Human Rights Council Elections 2021 Candidate
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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 -
Daring to Stand up for Human Rights in a Pandemic
DARING TO STAND UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN A PANDEMIC Artwork by Jaskiran K Marway @J.Kiran90 INDEX: ACT 30/2765/2020 AUGUST 2020 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH amnesty.org 1 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS DURING A PANDEMIC 5 2. ATTACKS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS 7 2.1 COVID-19, A PRETEXT TO FURTHER ATTACK DEFENDERS AND REDUCE CIVIC SPACE 8 2.2 THE DANGERS OF SPEAKING OUT ON THE RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC 10 2.3 DEFENDERS EXCLUDED FROM RELEASE DESPITE COVID-19 – AN ADDED PUNISHMENT 14 2.4 DEFENDERS AT RISK LEFT EXPOSED AND UNPROTECTED 16 2.5 SPECIFIC RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE IDENTITY OF DEFENDERS 17 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 20 4. FURTHER DOCUMENTATION 22 INDEX: ACT 30/2765/2020 AUGUST 2020 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH amnesty.org 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The COVID-19 pandemic and states’ response to it have presented an array of new challenges and threats for those who defend human rights. In April 2020, Amnesty International urged states to ensure that human rights defenders are included in their responses to address the pandemic, as they are key actors to guarantee that any measures implemented respect human rights and do not leave anyone behind. The organization also called on all states not to use pandemic-related restrictions as a pretext to further shrink civic space and crackdown on dissent and those who defend human rights, or to suppress relevant information deemed uncomfortable to the government.1 Despite these warnings, and notwithstanding the commitments from the international community over two decades ago to protect and recognise the right to defend human rights,2 Amnesty International has documented with alarm the continued threats and attacks against human rights defenders in the context of the pandemic. -
Addressing the Challenges That Human Rights Defenders Face in the Context of Business Activities in an Age of a Shrinking Civil Society Space
Wednesday 18 November 10:00 to 11:20 Room XX (Building E) Addressing the challenges that Human Rights Defenders face in the context of business activities in an age of a shrinking civil society space There is a growing clampdown worldwide against human rights defenders who challenge specific economic paradigms, the presence of corporations and harmful business conduct. Too often, Governments detain human rights defenders, prevent them from raising funds, restrict their movements, place them under surveillance and, in some cases, authorize their torture and murder. Meanwhile, many companies either stand by as Governments employ tough law and order responses against defenders, or they aggressively target defenders who challenge their activities through legal or other means. Against this bleak backdrop, a number of progressive companies recognize the need and value in communicating effectively with communities affected by their projects. Without a social license to operate, companies face many problems that can affect their operations, increase a project’s costs and success and it can harm the firm’s overall reputation. The freedom human rights defenders enjoy plays an essential role in ensuring the legitimacy of a company’s operations. An open, secure civic space enables defenders to build inclusive, stable societies characterised by the rule of law that contribute to a favourable investment climate and operating conditions for companies. This session will explore how to overcome the risks that defenders, who challenge business conduct, face in a world in which civil society at large fights for its place. It will showcase the experiences of prominent defenders and companies operating in complex environments. -
1 Introduction Chinese Citizens Continued to Turn to the Legal System
1 ACCESS TO JUSTICE Introduction Chinese citizens continued to turn to the legal system for help when they were harmed by environmental hazards,1 unsafe food,2 discrimination,3 and other causes.4 Chinese law allows citizens to use the legal system to dispute unlawful government acts.5 Inter- national human rights instruments, such as the Universal Declara- tion of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, likewise call for the ability of citizens to obtain ef- fective legal remedies when their rights are violated.6 During the 2015 reporting year, however, the Commission observed a per- sistent gap between the Chinese government’s rhetoric regarding the importance of laws and the actual ability of citizens to use the legal system to protect their rights.7 Recent judicial reforms indi- cate recognition by the Chinese government that the current sys- tem is dysfunctional,8 and official media has touted that the re- vised PRC Administrative Litigation Law ‘‘will make it easier for citizens to take the government to court.’’ 9 It is too soon, however, to determine fully the impact of these developments. Teng Biao, a Chinese lawyer, explained that ‘‘[t]he major problem with rule of law in mainland China is not establishing legal provisions but rather implementing laws.’’ 10 The Fourth Plenum and Judicial Reforms In October 2014, the Chinese Communist Party’s leaders gath- ered for the Fourth Plenum of the 18th Party Congress Central Committee and issued the Decision on Several Major Issues in Comprehensively -
2020 Human Rights Appeal
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS APPEAL 2020 UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS APPEAL 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. FOREWORD BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER 4 2. UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN 2019 6 3. ROADMAP TO 2021 10 4. UN HUMAN RIGHTS AROUND THE WORLD IN 2020 38 5. FUNDING AND BUDGET 40 6. TRUST FUNDS 50 7. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE 52 8. ANNEXES 54 . OHCHR MANAGEMENT PLAN 2018-2021 - ELEMENTS FOCUSED ON CLIMATE CHANGE - ELEMENTS FOCUSED ON DIGITAL SPACE AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES - ELEMENTS FOCUSED ON CORRUPTION - ELEMENTS FOCUSED ON INEQUALITIES - ELEMENTS FOCUSED ON PEOPLE ON THE MOVE . UN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION CHART . ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS UN HUMAN RIGHTS APPEAL 2020 3 FOREWORD BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOREWORD BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOREWORD BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER It is an honour to present the annual Human rights work is In the following pages, we outline the I believe that today’s challenges mean our appeal of my Office for 2020. My first year strategies and partnerships we are expertise is vitally needed. We appreciate as High Commissioner has reaffirmed my an investment. It is an devising to tackle these challenges. To the support we have received from our conviction that your political and financial investment many of you successfully deliver real human rights 78 donors in 2019, 63 of them being investment is crucial for the success impact in these areas, we know we also Member States. The US$172.1 million in our efforts to promote and protect have chosen to make, in need to align our organizational processes they provided to the Office constituted a human rights. -
The UN Definition of Human Rights Defenders: Alternative Interpretative Approaches
2019 QMHRR 5(1) ISSN 2059-8092 The UN Definition of Human Rights Defenders: Alternative Interpretative Approaches Aikaterini Christina Koula* Abstract Human rights defenders play a crucial role in promoting the realisation of human rights and, in doing so, are often subject to human rights violations.The article explores who can be a human rights defender and particularly looks at the definition of defenders derived from Article 1 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The definition is broad and vague, as it concerns anyone who fights for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Recognising that the scope of the Declaration was uncertain, in 2004 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published Fact Sheet 29 in an attempt to provide guidance on how to approach it. The Fact Sheet establishes three requirements to be a defender; however, the definition remains problematic. The aim of the article is to show through examples that the requirements are themselves so vague that they could provoke misunderstandings, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the Declaration and to propose alternative interpretative approaches. Key Words Human Rights Defenders – definition – Declaration on HRDs – UNCHR Fact Sheet 29 – minimum standards – risk. 1. Introduction Human rights defenders (HRDs)1 play a crucial role in protecting and promoting the realisation of human rights. Their actions in improving human rights contribute in an important way to enhancing security and stability and to the promotion of the rule of law and respect for the international human rights framework.2 Due to the sensitivity of their work, human rights defenders are potentially exposed to serious human rights violations, including attacks and abuse. -
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). -
Background Information on the Edelstam Prize Laureate 2018: Li Wenzu
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE EDELSTAM PRIZE LAUREATE 2018: LI WENZU Li Wenzu was born on April 5, 1985, in Badong, Hubei Province, where she completed her secondary school education. At the age of 24, she moved to Beijing to look for work. There she met her husband, and they got married after a year. Her husband, Wang Quanzhang, is a Chinese human rights lawyer, who has defended activists and victims of land seizures, as well as persecuted and who once defended practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Wenzu was content with her life as a housewife until the fateful day when Wang Quanzhang disappeared. For several days beginning on July 9, 2015, more than 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists were detained or questioned in the largest clampdown on the legal profession in recent history known as the “709 Crackdown.” The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group estimates that 319 lawyers, activists, and people associated with them were interrogated, taken into custody or “disappeared” in the crackdown. During the initial period of their detention, many of the arrested lawyers and activists were held without contact with the outside world and their families received no information regarding their well-being or whereabouts. The majority of them were subsequently released on bail, while a few have been convicted of various crimes and sentenced to up to seven years in prison. However, Wang Quanzhang situation is different since no trial dates have been announced. He is therefore the last prisoner in the “709 Crackdown” who is in legal limbo. The Chinese regime has charged him with “subversion of state power,” a catch- all “crime,” it has long used to persecute individuals and organizations it deems as a threat to the one-party state it maintains with an iron hand. -
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. -
Access to Justice Excerpted Congressional-Executive
ACCESS TO JUSTICE EXCERPTED FROM THE 2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 8, 2015 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 98–306 PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:47 Jan 19, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 U:\DOCS\AR15 SECTIONS\AR15 A2J.TXT DEIDRE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS House Senate CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, MARCO RUBIO, Florida, Cochairman Chairman JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma ROBERT PITTENGER, North Carolina TOM COTTON, Arkansas TRENT FRANKS, Arizona STEVE DAINES, Montana RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois BEN SASSE, Nebraska TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California MICHAEL M. HONDA, California JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon TED LIEU, California GARY PETERS, Michigan EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS CHRISTOPHER P. LU, Department of Labor SARAH SEWALL, Department of State STEFAN M. SELIG, Department of Commerce DANIEL R. RUSSEL, Department of State TOM MALINOWSKI, Department of State PAUL B. PROTIC, Staff Director ELYSE B. ANDERSON, Deputy Staff Director (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:47 Jan 19, 2016 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt -
New Protection Manual Human Rights Defenders
ManualEnglish-2009.qxp 03/04/2009 11:32 PÆgina 1 NNEEWW PPRROTECTIONOTECTION MMANUANUALAL FFOROR HHUMANUMAN RRIGHTIGHTSS DDEFENDERSEFENDERS RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY ENRIQUE EGUREN AND MARIE CARAJ ManualEnglish-2009.qxp 03/04/2009 11:32 PÆgina 1 New protection manual for human rights defenders NEW PROTECTION MANUAL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN BY ENRIQUE EGUREN, AND MARIE CARAJ, PROTECTION INTERNATIONAL (PI) PUBLISHED BY PROTECTION INTERNATIONAL 1 ManualEnglish-2009.qxp 03/04/2009 11:32 PÆgina 2 Published by Protection International 2009 Rue de la Linière, 11 B-1060 Brussels, Belgium. Third edition Copyright© 2008 by Protection International. This manual has been produced for the benefit of human rights defenders and may be quoted from or photocopied for non commercial purposes as long as the source/authors are acknowledged. For its inclusion in other publications or other uses please ask for authorization. Printed copies of the New Manual from Protection International Rue de la Linière, 11. B-1060 Brussels (Belgium) Tel: +32(0)2 609 44 05 / +32(0)2 609 44 07 / Fax: +32(0)2 609 44 07 [email protected] It can be downloaded for free from www.protectionline.org Prices of printed copies: Southern organisations: free Northern organisations: 20 Euros plus post and packaging (reductions for bulk orders) The New manual is available in English, French and Spanish (it is also being translated into other languages by Protection International) protection manual for human rights defenders ISBN: 978-2-930539-00-3 New 2 ManualEnglish-2009.qxp 03/04/2009 11:32 PÆgina 3 New protection manual for human rights defenders FForeword to the first edition by Hina Jilani In my work as Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders I have noted with grave concern an increase in the number of reports of serious human rights abuses against defenders and a notable shift away from low-targeting, such as intimidation and harassment, to more serious violations, such as attacks on and threats to physical integrity of defenders.