Controversial Uyghur Schools
The World Bank released a statement on November 11, declaring that it closes the “project component that involves partner schools” in East Turkistan, who bought teargas and barbed wire. Other schools for Uyghurs under the same project will continue to be sponsored and “be placed under enhanced supervision”.
While it’s clearly the right decision, it came only after the WUC pointed it out through a tip from Irade Kashgary, a Uyghur-American human rights advocate. The equipment tender was found by researcher Shawn Zhang and meticulously reported on by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, a journalist specializing in China’s influence in the United States.
Malaysian MP Addressed Uyghur Issue in Parliament
On November 11, The Malaysian Member of Parliament, Nik Nazmi, raised the Uyghur human rights crisis in a debate in the Malaysian Parliament. He recalled Malaysia’s history of speaking out against injustices and called on the Malaysian government not to be silent on the Uyghur crisis. The WUC thanks Mr. Nazmi for his remarks.
