Uyghur groups call for global action against China ahead of Urumqi Massacre anniversary

Washington, July 4 (IANS) Several Uyghur advocacy groups have urged the international community to press Beijing to reveal the fate of those killed, disappeared, or imprisoned during the “2009 Urumchi Massacre” by Chinese forces in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, ahead of its 17th anniversary on July 5.

Marking the anniversary, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) commemorated the victims of what it described as the Chinese government’s “violent crackdown on peaceful protesters.”

According to the WUC, the tragic event unfolded on July 5, 2009, when thousands of young Uyghurs marched toward People’s Square in central Urumchi in Xinjiang to protest the Chinese government’s “mishandling” of an incident in the Shaoguan region, where at least two Uyghurs were killed by a mob of Chinese factory workers in a “racially motivated attack.”

From July 5–7, 2009, it said, thousands of peaceful Uyghur protesters demanding equal treatment and respect for their rights and freedoms were killed, disappeared, or injured at the hands of Chinese police.

“Every July 5th, we commemorate one of the darkest moments in the history of the Uyghur people. The Chinese government’s violent crackdown on the protests was a pivotal moment in intensifying the repression of the Uyghur people, and it laid the groundwork for the genocide we witness today,” said WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun.

Reiterating its call on the international community to demand transparency on the fate of the victims, the WUC said that the global community’s continued failure to scrutinise the Chinese government’s actions has allowed Beijing to persist with repressive policies in Xinjiang that constitute “genocide.”

Meanwhile, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) also called on the Chinese government to disclose the fate of those killed, disappeared, and imprisoned following the July 5, 2009 crackdown.

Despite appeals from victims’ families, the UHRP said, the Chinese authorities have never provided a transparent accounting of the number of people killed, injured, detained, or forcibly disappeared during and after the crackdown. Many families, it said, continue to live without knowing the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones.

“The July 5 crackdown marked a decisive turning point in the Chinese government’s campaign against the Uyghur people. The impunity that followed the killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arrests sent a dangerous message that China could escalate repression without consequence. The result was the mass internment, forced labour, family separation, and other atrocity crimes that followed,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat.

–IANS

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