Press Release – For immediate release
29 April 2011
Contact:  World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

From May 2-8, 2011 the international conference The Future of Uyghur People in East Turkestan co-sponsored by Freedom House, World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Uyghur American Association (UAA) and the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation (IUHRDF), will take place in Washington, D.C.

The World Uyghur Congress is pleased to announce that the opening ceremony of the conference will be held at:

Congressional Meeting Room South of the U.S. Capitol Building

The opening ceremony will commence on May 2, 2011 at 10.00h with a speech by WUC President and longstanding Uyghur human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer, and will include a number of distinguished speakers.

Scheduled guest speakers are:

Hon. Frank R. Wolf (U.S. Congressman)
Hon. Jim McGovern (U.S. Congressman)
Hon. James Moran (U.S. Congressman)
Hon. Chris Smith (U.S. Congressman, tbc)
Hon. David Wu (U.S. Congressman, tbc)
Hon. Keith Ellison (U.S. Congressman)
Mr. Carl Gershman (President, National Endowment for Democracy)
Dr. Gunawardena-Vaughn (Director of the International Religious Freedom Consortium and the Southeast Asia Program, Freedom House)
Ms. Louisa Coan Greve (Vice President, National Endowment for Democracy)
Mr. Randall Shriver (Former Assistant Secretary of State)
T. Kumar (Advocacy Director for Asia and the Pacific, Amnesty International USA)
Dr. Sophie Richardson (Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch, Asia Division, tbc)
Dr. Dru Gladney, Professor at Pomona College at Claremont, CA
Dr. Sean Roberts, Professor at George Washington University

This conference is an internal conference for the Uyghur Diaspora community and its main goal is to provide a constructive forum for Uyghur leaders from around the world to discuss the ongoing violations of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights suffered by the Uyghur people in East Turkestan.  The delegates will also discuss the situation of Uyghur refugees around the world in order to find effective solutions to provide legal and moral assistance and support.

Delegates from all over the world will explore common strategies, effective political platforms, and future steps. Delegates will include members of the WUC and non-WUC affiliated Uyghur community leaders and intellectuals. Around 200 Uyghur delegates from more than 20 countries from around the world are expected to participate in the conference.

The WUC warmly welcomes international media to attend the Opening Ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Building in the morning of May 2 and cover the historic conference. The WUC will do its best to assist the international media to cover the conference and create convenient conditions for their work.

For questions and media inquiries, please contact:

US:
Omer Kanat [email protected]
Alim Seytoff [email protected]
Phone: +1 202 4781920 ext. 106
Fax: +1 202 4781910

Germany:
Dolkun Isa [email protected]
Phone: +49 89 54321999
Fax: +49 89 54349789