European Parliament 2014-2019
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Resisting Chinese Linguistic Imperialism
UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT SPECIAL REPORT Resisting Chinese Linguistic Imperialism: Abduweli Ayup and the Movement for Uyghur Mother Tongue-Based Education Rustem Shir, Research Associate Logo of the Ana Til Balilar Baghchisi (Mother Tongue Children’s Garden) May 2019 Contents Acknowledgement 4 Introduction 5 1. CCP language policy on education in East Turkestan 6 Foundations of CCP ethnic minority policy 6 Eras of minority language tolerance 9 Primary and secondary school ‘bilingual’ education policy 12 The Xinjiang Class 20 Mandarin as the language of instruction at Xinjiang University 22 Preschool and kindergarten ‘bilingual’ education policy 23 Suppression of the Movement for Uyghur Mother Tongue-Based Education 26 The Hotan Prefecture and Ghulja County Department of Education directives 28 Internment camps 29 Discussion 32 2. ABduweli Ayup and the Movement for Uyghur Mother Tongue-Based Education 36 Upal: Why couldn’t we study Kashgari? 36 Toquzaq: Oyghan! (Wake Up!) 38 Beijing: Our campus felt like a minority region 41 Doletbagh: My sad history repeating in front of me 50 Urumchi: Education for assimilation 55 Lanzhou: Are you bin Laden? 60 Ankara: Ethno-nationalism and a counterbalance 67 Urumchi: For the love of community 72 Lawrence: Disconnected 77 Kashgar: Rise of the Movement for Uyghur Mother Tongue-Based Education 81 Urumchi: Just keep silent 89 Kashgar: You’re going to be arrested 93 Doletbagh Detention Center: No choice, brother 98 Urumchi Tengritagh Detention Center: Qorqma (Don’t be afraid) 104 Urumchi Liudaowan Prison: Every color had disappeared 109 Urumchi Koktagh Prison: Do you want to defend yourself? 124 2 Urumchi/Kashgar: Release and return 127 Kashgar: Open-air prison 131 Ankara: Stateless and stranded 138 Paris: A new beginning 146 3. -
Without Land, There Is No Life: Chinese State Suppression of Uyghur Environmental Activism
Without land, there is no life: Chinese state suppression of Uyghur environmental activism Table of Contents Summary ..............................................................................................................................2 Cultural Significance of the Environment and Environmentalism ......................................5 Nuclear Testing: Suppression of Uyghur Activism ...........................................................15 Pollution and Ecological Destruction in East Turkestan ...................................................30 Lack of Participation in Decision Making: Development and Displacement ....................45 Legal Instruments...............................................................................................................61 Recommendations ..............................................................................................................66 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................69 Endnotes .............................................................................................................................70 Cover image: Dead toghrak (populus nigra) tree in Niya. Photo courtesy of Flickr 1 Summary The intimate connection between the Uyghur people and the land of East Turkestan is celebrated in songs and poetry written and performed in the Uyghur language. Proverbs in Uyghur convey how the Uyghur culture is tied to reverence of the land and that an individual’s identity is inseparable -
Uyghur Human Rights Violations in Northwest China
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON October 23, 2018 Darren Byler, PhD Department of Anthropology, University of Washington UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NORTHWEST CHINA Section 1: Overview Based on mounting evidence it is clear that the Chinese state is engaging in the extrajudicial systematic mass detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities. This process resonates with the most horrific moments in modern history. In the past such processes have resulted in generational trauma and social elimination. They shattered families, destroyed native forms of knowledge and, at times, resulted in mass death. Since 2017, hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and Kazakhs have been “disappeared” into a widespread system of “education transformation centers” in Northwest China (Xinjiang) (Philips 2018; Zenz 2018). Nearly all Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China have an immediate family member who is interned in this re- education camp system. This human engineering project affects every aspect of their lives. As the scholar Gene Bunin has noted recently (Bunin 2018), Uyghurs now refer to themselves as a “people destroyed.” As I observed during a research visit in April 2018, the phrase “everyone is gone” or “disappeared” (Uy: adem yoq) is something that Uyghurs repeat on a regular basis. Many Uyghur-owned businesses have closed across the country. Whole streets have been abandoned in Uyghur towns and villages in their homeland. The mass detention of Muslims was accelerated in 2017 when the Party Secretary of the region Chen Quanguo, with the encouragement of the Xi Jinping administration, instituted a mass evaluation of Uyghur and Kazakh society (Chin 2017). Chen asked security personnel and civil servants to determine who had studied or taught unauthorized forms of Islam, traveled internationally or had international contacts (See Figure 1). -
The Persecution of the Intellectuals in the Uyghur Region Continues
©Bahram K Sintash The Persecution of the Intellectuals in the Uyghur Region Continues • 338 Uyghur intellectuals interned, imprisoned or forcibly disappeared since April 2017 • Persecution of teachers, scholars and artists constitutes an attempt to erase Uyghur culture • Students, lecturers, poets, musicians and media professionals known to be taken away • 21 staff of Xinjiang University in internment camps • International scholarly exchange with China cannot be justified until they are released January 2019 Since April 2017, the Chinese government has interned, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared at least 338 intellectuals as part of its intensified assault on Uyghurs and extermination of their culture in East Turkestan. Five deaths in custody in this period have been confirmed, but the true number of intellectuals who have died in the camps, or died immediately after release, is unknown, given the veil of secrecy and fear. Dozens of intellectuals are also serving harsh sentences handed down prior to April 2017. In October 2018, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) documented 231 academics, artists, and journalists targeted in the Chinese state’s “cultural cleansing” campaign. The addition of 107 new names illustrates the shocking scale of the attempt to eradicate the Uyghur identity through punishing a broad range of intellectual life. Mutellip Nurmehmet, Abdusalam Mamat, Yasinjan, and religious scholars Muhammad Salih Hajim and Abdulehed Mehsum died while custody or shortly after their release. UHRP’s report raises a fundamental ethical question for universities outside China. At a time when the state has thrown at least 338 scholars and students into ethnic-concentration camps, can exchanges and scholarly cooperation with state institutions in China continue? UHRP calls upon universities, researchers, and cultural programs to suspend all cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Education until the camps are closed, the victims compensated, and perpetrators brought to justice. -
Scholars at Risk
Free to Think 2019 Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project Acknowledgements Scholars at Risk (SAR) gratefully acknowledges the members of higher education communities worldwide who have inspired us through their courage and dedication. We acknowledge especially the researchers contributing to the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project by reporting and analyzing incidents, tracking down sources and witnesses, and helping to develop advocacy responses. We thank the Office of the Provost and New York University for hosting SAR, as well as the many other member institutions, associations, partners, and individuals that contribute to our work beyond the monitoring project. These include especially the Vivian G. Prins Foundation for core support for services for threatened and refugee scholars, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Foundations, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Winston Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, Stichting Polar Lights, the Fritt Ord Foundation, the AAUP Foundation, the Microsoft Corporation, Newman's Own Foundation, our anonymous donors, the members of SAR's Board and Ambassadors Council, and the many friends of Scholars at Risk who help us each day to protect more scholars. This report is the result of research conducted by the monitoring project and may not reflect the views of individual network members, institutions, or participating individuals. Scholars at Risk invites comments on this report or inquiries about our work at [email protected]. SAR depends on the generous financial support of friends inside and outside higher education communities to sustain our work. Gifts of any size are gratefully appreciated, including matching gifts and bequests. -
Coalition Update October 2019
Coalition Update October 2019 COALITION CALENDAR REGISTER NOW! October 23-25: Science, Technology and Human Rights Conference The Coalition’s tenth anniversary conference will be held in Washington, DC, at AAAS headquarters. Join us for three days of engaging sessions with human rights leaders, academic researchers, scientists and engineers, members of impacted and vulnerable communities, and much more. • Keynote speaker Alfred Brownell, a 2019 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Award (often referred to as the “Green Nobel Peace Prize”) will share his insights on the impact of scientists on human rights from his work in Liberia defending the environment. • Sessions and workshops topics include advocacy at the United Nations, measuring academic freedom, AI and human rights, and the role of scientists and engineers in human rights advocacy in Latin America, India, and West Africa. • The inaugural Science and Human Rights Innovator recognition will be presented. • Receptions, networking sessions, and more opportunities to connect with colleagues across scientific disciplines and meet practitioners from human rights organizations. Register today! Learn more » Webinar: Scientific Collaborations with Human Rights Organizations On October 17, the Coalition’s Scientific Collaborations with Human Rights Organizations Project Team hosted its fourth webinar of its 2019 series. Anne Sprinkel, Program Director of Tipping Point at CARE, a global nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty worldwide, discussed the role of scientific collaboration in their -
US Warns Businesses Over China’S Xinjiang Province BBC/ 2021-07-14
12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press US warns businesses over China’s Xinjiang province BBC/ 2021-07-14 The US has issued a tough new warning to companies about doing business in China’s Xinjiang province. American firms that still have supply chain and investment ties in the region were told they “could run a high riskof violating US law.” Washington cited evidence of Uyghurs have been detained at camps whe- genocide and other human re allegations of torture, forced labour and rights abuses in Xinjiang. sexual abuse have emerged alleged human rights abuses and surveillance in Xinjiang. China has denied previous allegations that the regi- Earlier this month, French authori- on’s Uyghur population has been subjected to human ties opened a “crimes against huma- rights abuses. nity” probe into four fashion brands. The Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory was pub- Uniqlo, Zara-owner Inditex and Fren- lished jointly by the State Department, Treasury, Com- ch textile firm SMCP deny the claims, merce, Homeland Security, Labor and the Office of the while Skechers declined to comment. US Trade Representative. The move came after complaints “Businesses and individuals that do not exit supply from the European Uyghur Institute chains, ventures, and/or investments connected to and other pressure groups that the Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating US law,” said retailers were profiting from the use the updated advisory, which was first released in July of forced labour. last year. The Xinjiang region produces 85% In a press statement, Secretary of State Antony Blin- of China’s cotton and accounts for ken said the document noted that the Chinese “go- about a fifth of global supplies. -
Written Evidence Submitted by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan (XIN0080)
Written evidence submitted by Dr. Gül Berna Özcan (XIN0080) Genocide against Uyghurs in China I am a Reader in International Business and Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway, University of London and have been with this employment since 1998. Enterprise development in the post-Soviet states of Central Asia is one of my scholarship areas (Özcan, 2006; 2010; 2017, see my relevant publication below). I have conducted numerous fieldwork studies in the region since 2004 (including in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan). The first phase of my research in Kyrgyzstan was supported by a Nuffiled Foundation grant followed by a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (2005-2007). Throughout these 15+ years, I have come across and interviewed many different ethnic groups in the region. Among these, the Uyghur businesspeople displayed distinct characteristics. They maintained robust cross- border trade and entrepreneurial business ties with Xinjiang, and many had siblings, parents and other close relatives in the region. But, these people also lived in constant fear of being harassed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Unlike any other groups they were subject to extensive surveillance. This is distinct from the Dungans (ethnic Han Chinese Muslims) who also left China and did not feel threatened or bullied by China in the same way. In 2009, as a Social Science Research Fellow at the American University of Central Asia, I conducted a study on the role of religion and ethnicity in entrepreneurship and visited several Uzbek and Dungan settlements communities and also a Uyghur village. The Uyghur community was in shock as a result of mass arrests and martial law conditions in Xinjiang that followed violent clashes in 2008. -
Stepping Onto Sacred Ground
PATRICK HÄLLZON Stepping onto Sacred Ground The mazar in Uyghur day-to-day life Saints and holy places in Xinjiang1 Like most Turkic peoples, the vast majority of the Uyghur people are Muslim and belong to the Sunni branch of Islam.2 Islam is a contributing factor in Uyghur identity and is manifested in daily life by a number of regulations on food, observation of religious holidays and life cycle celebrations. As elsewhere in the Muslim world, the tradition of pilgrimage (ziyarat) to the shrines of Muslim saints3 is a widespread practice among the Uyghur. In 1 The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is situated in the north-western part of China and covers approximately one sixth of the nation’s territory. Xinjiang is a huge area of 1.6 million square kilometres and is usually divided into three main areas: the Tarim Basin, the Dzungarian Basin and the Turpan Depression (Rudelson 1997: 17). While the Uyghur constitute the chief ethnic group in the area, the re- gion is widely multi-ethnic in its character. Besides the dominant Uyghur and Han populations there is also a substantial population of Hui (Tungan) who are Chinese speaking Muslims. Among other important ethnic groups are the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian and Tajik (Rudelson 1997: 22–3). In the years 2006, 2008 and 2009 I have visited approximately 20 mazar in Xin- jiang, China as part of preparations for an MA thesis at the Department of South and Central Asian Studies at Stockholm University. This article builds upon these find- ings. I would like to express my thanks to Äsäd Sulaiman and family, Rahilä Dawut, Jun Sugawara and Devin DeWeese. -
David Meale July 9, 2021 Charge D'affaires of the Embassy of China
David Meale July 9, 2021 Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of China U.S. Embassy in Beijing No. 55 An Jia Lou Lu 100600 Via email: [email protected] RE: Working to release Dr. Rahile Dawut, distinguished anthropologist Dear Mr. Meale, The American Anthropological Association last wrote to the embassy in 2018 concerning the disappearance of Dr. Rahile Dawut, a celebrated anthropologist and renowned scholar from China’s Uighur ethnic minority group. We have now learned, as confirmed by the Radio Free Asia Uyghur Service, that she has officially been arrested. Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim group, have been detained for weeks, months or years in “re-education centers” in China’s far western Xinjiang region. The Chinese authorities have never assumed responsibility. We believe Dr. Dawut was arrested because she is an outstanding woman scholar, and it is evident their methods of disappearing people are designed to inflict maximum hurt and destruction within the Uighur community and, indeed, the world at large. The Chinese Communist Party and its leadership have engineered and publicly taken responsibility for the ongoing program of destruction of the Uyghur people and the other indigenous peoples of East Turkistan. As the world’s largest professional and scholarly society for our field, we stand for advancing understanding of the human condition through anthropological research, and for applying this understanding to addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems. It is often said that anthropology is a field of knowledge that is dedicated to making the world safe for cultural differences. -
The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History
THE SACRED ROUTES OF UYGHUR HISTORY THE SACRED ROUTES OF UYGHUR HISTORY Rian Thum Cambridge, Massachusetts London, En gland 2014 Copyright © 2014 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First Printing Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Thum, Rian Richard. The sacred routes of Uyghur history / Rian Thum. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 674- 59855- 3 (alkalne paper) 1. Uighur (Turkic people)— Historiography. 2. Uighur (Turkic people)— Travel. 3. Uighur (Turkic people)— Intellectual life. 4. Uighur (Turkic people)— Religion. 5. Manuscripts, Uighur—History. 6. Islam— China— Takla Makan Desert Region— Manuscripts—History. 7. Pilgrims and pilgrimages— China—Takla Makan Desert Region— History. 8. Sacred space—China—Takla Makan Desert Region— History. 9. Takla Makan Desert Region (China)— History, Local. 10. Nationalism— China—Takla Makan Desert Region— History. I. Title. DS731.U4T48 2014 951'.60072—dc23 2014006244 CONTENTS Note on Orthography vii INTRODUCTION 1 1. THE HISTORICAL CANON 16 2. MANUSCRIPT TECHNOLOGY 52 3. THE SHRINE 96 4. HISTORY IN MOTION 133 5. SAINTS OF THE NATION 163 6. THE STATE 210 CONCLUSION 245 Notes 257 Ac know ledg ments 311 Index 313 NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY American Library Association— Library of Congress (ALA- LC) roman- ization systems are used for Persian, Uyghur, Rus sian, and Arabic. For the Turki dialect used in Altishahr before the development of the mod- ern Uyghur alphabet, I have used the ALA-LC Persian transliteration system, with some vowel changes, mainly in words of Turkic origin. Pin- yin is used for Chinese. -
FREE to THINK 2020: Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project
2020 Free to Think Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project Acknowledgements Scholars at Risk (SAR) gratefully acknowledges the members of higher education communities worldwide who have inspired us through their courage and dedication. We acknowledge especially the researchers contributing to the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project by reporting and analyzing incidents, tracking down sources and witnesses, and helping to develop advocacy responses. We also acknowledge our publication partners—the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey; theUniversity of Los Andes Human Rights Observatory, in Venezuela; and Aula Abierta, also in Venezuela— for their important contributions to this year’s report. We thank the Office of the Provost and New York University for hosting SAR, as well as the many other member institutions, associations, partners, and individuals that contribute to our work beyond the monitoring project. These include especially the Vivian G. Prins Foundation for core support for services for threatened and refugee scholars, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Foundations, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Winston Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, Demoret Stiftung, the Microsoft Corporation, Newman’s Own Foundation, our anonymous donors, the members of SAR’s Board and Ambassadors Council, and the many friends of SAR who help us each day to protect more scholars. This report is the result of research conducted by the monitoring project and our publication partners, and thus may not reflect the views of individual network members, institutions, or participating individuals. SAR invites comments on this report or inquiries about our work at [email protected].