World Uyghur Congress urges global action amid ongoing human rights violations in China

On the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) called on the international community to take decisive action in support of Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, and Southern Mongolians who are enduring severe human rights violations. The WUC organised joint protests in cities worldwide, including Germany and the UK, to raise awareness about China’s repression.

In their press release, the WUC highlighted that since 1949, the PRC’s occupation of East Turkistan has resulted in widespread repression. WUC’s Interim President Erkin Ekrem underscored that October 1 symbolises the loss of freedom for Uyghurs and called for unity against the Chinese government’s brutal violations of human rights, which target cultural and religious identities and suppress dissent.

The WUC noted that China has intensified its human rights abuses, dismissing the UN human rights system and rejecting a significant portion of recommendations from the UN Universal Periodic Review. Despite this, global leaders have increasingly engaged with the PRC, even as the second anniversary of the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) assessment raised alarms about potential crimes against humanity in East Turkistan.

The WUC demanded the release of millions of arbitrarily detained Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples and called for an end to genocidal policies in East Turkistan. They urged the international community to establish clear and measurable goals for engagement with China, hold the government accountable, and implement targeted sanctions against individuals complicit in genocide.

Furthermore, the WUC advocated for the self-determination rights of the Uyghur people and emphasized the need for ongoing dialogue with civil society organizations to ensure that policies reflect the perspectives of those directly affected by repression.

China has faced increasing scrutiny from the international community regarding its human rights record, particularly in relation to its policies in regions such as Xinjiang (East Turkistan), Tibet, and Hong Kong. Xinjiang, Reports of human rights violations in Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur population and other Turkic ethnic groups, have surged in recent years.

The Chinese government has been accused of detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in what it calls “vocational training centers,” but which many experts and human rights advocates describe as internment camps aimed at cultural assimilation. Allegations include forced labor, torture, indoctrination, and the suppression of religious practices.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has raised alarms about potential crimes against humanity in this region, emphasising that these actions could constitute genocide due to their intent to destroy, in whole or in part, specific ethnic and cultural identities.