Скачать или смотреть Uyghurs right activists call on world to stand up to Beijing

Uyghur rights groups in Washington are calling on governments worldwide to stand up to Beijing. They accuse China of genocide and want people to remember what happened 14 years ago in Urumqi, China, during violent confrontations between Uyghurs, Han Chinese and the police. The rights groups say not much has changed. Graham Kanwit reports for Voice of America.

These Uyghurs in exile accuse China of arbitrarily detaining their loved ones and carrying out other human rights violations in the Uyghur homeland, which they call East Turkistan.

Officially the region in northwest China is called Xinjiang.

Outside the White House, these Uyghurs say they want independence from China. They are also commemorating an event they will never forget in the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, 14 years ago this month.

Aziz Sulayman
East Turkistan Government in Exile
Mass killed them, mass shoot them and their bloods stained all of Urumqi city, and all night they washed the blood with the pressure washer in order to hide their crime.

In 2009 unrest in Urumqi was sparked by violence at a factory in southern China. Six Uyghur men were accused of sexually assaulting two ethnic Han Chinese women, which led to brawling that left two Uyghurs dead. In Urumqi, Uyghurs took to the streets, demanding justice for the killings. Amanalla Kashgari says the Urumqi protest started peacefully.

Amanalla Kashgari
They wanted those criminals to be charged and a proper investigation to be carried out. However, instead of their voices being heard and sit down with the officials, they were brutally cracked down by the paramilitary.

According to Chinese officials, nearly 200 people died, most of them Han Chinese. But Uyghur activists say that there were many more Uyghur victims, and that China’s repression in their homeland continues to this day. Several countries, including the United States, have described China’s actions as genocide. In a statement to VOA, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu describes people who call the Xinjiang region East Turkistan as “separatist forces” that undermine China’s national unity. The statement says, “The issues related to Xinjiang are not about human rights. They are about countering violent terrorism, radicalization and separatism. The accusation of ‘genocide’ in Xinjiang is a flat-out lie of the century.”

The protesters at the White House are calling on the international community to take more action. Graham Kanwit, for VOA News, Washington.