In September 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 117-page report detailing the mass detention of nearly 3 million Uighur/Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese government.
Those held in reeducation centers are forced to listen to lectures, learn Mandarin, sing songs praising the Chinese government and are coerced into abandoning their faith. Inmates tell accounts of being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol, both forbidden activities in Islam. Some inmates have been tortured.
China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is one of the worst surveillance states in the world. Officials collect biometric data on residents including DNA samples, fingerprints, and ‘voice samples’ without consent. QR codes outside homes help officials gather information on how often individuals pray, and countless checkpoints armed with facial recognition cameras control residents’ movements.
“Here in America, we have powers that others don’t have and that is access to our Congress. It is not acceptable for our government to be rewarding China with economic deals and access to our markets when it is violating human rights at such levels,” said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. “This is exactly how genocide begins. When you dehumanize an entire population, we’ve seen what happens next.”
CAIR-LA was proud to lobby members of Congress on Capitol Hill for legislation to:
- Call for end of the arbitrary detention of the Uighurs
- Impose economic sanctions on China, Chinese officials and companies operating in Xinjiang. If sanctions are not imposed, require a report to Congress on why.
- Ask the Secretary of State to consider establishing the position of Special Coordinator for Xinjiang.
- Impose economic restrictions on federal procurement and exports
- Promote the preservation of the Uighur language and provides protections for Uighurs living in the U.S.
On Saturday, April 6, CAIR-LA staff joined more than 200 people at a Rally and March in Hollywood support the Uyghur community.
WATCH: CAIR-LA Policy & Advocacy Manager Fayaz Nawabi speaks about solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims being incarcerated and exterminated in China.
https://www.facebook.com/cairgla/videos/2096103047171833/
What can you do to help stop the genocide?
Call your members of Congress and ask them to support S. 178/H.R. 649 – two bi-partisan bills – to help stop the mass incarceration and genocide happening to Uyghurs in China.