Page 1 WUC Newsletter
MEDIA WORKWUC op.ed. Article at VR Movement
WUC´s Press Release on Nobel Peace Prize for Liu XiaoboRebiya Kadeer Interview with Al Jazeera
Open Letter to German MinistersWUC French Website Launched
PAST EVENTSUyghur Events in Canada
Nonviolent Radical Party´s Intervention on Linguistic Discrimination, GenevaGrand Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity of Uyghur Youth in Munich
Rebiya Kadeer at the III International March for Freedom, RomeUyghur Dutch Association´s General Secretary Meets with Dutch Foreign Minister
Uyghur Demonstration in Paris
UPCOMING EVENTSWUC GA Joins Artist Christoph Faulhaber in the Opening of his Exhibition, KasselUNPO Set to Mark 15th Anniversary of Executed Former Vice‐Chair, The Hague
“The 10 Conditions of love” to Be Screened at Different Film FestivalsWUC´s Call on Worldwide Demonstrations on the International Human Rights Day
Uyghur Groups at the Bazaar of Cultures, MunichWUC with UNPO at UN Forum on Minority Issues, Geneva
Concerts of the Caravan “A Breakfast in Kashgar Prolongs life”, Bochum
LATEST NEWS AND REPORTSInternational Media Articles and Reports on Uyghur Related Issues
TOP STORY A Family Held Hostage to
Human Rights: UHRP
Documents the Persecution of Rebiya Kadeer’s
Family
FEATURED ARTICLES Uyghurs Support Language Protests
Continuing the Demolition of
Kashgar: Silence is Golden
NEWSLETTER NO.4 NOV EMB E R 2010
WUC Newsletter Page 2
A FAMILY HELD HOSTAGE TO HUMAN RIGHTS: UHRP DOCUMENTS THE PERSECUTION OF REBIYA
KADEER’S FAMILY
12 October 2010 ‐ Since the release of Uyghur democracy leader Rebiya Kadeer from a Chinese prison in March 2005, her worldwide efforts to promote democracy and human rights for the Uyghur people have been met with an intense campaign on the part of the Chinese authorities to persecute her family m embers in East Turkestan. The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) has documented a clear pattern of retribution and retaliation on the human rights advocacy, who threatened just before her release that her “businesses and children would be finished” if she continued to speak out on behalf of the Uyghur people.
UHRP views the systematic persecution of Ms. Kadeer’s family as deeply disturbing, and representative of the persecution of the Uyghur population in East Turkestan as a whole. UHRP calls upon the world community to voice concern about the inhumane treatment of Ms. Kadeer’s children and other relatives, and urges the Chinese government to stop targeting Ms. Kadeer’s family in an effort to pressure her into silence.
“The Chinese regime has held my family hostage in an attempt to silence calls for basic human rights for Uyghurs,” said Ms. Kadeer. “Instead of listening to my calls reform and democracy in East Turkestan, they have committed further abuses against my family members. Just like countless Uyghur political prisoners suffering in Chinese jails, my sons have been imprisoned and tortured. The world must not remain silent and allow this cycle of violence to continue unabated.”
According to Ms. Kadeer’s family, her son Alim Abdureyim has recently been tortured and otherwise ill‐treated in prison. Ms. Kadeer’s family believes that his life is at risk, and sources within East Turkestan report that he has suffered a serious deterioration in his health and has recently
showed signs of physical and psychological trauma.
Alim Abdureyim
Kahar Abdureyim
Rushangul Abdureyim
Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action on Alim’s situation on September 15, 2010, and the UHRP believes that international attention is vital to protecting his life and his welfare, as well as the life and welfare of Ms. Kadeer’s imprisoed son Ablikim Abdureyim.
“It is vitally important that the world continue to press Chinese authorities to treat my sons Alim and Ablikim humanely, provide them with medical care, and ensure their health and well‐being,” said Ms. Kadeer. “I know that my conditions in prison improved as a direct result of international pressure for my release. If groups such as Amnesty International and the U.S. government had not pushed Chinese officials to improve their treatment of me, I might not be here today.”
In November 2006, Alim was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 62,500 USD on charges of tax evasion. Ablikim was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of “secessionism” in April 2007. The trials of both men were plagued by a lack of evidence and conducted in the absence of due process of law. Both Alim and Ablikim were initially detained on June 1, 2006 and beaten severely by public security agents in front of their own children. Ms. Kadeer was elected president of the Uyghur American Association (UAA) on May 29, 2006 by the organization’s members at the UAA’s bi‐annual congress in Washington, D.C. Ablikim is also believed to have been tortured in prison.
Rebiya Kadeer’s family and former business associates have faced almost constant harassment by police ever since she was first detained by police in the regional capital of Urumchi in 1999 for her advocacy efforts, but particularly since her release and exile to the U.S. and her outspoken criticism of the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghur people
Page 3 WUC Newsletter
Soon after Ms. Kadeer arrived in exile in the U.S. in 2005, her son Alim Abdureyim was told to sign a statement confirming the Chinese government’s allegations of tax fraud and embezzlement against his mother, and was told he would “sign it in prison after we’ve broken each one of your ribs” if he refused.
The harassment and persecution of Ms. Kadeer’s family members has intensified in the wake of unrest that broke out in Urumchi on July 5, 2009. UHRP is concerned that the children and other relatives of Ms. Kadeer have been subject to particularly egregious harassment since July 5, 2009 in an attempt to punish and discredit her.
Amid aggressive government propaganda demonizing Ms. Kadeer as the “mastermind” of the unrest in Urumchi, and unsubstantiated government accusations that she is a terrorist, Chinese government authorities in August 2009 ordered more than 30 members of Ms. Kadeer’s family, including, her children, grandchildren and siblings, to leave their homes in a trade center formerly owned by the family.
On August 4, 2009, state‐controlled television broadcast interviews with Ms. Kadeer’s son Kahar, daughter Rushangul and imprisoned son Alim, as well as with Ms. Kadeer’s younger brother Memet. In the interviews, the children and brother of Ms. Kadeer were compelled to make false accusations about her role in the unrest in Urumchi and condemn her for allegedly destroying the ethnic unity that had existed in the region. The day before these interviews aired on television, the official news media published a letter that accused Ms. Kadeer of having broken her promises not to participate in “ethnic splittism” when she left China. The letter was signed by her children, their spouses and five of her
young grandchildren. State media issued lengthy commentary together with the letter that appeared to have been prepared beforehand, and against a background of years of political persecution, the letter appears to have been the result of state pressure on the family members.
In early November 2006, prior to her election as president of the German‐based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Ms. Kadeer was warned through a third party that her detained sons would suffer greatly if she were to run for the position. Alim’s seven‐year prison sentence was handed down later that month, on the day that Ms. Kadeer was elected as president of the WUC, and another son, Kahar, was charged with tax evasion and fined USD 12,500.
A timeline of the events can be found at:
http://www.uyghuramerican.org/articles/5027/1/A‐family‐held‐hostage‐to‐human‐rights‐UHRP‐documents‐the‐persecution‐of‐Rebiya‐Kadeers‐family/index.html
************************************
About the UHRP:
UHRP was established by the Uyghur American Association and is dedicated to researching and exposing human rights abuses committed against the Uyghur people in East Turkistan.
Uyghur Human Rights Project Uyghur American Association (UAA) 1420 K Street, NW. Suite 350 Washington DC, 20005 Tel: (202) 478‐1920 Fax: (202) 478‐1910 [email protected] http://uhrp.org
The Chinese gime has held
my family hostage in an attempt
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Ablikim Abdureyim
WUC Newsletter Page 4
UYGHURS SUPPORT LANGUAGE PROTEST By Radio Free Asia, http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language‐10272010181614.html
Uyghurs voice their objections to a language policy as they back Tibetan protests in western China.
Beijing is moving to clamp down on the Internet in northwestern China as ethnic minority Uyghurs express support for protests by Tibetan students campaigning for language rights, according to Uyghur residents and intellectuals.
Tibetan students have been protesting over the last two weeks, mostly in China's western province Qinghai, over fears the authorities will introduce a Chinese‐language‐only curriculum.
As the protests spread to Beijing about a week ago, authorities tried to block information about the demonstrations from reaching Uyghurs, who have long throughout schools in Xinjiang, according to Uyghur students.
“The local government is controlling the university websites and news about the Tibetan protests in Qinghai, but we have already received information from our friends in inner China about the protests there and at Beijing National Minorities University,” said one student from Xinjiang.
“They told me that the Uyghur university students [in Beijing] are talking about the Tibetan student protests and are very excited about it. Even the Kazakh students are in support of the Tibetans,” he said. “But right now, every university is tightly restricting the students in Xinjiang and also in inner China. Even groups of Uyghurs who are studying in inner China’s ‘Xinjiang classes’ are being controlled,” said the student, who asked to keep his name and location anonymous for fear of persecution.
Uyghurbiz.net, a popular website and online discussion forum for Uyghur issues, recently reported that nearly every student enrolled in special “Xinjiang classes” for Uyghurs in inner China has been approached by school security and told to refrain from joining in any protests backing Tibetan language rights. The report said that parents have also received calls from school security telling them to prevent their children from supporting the protests.
School restaurants serving Uyghurs, and which prepare food according to Muslim dietary rules, have been dishing out special meals in a bid to prevent any unrest, the report added.
‘No one asked us’
A Uyghur teacher in Xinjiang, who also requested anonymity, agreed that Uyghur support for the Tibetan protests is high in the region.
“Every Uyghur teacher and student is supporting Tibet right now, because we have the same problems here,” the teacher said. “We should be using our own language, and our students need to be learning about our culture so that we can stay Uyghurs,” she said.
The teacher added that the Uyghur community in Xinjiang has been very upset with the work of recently appointed Xinjiang Governor Nur Bekri and other officials who claim to represent their interests to Beijing. “The Chinese central government wants bilingual education here, but the local government should be asking the local people what they want. We don’t agree with this policy, but no one has asked us,” she said.
“The local government is doing everything wrong. The government should not be enforcing a bilingual policy, especially on the young Uyghur children in kindergarten.” She said that enforcing the use of Mandarin Chinese in Uyghur schools has had a detrimental effect on the entire education system in Xinjiang.
“After the bilingual policy, many local Uyghur teachers lost their jobs because they don’t speak Mandarin, which has been very bad. Some high school students no longer want to study at school. All of the courses require Mandarin now, so the students aren’t interested in class,” she said.
“This may end up destroying the Uyghur school system.”
Students assemble at a bilingual middle school for Uyghur and Han students in Hotan, Xinjiang, Oct. 13, 2006. (AFP)
Every Uyghur teacher and student is
supporting Tibet right now,
because we have the same
problems here.
“
Page 5 WUC Newsletter
Solidarity in Beijing
Ilham Tohti, an outspoken Uyghur professor at Beijing National Minorities University, and webmaster of Uighurbiz.net, said Uyghur students at his school have been eager to join in protests with their Tibetan classmates.
“From the beginning of the Qinghai protests, Uyghur students studying at my university were all supportive. Some students came to my office and said they want to protest with the Tibetan students, but I advised them that we can support them without protesting,” Ilham Tohti said. “If we protest, we may run into trouble.” Ilham Tohti said in a telephone interview that he has been under constant surveillance by school security personnel since the Tibetan protests began.
“The other day someone from the Beijing security police came to talk to me about my ideas on these Tibetan protests. I told them they must be careful with their policies in the Xinjiang region,” he said.
“The Chinese government has been using bilingual education in Xinjiang for much longer than in Tibet, and Uyghurs have had a very bad experience with this policy.”
“I can 100 percent guarantee that if the government doesn’t change this policy in Xinjiang, Uyghurs will carry out this kind of protest as well, and it could become another July 5,” he said, referring to deadly riots in 200 people dead, by the Chinese government's tally. Ilham Tohti called for a rethink in Chinese policies in Xinjiang, which he said is “essential for the sake of stability in the region.”
“I hope the government will find a new strategy for Xinjiang which will allow the people there more freedom. If they really want to keep Xinjiang, this is what they must do.”
Support from abroad
Erkin Sidik, a U.S.‐based senior optical engineer at NASA, agreed that the Chinese central government must allow the preservation of local dialects and minority culture if it hopes to maintain stability in the country’s frontier regions.
“All minorities should keep their own language. The Chinese government says
they have a bilingual policy, but it’s really a Chinese language policy. They will destroy these minorities’ languages and cultures. So I am very supportive of the Tibetan students’ situation.”
Erkin Sidik was named as one of the “splittist elements” responsible for inciting the July 5 ethnic riots after he had visited Urumqi earlier to give a presentation at Xinjiang University on language in the Uyghur school system.
The Uyghur author of several articles on bilingual education in Xinjiang maintains that his talk was not politicized and merely summarized the situation according to central government policy and its implementation in the region.
“It’s like the Pakistani independence movement. They fought against the use of Hindi because they wanted to keep the use of Urdu and this led to their fight for independence [against India],” he said. “The Chinese government should learn from this lesson if they want to maintain control of Xinjiang.” Millions of Uyghurs—a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim—populate Central Asia and Xinjiang.
Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier. Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining ties to the al‐Qaeda terrorist network.
Reported by Mihray Abdilim for RFA’s Uyghur service. Translated by Mihray Abdilim. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Some media links on the Tibetan protests:
Mandarin education plan riles Tibetans Asia Times, 04 Nov 2010 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LK04Ad02.html Tibetan students protest use of Chinese in classes Yahoo News, 20 Oct 2010 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet
I hope the ernment will find a new strategy for
Xinjiang which will allow the
people there more freedom. If they really want to
keep Xinjiang, this is what they must
do.
gov
“
WUC Newsletter Page 6
CONTINUING THE DEMOLITION OF KASHGAR OLD CITY: SILENCE IS GOLDEN By Henryk Szadziewski Manager, Uyghur Human Rights Project www.uhrp.org [email protected] It has almost been two years since the Chinese government announced the demolition of Kashgar Old City. In that time, the demolition has been lamented in numerous articles in the world’s media. Journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Australian and many others have witnessed the last days of an unique community and a irreplaceable center of Uyghur culture. Non‐governmental organizations, such as the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, Heritage Watch, Saving Antiquities for Everyone and Heritage Key have also added to the voices condemning the demolition. The Chinese government has put forward the notion that the demolition of Kashgar Old City is in the best interests of the Uyghur people. It states that the relocation of thousands of Uyghur people to regimented and surveillance‐friendly apartment blocks will protect Old City residents from earthquakes.
What has been clear from all that has been written on the demolition is that the voices of two key stakeholders are silent‐ the Uyghur residents of the Old City, and key organizations in the United Nations system. It should be no surprise that the world has not heard from the Uyghur residents of Kashgar Old City about the future of the community. The decision to demolish was made without their consultation, and the conditions of their relocation were determined without their input. The silence from Uyghurs on the demolition stems from a wider suppression on freedom of speech and participation in public life that has seen Uyghur journalists and webmasters jailed for merely expressing an opinion. The harsh sentences handed down to Gheyret Niyaz and others this year illustrated the strong
disincentives in engaging in a reasonable debate with the Chinese government on policy issues.
Sadly, and especially so when the voice of a people has been so intensively quelled, organizations charged with the protection of the globe’s diversity and cultural heritage have been silent in public. The silence in this instance has resonances of political expediency rather than of suppression of speech. UNESCO has not stepped forward to condemn the demolition, even though the addition of its voice would be a significant step in saving this important piece of the Uyghur people’s architectural legacy for the world. The Chinese government has exploited this silence. A billboard in Kashgar suggests UNESCO support, despite the organization not having taken a public stance on the demolition.
The demolition appears well toward reaching its goal of flattening 85% of the Old City. While it is difficult to gauge the progress of the destruction, bloggers and photographers have attempted to document the extent of the devastation. While it is unmistakable that the Uyghur residents of Kashgar are coming to grips with with the effects of change, the direction of the future development in their neighborhoods, city and region is not in their hands. Kashgar is not only a symbol for the cultural survival of the Uyghur people; it is also not only a refuge from the extensive monitoring of Uyghur activity, or a major site of global heritage that should be saved, but it is also a vibrant and living organic community of people who have the right to protect their families and homes.
Photo by Carolyn Drake in National Geographic
“UNESCO has not stepped forward to condemn the demolition, even though the addition of its voice would be a significant step in saving this important piece of the Uyghur people’s
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WUC Newsletter Page 8
PAST EVENTS
Uyghur Events in Canada
The Uyghur Canadian Association (http://www.uyghurcanadiansociety.org/) organized a round table discussion on 3 October 2010 with Mr. Eric Tom, a Canadian author, about his new book on Uyghurs and East Turkestan. Interesting dialogues were made between Mr. Tom and participants.
At the invitation of the Turkish General Consulate in Canada, the President of the Uyghur Canadian Association Ms. Ruquye Turdish attended a welcome party on 22 October 2010 to honor the visiting Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Mr. Zefer Chaghlayan. Ms. Reqiye Turdish met with Mr. Zefer and talked with him about the Uyghur issue.
Nonviolent Radical Party´s Intervention on Linguistic Discrimination, Geneva, Switzerland
On 18 October 2010, the Nonviolent Radical Party Transnational and Transparty (NRP), an NGO in general consultative status to the United Nations, discussed the Chinese government's linguistic discrimination against the Uyghurs in an oral statement that it delivered during the Eighth Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Kathy Polias, WUC´s Liaison for the UN, delivered the statement on behalf of the Nonviolent Radical Party. It has been nine years since the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted by the international community following the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
NRP expressed concern over the Chinese government's language policy in East Turkestan, under which the government is shifting the medium of instruction through the entire education system in East Turkestan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China) ‐‐ from preschool to high school ‐‐ from Uyghur to Mandarin Chinese. NRP noted in its statement that although the Chinese authorities claim that the language policy is making the region's school system "bilingual", the trend has been toward eliminating instruction in the Uyghur language completely or relegating Uyghur language to language arts classes and making Mandarin the instruction medium in all other classes. NRP noted that that the Chinese government has through this language policy breached provisions in Chinese law to protect ethnic minority languages and undermined the autonomous status of the indigenous Uyghurs’ region.
In its oral statement, NRP also expressed concern about State‐imposed linguistic discrimination against the Baluchis in Iran, the Montagnards in Vietnam, and the Kurds in Syria.
Nonviolent Radical Party´s press release on the intervention can be found here. Grand Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity of Uyghur Youth in Munich, Germany
The Grand Meeting of Friendship and Solidarity of Uyghur Youth was convened from 22‐24 October 2010 in Munich, Germany. About 50 young Uyghur delegates from almost 10 countries from Europe and the United States attended the meeting. A number of guests of honer including Ms. Louisa Coan Greve, the Vice President of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Mr. Ulrich Delius, Asia Director of the Society for Threatened People (GfbV) and Mr. Peter Bamler from Amnesty International as well as leaders of the WUC and the East Turkestan Union in Europe participated.
The meeting began with a welcoming party on the evening of 22 October with colorful Uyghur cultural performances prepared by the Uyghur youth in Germany. The meeting was successfully completed after finishing all items in its agenda including a international conference on 23 October as well as internal discussions of Uyghur youth delegates with three sessions. With a united voice, the Uyghur youth delegates formed the World Uyghur Youth Forum, which will be
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WUC Newsletter Page 10
UPCOMING EVENTS
WUC General Secretary Joins Artist Christoph Faulhaber in the Opening of his Exhibition, Kassel, Germany
From 09 to 14 November 2010, the yearly Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (http://www.filmladen.de/dokfest/de/aktuelles/news/) will take place in Kassel, Germany.
Part of Christoph Faulhaber´s installation.
During six days the festival presents about 220 international documentary films as well as experimental and artistic works. The festival puts its main emphasis on films and videos exploring their subject by documentary means. The festival is also interested in experimental and artistic works expressing an individual approach. There is no restriction in terms of the running time of submitted works.
A media art exhibition MONITORING compliments the festival, which is devoted to contemporary space‐oriented media art. 15 media installations and sculptures are selected among the entries and displayed at Kassel KulturBahnhof during the festival. The German artist Christoph Faulhaber (http://www.christophfaulhaber.de/) will show his work Blue Sky ‐ Palau (http://www.filmladen.de/dokfest/programm‐2010/monitoring‐3/ausstellung/blue‐sky‐palau/) during the festival.
Blue Sky – Palau is an installation on the six Uyghur men released from Guantánamo in 2009 and received by Palau where they live today. WUC´s General Secretray Dolkun Isa will join Christoph Faulhaber in the opening of the exhibition on 10 November 2010 at 19h to give a speech on the meaning of Guantánamo for the Uyghur issue and the challenges these men are facing not only in their life in Palau, but also in freedom.
UNPO Set to Mark 15th Anniversary of Executed Former Vice‐Chair, The Hague, Netherlands
Executed Ogoni leader Ken Saro‐Wiwa to be honoured in major international commemoration centred in The Hague.
In collaboration with 7 other major environmental and human rights organisations, UNPO is holding a set of events in The Hague, Netherlands, on 10 November 2010 to pay respects to former Vice‐Chair, and President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Ken Saro‐ Wiwa, an inspirational nonviolent advocate who tirelessly sought justice for all people in the Niger Delta.
More information on the event can be found on the specially designed website www.CleanTheNigerDelta.org or by contacting UNPO www.unpo.org at [email protected], Tel: +31 (0)70 36 46 504.
About UNPO:
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international, nonviolent, and democratic membership organisation. Its members are indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories who have joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural rights, to preserve their environments, and to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts which affect them. The Uyghurs, today represented by the WUC, are one of the founding members of UNPO.
Although the aspirations of UNPO Members differ greatly, they are all united by one shared condition – they are not adequately represented at major international fora, such as the United Nations. As a consequence, their opportunity to participate on the international stage is significantly limited, as is their ability to access and draw upon the support of the global bodies mandated to defend their rights, protect their environments, and mitigate the effects of conflict.
WUC Newsletter Page 11
“The 10 Conditions of love” to Be Screened at Different Film Festivals
The success of the film has no end….“The 10 Conditions of love”, Australian director Jeff Daniel´s documentary on WUC President and human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer, will be screened at different international film festivals.
On 20 November 2010, the film will be shown in the frame of the 5th Reel Awareness 2010 ‐ The Amnesty International Toronto Film Festival to take place from 18 – 21 November 2010 (see here for more information).
Some days later, on 26 November 2010, the documentary will be screened at the 10th One World International Documentary Film Festival to be held from 23‐28 November 2010 in Bratislava, Slovakia. There the screening of the film will be accompagnied by a discussion on the topic “Why Do We Know So Little About the Uygurs?” One of the speakers will be Mehmet Tohti, WUC´s Special Representative to the European Institutions. More information on the festival can be found here.
“The 10 Conditions of love” was also screened at the 13th United Nations Association Film Festival on 23 October 2010 in Palo Alto, CA, USA. More information can be found here.
About the film:
THE 10 CONDITIONS OF LOVE is a love story – of a woman, a man, a family, a people and a homeland. It is the story of Rebiya Kadeer, China’s nightmare – the woman it accuses of inciting terrorism within China’s borders. It is also the story of the ‘other Tibet’, the country its Muslim people call East Turkestan, but which the Chinese call Xinjiang Province ‐ the other stain on China’s moral character. It is a big story: a story of the ruthless oppression of 20‐million people; of the global politics of energy; of Super Power politicking over the War on Terror; and of the pain of a deeply loving family torn violently apart.
Official website: http://www.10conditionsoflove.com/about.html
Jeff Daniels: One Year Later Flim Ink, 01 Oct 2010 http://www.filmink.com.au/feature/jeff‐daniels‐one‐year‐later/
WUC´s Call on Worldwide Demonstrations on the International Human Rights Day
The WUC is currently working on a mayor action plan to organise joint demonstrations with its affiliate organisations as well as other international human rights organisations on 10 December 2010, the International Human Rights Day. The theme for Human Rights Day 10 December 2010 is human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.
The WUC will publish soon more detalied information on the protests on its website.
The Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plentary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day as they saw fit.
UN Human Rights Day website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRDay2010.aspx
WUC Newsletter Page 12
Uyghur Groups at the Bazaar of Cultures, Munich, Germany
On 10 December 2010 from 19h on, the 6th Bazaar of Cultures is taking place in Munich, Germany.
In the Bazaar a part from the World Uyghur Congress and the Uygur Women Association Germany over 20 cultural and activist groups, such as Active for Africa, Baha'i Community of Munich, Burundi Kids, Society for Threatened Peoples, Haiti Children's Aid Association, HaMuPa, Help for India Herrsching, Help Liberia, Friends of Madagascar, Nepal‐Tibet‐Help, Uganda Kids, will participate. The groups will present their culture through handcrafts, music and dance. The Munich based Uyghur Youth Dance Group will perform traditional Uyghur dances and Pamuzinda will play traditional music from Zimbabwe.
Location: EineWeltHaus, Great Hall E01 + Foye1, Schwanthalerstr. 80, Munich Organizer: Multicultural Meeting in cooperation with North South Forum München eV Information: Harald Hackländer, Tel 089‐8563636 [email protected]
The poster of the event can be downloaded here. WUC with UNPO at UN Forum on Minority Issues, Geneva, Switzerland
From 14 – 15 December 2010, the third annual session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues will take place in Geneva, Switzerland. This year´s forum will be held under the heading of "Minorities and Effective Participation in Economic Life”. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is organising the particuipation of its interested members to give them the opportunity to make an oral intervention during the session. The WUC as a member of UNPO will take the chance and attend the forum and speak about the topic of minority ownership and control of natural resource in East Turkestan.
Official website of the UN Minority Forum: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/session3.htm
Concerts of the Caravan “A breakfast in Kashgar prolongs life”, Bochum, Germany
On 18 December 2010 at 19h, a cultural event on Uyghur history and traditions, including Uyghur dance and Uyghur Food, will take place in Bochum, Germany. The evening will be a musical journey to the Uyghur people with songs, dances, stories and pictures.
Location: Kulturrat Bochum, Lothringer Str. 36, 44805 Bochum Organizers: TheaTerra – KünstlerInnen‐Netzwerk, in cooperation with the Society for Threatened People (www.gfbv.de) and the World Uyghur Congress Information: www.konzert‐der‐karawane.de
WUC Newsletter Page 13
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ARTICLES AND REPORTS ON UYGHUR
RELATED ISSUES
Uyghurs / East Turkestan:
Guantanamo Uighurs adapt to Swiss life Info Sud.org, 12 Oct 2010 http://www.infosud.org/spip.php?article9060 Uyghur Homes Destroyed RFA, 12 Oct 2010 http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/homes‐10122010164731.html Dunkley’s Questions on Uighur’s Employment Bernews, 13 Oct 2010 http://bernews.com/2010/10/dunkley‐questions‐on‐uighurs‐employment/ ACE Interview with Rebiya Kadeer Alliance of Collegia, 17 Oct 2010 http://aceditors.org/2010/10/ace‐interview‐with‐rebiya‐kadeer/ On the Thousand Mothers March IPS News, 20 Oct 2010 http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53223 Uyghur Farmers Protest Land Fees RFA, 24 Oct 2010 http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/farmers‐10242010162144.html Borderland: All’s not quiet on China’s western front Global Post, 26 October 2010 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china/100928/uighurs‐border‐culture‐islam Unrest Among Tibetans & Uighurs in China Sri Lanka Guardian, Oct 2010 http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/10/unrest‐among‐tibetans‐uighurs‐in‐china.html Fate of Uyghur Journalist ‘Unknown’ RFA, 01 Nov 2010 http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/journalist‐11012010101314.html Tibet:
China tightens control of Tibetan monasteries, blames “separatists” Monster Sand Critics, 11 Oct 2010 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1590452.php/China‐tightens‐control‐of‐Tibetan‐monasteries‐blames‐separatists China’s Theft of Tibetan Ballots Threatens Democracy Everywhere Huffington Post, 11 Oct 2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tenzin‐dorjee/chinas‐theft‐of‐tibetan‐b_b_758626.html Cautious support growing in China for Tibetan autonomy, Dalai Lama says The Star, 16 October 2010 http://www.thestar.com/news/world/dalailama/article/876300‐‐cautious‐support‐growing‐in‐china‐for‐tibetan‐autonomy‐dalai‐lama‐says
WUC Newsletter Page 14
China trade: The ‘Dalai Lama Effect’ CNN News, 04 Nov 2010 http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/11/04/dalai.lama.trade.china/
Liu Xiaobo:
Obama calls on China to free Nobel laureate Liu The Associated Press, 08 Oct 2010 http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101008/world/us_us_nobel_peace_prize_obama Nobel euphoria fails to mask tough reality in China Reuters, 08 Oct 2010 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6971XY20101009 China: Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Spotlights Rights Deficit Human Rights Watch, 08 October 2010 http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/10/08/china‐liu‐xiaobo‐s‐nobel‐spotlights‐rights‐deficit Liu Xiaobo and Chinese Democracy The New York Times, 08 Oct 2010 http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/liu‐xiaobo‐and‐chinese‐democracy/ Chinese activist dedicates Nobel prize to Tiananmen victims AFP, 09 Oct 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gFZi8rasZbT41YZe0VRrr0Y1JXKQ Nobel Winner Meets Wife RFA, 10 Oct 2010 http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/liu_xia‐10102010154011.html Wife of Chinese Nobel laureate under house arrest after weekend visit Globe and Mail, 10 Oct 2010 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia‐pacific/wife‐of‐nobel‐laureate‐under‐house‐arrest‐after‐informing‐him‐of‐win/article1751640/ China cancels meeting with Norway minister over Nobel Reuters, 11Oct 2010 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69A15920101011 China Denounces Foreign Backers of Nobel Winner VOA News, 14 October 2010 http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/China‐Denounces‐Foreign‐Backers‐of‐Nobel‐Winner‐104954399.html Chinese activists urge Beijing to release Liu Xiaobo Guardian.co.uk, 15 October 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/15/chinese‐activists‐beijing‐liu‐xiaobo Why We Gave Liu Xiaobo a Nobel The New York Times, 22 Oct 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23Jagland.html?_r=1 If China frees Nobel winner, it will show its strength The Washington Post, 22 Oct 2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp‐dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102105090.html
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15 Nobel laureates ask G20 to raise Liu case Reuters, 25 Oct 2010 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69O33720101025 China dissident writer to attend Nobel ceremony AFP, 07 Nov 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g570pXgDvfdMM‐f3wP‐klOBMukpQ?docId=CNG.1e9b68f348a711daf0035397bfb55da2.671
China:
Congressional‐Executive Commission on China Releases 2010 Annual Report on Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China Congressional‐Executive Commission on China http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt10/index.php China: US Should Adopt Principled China Policy Human Rights Watch, 21 October 2010 http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/10/21/china‐us‐should‐adopt‐principled‐high‐profile‐china‐policy UN Secretary General pushes China on human rights The Telegraph, 03 Nov 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8107148/UN‐Secretary‐General‐pushes‐China‐on‐human‐rights.html
China and Turkey:
Chinese PM’s visit aims to open new era in ties with Turkey Hürriyet Daily News, 07 Oct 2010 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=chinese‐pms‐visit‐aims‐to‐open‐new‐era‐in‐ties‐with‐turkey‐2010‐10‐07 China’s PM says to welcome Turkey industrial zone in Uighur region World Bulletin / News Desk, 10 Oct 2010 http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=64997 China, Turkey Deepen Ties During Rare Visit VOA News, 11 Oct 2010 http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/China‐Turkey‐Deepen‐Ties‐During‐Rare‐Visit‐104723729.html Turkish FM hopes better China ties to help Uighurs World Bulletin, 28 October 2010 http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=65679 Davutoğlu highlights historical bonds during talks in Urumqi TODAY’S ZAMAN, 30 Oct 2010 http://www.todayszaman.com/tz‐web/news‐225826‐102‐davutoglu‐highlights‐historical‐bonds‐during‐talks‐in‐urumqi.html Turkey, China eye cooperation in trade, Uighur problem Today’s Zaman,07 November 2010 http://www.todayszaman.com/tz‐web/news‐226556‐102‐turkey‐china‐eye‐cooperation‐in‐trade‐uighur‐problem.html
WUC Newsletter Page 16
Who Are the Uyghurs? Uyghurs are ethnically and culturally a Turkic people living in the areas of Central Asia commonly known as East Turkestan. The area is vast, constituting one‐sixth of the total land area under the military control of the People’s Republic of China. The Uyghurs have a rich cultural history going back almost 4,000 years and practice a moderate form of Sufi Islam and lead predominantly secular lives.
Background
Tel: 0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 Fax: 0049 (0) 89 5434 9789 [email protected] www.uyghurcongress.org
80103 Munich, Germany P.O. Box 310312
World Uyghur Congress
East Turkestan has a rich and distinctive history, enhanced by its position along the Silk Road. Since 1949, East Turkestan has become a nuclear testing ground for the Chinese military, it is home to large numbers of Chinese military and paramilitary units, and it is the site of numerous forced labor camps administered by the Chinese authorities. The population of approximately 19 million includes several Turkic‐speaking Muslim ethnic groups, of which the Uyghurs are the largest, numbering more than nine million according to official numbers. However, the WUC estimates that today about 20 million Uyghurs are living in East Turkestan. As a result of Chinese government policies, the percentage of ethnic Chinese in East Turkestan has grown from four percent in 1949 to more than 40 percent at present, constituting some 7.5 million people.
Events of 5 July 2009 The human rights situation of the Uyghur population in East Turkestan has been dire for decades and has even worsened since the July 2009 protest and ethnic unrest in Urumqi, the capital of East Turkestan. The July 2009 protest began with a peaceful demonstration by Uyghurs in Urumqi that was brutally and lethally suppressed by Chinese security forces. The Uyghurs were protesting against a lack of government action in regard to a deadly attack on Uyghur factory workers in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province in the south of China. The violent and illegal reaction of the Chinese security forces led then to ethnic violence and riots between Uyghurs and Han‐Chinese. In the days following, hundreds of both Uyghurs and Han Chinese civilians were killed. According to data published by the Chinese Xinhua news agency, 197 people were killed, but the World Uyghur Congress estimates – based on eyewitness reports ‐ that more than 1000 people died in the riots. However, until today, the exact death toll on both sides is not clear since so far no independent investigation of these events has been undertaken.
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About the WUC The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international umbrella organization that represents the collective interest of the Uyghur people both in East Turkestan and abroad and promotes Uyghur human rights and a peaceful and non‐violent solution based on rule of law for the conflict in East Turkestan.
WUC´s monthly newsletter provides the latest information on Uyghur related issues and informs about the work and activities of the WUC and its affiliate members. Older editions of the newsletter can be viewed and downloaded in pdf format from the web.
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SUPPORT THE WORLD UYGHUR CONGRESS The WUC is organised as a non‐profit organisation and relies on membership fees, grants and donations, which help the organisation to sustain its work and activities. Your donation will support our efforts to promote the preservation and flourishing of a rich, humanistic and diverse Uyghur culture, and to support the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, democratic means to determine their own political future.
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