A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Cerd) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People
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A REPORT OF VIOLATIONS OF THE CONVENTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (CERD) BY THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AGAINST THE UYGHUR PEOPLE This Report was Submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Violations by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People in East Turkistan (a.k.a. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) 1 June 2009 World Uyghur Congress A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People The 2009 Report Submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Violations by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People in Xinjiang World Uyghur Congress, June 1, 2009 I. Executive Summary II. Introduction III. China's Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) A. Violations of the Right to Education B. Violations of the Right to Employment C. Violations of the Right to Equal Treatment Before the Tribunals and All Other Organs Administering Justice D. Violations of the Right to Public Health Services and Medical Care E. Violations of the Right to Security of One’s Person and the Right to Be Protected Against Violence and Bodily Harm F. Violations of the Right to Freedom of Movement G. China's Birth Control Policy - Genocide against Uighurs and Tibetans IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People World Uyghur Congress, June 1, 2009 I. Executive Summary Submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by the World Uyghur Congress for consideration in the 75th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 3 August – 28 August 2009. This submittal provides evidence to assist in the Committee's responsibility to monitor the progress of State parties towards the full and complete implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). ICERD describes the measures that State parties need to undertake to combat racial discrimination. The World Uyghur Congress wishes to bring to the Committee's attention egregious violations of the rights accorded under the ICERD that are perpetrated daily in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Taken separately, the violations may be explained away or dismissed as isolated cases or misunderstandings. However, taken as a whole the violations indicate behaviors that are not in the spirit of the ICERD, but completely at odds with the stated aim of protecting racial minorities. One mention must be raised to place the idea of racial minorities within the PRC in perspective. The Uyghur people of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) number some ten million souls. Weighed against the number of Han Chinese in the PRC, this is a minority, yet that is more people than Sweden, Switzerland, or a dozen other European nations. This submittal demonstrates that the PRC, acting in its role of the protector of the Uyghur people have undertaken policies that deny the Uyghur people: • The Right to Education • The Right to Employment • The Right to Equal Treatment Before the Tribunals and All Other Organs Administering Justice • The Right to Public Health Services and Medical Care • The Right to Security of One’s Person and the Right to Be Protected Against Violence and Bodily Harm • The Right to Freedom of Movement The World Uyghur Congress, as representatives of the more than ten million Uyghurs left in the world, appeal to the members of the Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination to investigate the assertions presented in this document, read the recommendations and use their great office to bring about changes in the future for the Uyghur people. World Uyghur Congress June 1, 2009 Page 2 of 36 A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People World Uyghur Congress, June 1, 2009 II. Introduction This document outlines some of the egregious violations of the ICERD that continues to cause consequential damage to the Uyghur people's culture, language, and identity as a distinct, unique people. The Uyghur people were at one time the majority indigenous people of Eastern Turkistan and have a unique and distinct culture separate from the Han Chinese people. Official estimates of the Uyghur population are in excess of ten million people, greater than the population of more than a dozen European states This document relates the deficiencies in education and the consequences. A link between Chinese government programs and these deficiencies is clearly demonstrated. This document relates the discrimination in employment and demonstrates a link between a Chinese government directive and that discrimination. This document relates the behavior of the judicial system with regard to equal treatment under the law and shows the discrimination faced by the Uyghur people. This document relates restrictions to health care that are imposed on the Uyghur people. Being singled out for security deposits before being seen by physicians is one such restriction. This document relates the abuse of the right to feel secure and be protected from violence. The government and organs of the PRC and CCP are the perpetrators, not the protectors. This document relates the restrictions on travel imposed on the Uyghur people as an Olympics 'security precaution', two years before the games started. This document also relates information on the reality and consequences of the Chinese government's birth control policy on the Uyghur people. There is no forum to legally discuss these issues inside the People's Republic of China for you may be accused of one of the "Three Great Evils" and taken away. Away for a day, ten years, or maybe never returning at all; this is the reality for those that want change. This document indicates the fair and reasonable motives for change that would otherwise be evidence at a Chinese government trial for 'separatism.' This document represents hope that perhaps the hands on the clock can be turned back and that future generations of Uyghur people can rejoice in the celebration of their life, land, and culture. Page 3 of 36 A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People World Uyghur Congress, June 1, 2009 III. China's Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) A. Violations of the Right to Education Article 5(e)(v) of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) obligates China to "undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of . the right to education and training." Previous recommendations from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding education: • The Committee recommended in 1996 that China ensure access by members of minority groups to education at all levels, which includes primary, secondary and higher education. • • The Committee further recommended that China provide instruction on the history and culture of the relevant minority nationalities in autonomous areas. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Concluding Observations, People's Republic of China, 27 September 1996,CERD/C/304/Add.15,, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6aebac.html The government of the People's Republic of China asserted in its Eighth and Ninth Periodic Reports to the Committee that it has either fulfilled its obligations under Article 5(e)(v) or that it is at least making reasonable efforts to eradicate racial discrimination in education. The following examples provide evidence demonstrating the People's Republic of China neither has fulfilled its obligations, nor has undertook reasonable efforts to achieve specified goals with regard the Uyghur people. On the contrary, the evidence shows the government's efforts to use a distorted version of "bilingual education" to convert completely the medium of instruction from Uyghur language to Chinese and to deprive Uyghur students the right to study their true history and culture. History of China’s "bilingual education" program in XUAR In 1992, the Chinese government first introduced "bilingual education trial classes" in schools with predominantly Uyghur students by replacing instruction of natural sciences and mathematics from the Uyghur to the Chinese language. In 2004, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the government of Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) issued a document entitled "Decision on the Comprehensive Implementation of Bilingual Education Program" and elevated the bilingual education policy to a level of general requirement throughout XUAR. In 2005, the CCP and the XUAR government published a document entitled "A directive on teaching the Chinese language to minority preschool children." By declaring the bilingual education the highest priority policy, the XUAR government began to found bilingual pre-school daycare centers both in urban and rural areas. Page 4 of 36 A Report of Violations of the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the People's Republic of China Against the Uyghur People World Uyghur Congress, June 1, 2009 In 2008, the CCP and the government of XUAR published another document entitled "A Guideline on Strengthening the Programs to Establish Bilingual Daycare Centers and Bilingual Elementary and Middle Schools," and called on governmental administrations at all levels to expand the bilingual education program to elementary and secondary schools. As a part of the new bilingual education program, a total of 15,600 "bilingual teachers" should be hired from 2008 to 2013 to teach Uyghur youth.