Uyghur protest at UN demands justice on Urumchi Massacre anniversary
Jul 05, 2024
Geneva [Switzerland], July 5 : In a poignant display of remembrance and defiance, Uyghur Muslims gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva to mark the 15th anniversary of the 2009 Urumchi Massacre on Friday.
Organised by global Uyghur diaspora communities including the World Uyghur Congress and Campaign for Uyghurs, this solemn occasion served as a stark reminder of unresolved grievances and ongoing human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang province, also known as East Turkistan.
On July 5, 2009, thousands of Uyghurs in Urumchi protested against the Chinese government's handling of the Shaoguan incident, where Uyghur lives were lost in clashes with Chinese factory workers.
Today, protesters held aloft images of missing loved ones, demanding accountability and urging the UN to intervene on behalf of over 1 million Uyghurs reportedly detained in internment camps.
The exact number of those missing remains uncertain, adding urgency to calls for global action.
The demonstration underscored widespread international concern over China's policies in Xinjiang, which human rights groups describe as systematic repression and cultural erasure.
Abdul Hakim Idris, executive director of the Centre for Uyghur Studies in Washington, D.C., who participated in the protest, stated, "Today, we remember the massacre of July 5, 2009, in Urumqi, the capital city. This marked the beginning of the current genocide. At that time, the Chinese government killed hundreds of people and manipulated the situation, turning it into a clash between Han Chinese and Uyghurs."
He continued, "Xi Jinping's initial war on terror evolved into a war on Uyghurs. Xi Jinping declared this campaign in 2014 in Kashgar city, resulting in millions of people now held in concentration camps."
"Hundreds of Uyghurs were forcibly transported to prisons across China. Many children were separated from their families, and girls were coerced into marriages with Han Chinese. Uyghur women faced rape, group rape, and torture. The Chinese government burned the Quran, and as a state, they systematically destroyed mosques and banned the Uyghur language since September 2017," Abdul Hakim Idris alleged.
Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of the World Uyghur Congress, emphasised, "Human Rights Watch documented and reported that around 40,000 Uyghurs have disappeared. Yet, the Chinese government has not been held accountable by the international community."
Zumretay Arkin, Director of Global Advocacy at the World Uyghur Congress, stated, "Since 2017, the Chinese government has been conducting a genocide against my people, the Uyghur people, and the Turkic people of East Turkistan. Over 3 million Uyghurs and Turkic people have been detained in internment camps, where they face torture, abuse, malnutrition, sexual harassment, and other atrocities. Mass surveillance is pervasive, even in the diaspora community, leaving Uyghurs feeling unsafe both inside and outside the UN in Geneva."
She added, "This repression is not limited to Uyghurs alone; Tibetans have faced similar suppression of language, culture, and religion for decades. Taiwanese and Hong Kong activists also endure severe crackdowns on their freedoms of expression and religion."
As voices of dissent grow louder, the plight of the Uyghurs continues to draw global attention, amplifying calls for justice and an end to what many term a humanitarian crisis.
