Geneva, 6 March 2019
For many years now, very alarming reports have appeared in the media about the ill-treatment of Uyghurs, who are Muslim, by the Chinese authorities. This governmental crackdown campaign has included the public burning of the Quran, forced eating of pork, removal of young people from their homes, the establishment of “re-education camps” with over one million detainees, and mass indoctrination to stamp out the religious beliefs shared among the country’s 11 million Uyghurs.
The situation is so dire that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Michelle Bachelet, and many intergovernmental, state and NGO representatives have officially denounced it.
To highlight the plight of the oppressed Uyghur minority in China, CAP Liberté de Conscience, in partnership with EMISCO and many European and international human rights NGOs, organised an event at the United Nations offices in Geneva on 5 March 2019.
At this well-attended meeting, in the presence of a large contingent of Chinese officials, Bashy Quraishy, Secretary General of EMISCO; Seyit Tümtürk, President of the East Turkestan National Council; Jean-Marie Heydt, Honorary President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe; Humeyra Filiz, psychologist and representative of Ambassadors of Hearts; and Ayşe Elkiliç, head of the think-tank ThinkOut in Belgium, expressed their deep concern regarding the mistreatment of Uyghurs. They asked the Chinese authorities to respect the fundamental rights of their minorities, including freedom of expression and the practice of their language, culture and faith, and to treat them as equal citizens.
Summing up the views expressed at the event, Professor Bülent Şenay of Bursa Uludağ University, former Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, concluded that the Chinese Communist Party’s camps for the Uyghurs are the most dystopian case of Islamophobic and racist human rights violation.
The organisers and speakers have brought the plight of an oppressed community to the doorstep of the UN, and we hope that urgent action will be taken to stop this horrendous and inhumane practice.
We stress that no country, nation or state has the privilege of violating human rights and freedoms, which are the most valuable assets of mankind.
Veysel FilizSpokesperson of EMISCO
6 March 2019
EMISCO at the United Nations in Geneva
