Rebiya Kadeer: Remember the Uighurs
On July 29, I became the first Uighur leader to meet with a sitting U.S. President at the White House. Our meeting sent a message to Beijing on the eve of the Olympics: that the Chinese government's human rights abuses against the Uighur people cannot be ignored.
While it presents itself to the international community as the host of the world's largest sporting event, the Beijing government is quietly committing systematic human rights violations against the Uighurs on a massive scale. Like the Tibetans, Uighurs are subject to land confiscations, a ban on their language in schools and prohibitions on religious activity. In contrast, Han Chinese in Uighur areas receive preferential treatment in securing employment in both public and private sectors.
The approach of the Games has made the situation worse. China claims Uighur "terrorism" poses a significant threat to the security of the Olympics, and has intensified its assault on human rights in East Turkestan, an area China calls the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. In recent months, Uighurs have been subjected to an even higher rate of execution and detention, in addition to forced relocation, police monitoring, passport confiscation and the destruction of places of worship. According to Amnesty International, East Turkestan is the only region in China where political crimes can receive the death penalty...
...Last week, China's state-run news agency reported another terrorist incident: two armed Uighur assailants attacked a border post in Kashgar, killing 16 government officers. I condemn all acts of violence. But it is important that the response be proportionate to the act. And again, no evidence has been produced to support the officials' claims.
To secure the Olympic Games during the bidding process in 2001, China made a promise to improve its human rights record. At the time, I myself was imprisoned in a Chinese jail on false political charges. I was released in 2005. When the Games were awarded to Beijing, Uighurs in China and across the world hoped that their human rights aspirations would receive wider notice.
As the free world's leaders gather in Beijing for the Olympics, I ask them to openly raise the terrible plight of the Uighur people in their meetings with Chinese government officials. It has been six years since Lorne Craner, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor visited East Turkestan. I therefore also request the U.S. government to send another high-level representative to go to the region to investigate the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation.
The Olympics have placed a spotlight on China. It's time the Chinese government's little-known campaign of intimidation against a peaceful people was revealed, and reversed.
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While it presents itself to the international community as the host of the world's largest sporting event, the Beijing government is quietly committing systematic human rights violations against the Uighurs on a massive scale. Like the Tibetans, Uighurs are subject to land confiscations, a ban on their language in schools and prohibitions on religious activity. In contrast, Han Chinese in Uighur areas receive preferential treatment in securing employment in both public and private sectors.
The approach of the Games has made the situation worse. China claims Uighur "terrorism" poses a significant threat to the security of the Olympics, and has intensified its assault on human rights in East Turkestan, an area China calls the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. In recent months, Uighurs have been subjected to an even higher rate of execution and detention, in addition to forced relocation, police monitoring, passport confiscation and the destruction of places of worship. According to Amnesty International, East Turkestan is the only region in China where political crimes can receive the death penalty...
...Last week, China's state-run news agency reported another terrorist incident: two armed Uighur assailants attacked a border post in Kashgar, killing 16 government officers. I condemn all acts of violence. But it is important that the response be proportionate to the act. And again, no evidence has been produced to support the officials' claims.
To secure the Olympic Games during the bidding process in 2001, China made a promise to improve its human rights record. At the time, I myself was imprisoned in a Chinese jail on false political charges. I was released in 2005. When the Games were awarded to Beijing, Uighurs in China and across the world hoped that their human rights aspirations would receive wider notice.
As the free world's leaders gather in Beijing for the Olympics, I ask them to openly raise the terrible plight of the Uighur people in their meetings with Chinese government officials. It has been six years since Lorne Craner, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor visited East Turkestan. I therefore also request the U.S. government to send another high-level representative to go to the region to investigate the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation.
The Olympics have placed a spotlight on China. It's time the Chinese government's little-known campaign of intimidation against a peaceful people was revealed, and reversed.