Category Archives: Human Dignity

Arfiya Eri’s election gives hope to second-generation Uyghurs living in exile, advocates say

A Japanese woman of Uyghur ethnicity and who was educated in the United States has been elected a member of the Japanese parliament — the first person of Uyghur heritage to run as a major party candidate in an election there.

Arfiya Eri, a 34-year-old member of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, was elected on Sunday to the lower house of the Japanese Diet to represent Chiba prefecture’s 5th district. She captured the seat previously held by Kentaro Sonoura, a former LDP lawmaker who resigned last December over a political funds scandal.

The World Uyghur Congress, or WUC, applauded the election of Eri, also known as Alfiya Hidetoshi, as the first Uyghur woman to be elected to any parliament, and the first Uyghur-Japanese politician to hold a seat in the Diet, or Japanese parliament.

Eri beat six other candidates from Chiba to win the contentious election, receiving about 5,000 votes more than the candidate who came in second, said Sawut Memet, a standing committee member of the Japanese Uyghur Association, based in Tokyo.

“This historic victory is significant for the Uyghur Japanese community, as well as the global Uyghur diaspora community,” the organization said in a statement issued Monday. “The WUC firmly believes that she will serve the interests of the Japanese citizens, and the country, at the same time raising the Uyghur issue in the Japanese Parliament and other high-level forums.”

Eri’s election comes as Uyghur rights groups have called on the international community to take concrete action against China for committing severe rights abuses against the mostly Muslim group in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Japan’s government in recent years has expressed concern about human rights conditions in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has detained Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in “re-education” camps, monitored them with intrusive digital surveillance technologies, subjected them to forced labor, and worse.

Japan’s Lower House adopted a resolution in February 2022, expressing concern over the human rights situation in China, including the plight of the Uyghurs, and called on Beijing to take measures to address the situation.

That September, WUC President Dolkun Isa asked the Japanese parliament to declare that China’s abuse of the Uyghurs amounted to a genocide, following similar determinations of genocide and crimes against humanity by the U.S. State Department and several Western legislatures.

Her election has “tremendous positive implications for Uyghurs,” showing that they are not “terrorists” as China has made them out to be to justify its repressive policies in Xinjiang, Memet told RFA.

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The U.S. Needs to Stop Paying Lip Service to the Uyghur Cause and Start Acting | Opinion
Nury Turkel, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

For the past two decades, I have lived with a heavy burden: My human rights advocacy has come at the cost of my family. My parents have been unable to see their American children and meet their grandchildren. I could not participate in my father’s funeral after he passed away in April last year.

China has sanctioned me due to my role in the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which has been vocal in its critiques of the Chinese government and recommendations to hold them accountable for violations of religious freedom and atrocity crimes. In particular, my work on Uyghur human rights for the past two decades has resulted in retaliation against my family members back in China.

My late father remarked a few years ago that he wished he had passed away already so he could have left this world with good memories. It pains me beyond words that I could not be there to carry my father’s casket in the end and to hold my mother to mourn together. Upon receiving the news of my father’s passing, I still carried on with my trip on behalf of the U.S. government agency. But I will feel forever deprived of what should be a fundamental thing in the free world: to attend a loved one’s funeral and say final goodbyes.

My experience is commonplace in the Uyghur diaspora.

A year after losing my father, I am still struggling to reunite with my mother and introduce her to my children. The Chinese officials’ refusal to let my mother go shows they are waiting for her to die as my father did, which would allow them to close the case without being pressed to account for their actions.

I have not seen my mother since 2004. This Chinese brutality is beyond the pale. My mother lost the life she knew and her husband of 53 years. She deserves to spend whatever time she has left in this world surrounded by her American children and grandchildren.

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CFU Condemns Emmanuel Macron’s Visit to China Ignoring Uyghur Genocide

Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) strongly condemns French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China, where he not only failed to address the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in East Turkistan but also made irresponsible comments legitimizing Xi and the CCP’s genocide and slavery. CFU is deeply disappointed that Macron prioritized economic interests over human rights by staying silent on the ongoing atrocities being committed against the Uyghurs.

Macron’s visit to China is not only deeply concerning for the Uyghur community but also to all the democratic countries. Macron’s failure to speak out against the atrocities being committed against the Uyghurs sends a dangerous message to the Chinese government that their actions are permitted by the EU.

The Uyghurs have been subjected to a brutal campaign of repression and genocide since 2017, which includes mass detentions, forced labor, forced sterilization, and other forms of systematic abuse and torture. Macron’s visit without addressing these human rights violations undermines efforts to hold the Chinese government accountable and to demand justice for the Uyghur people.

Executive Director Rushan Abbas said “It’s extremely disappointing to see President Macron turning a blind eye to the atrocities happening in East Turkistan during his visit to China. By not speaking out against the ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs, he has missed a crucial opportunity to demand justice and put an end to China’s reprehensible campaign of repression and abuse. This is not just a political issue, but a matter of basic human rights and dignity. The fact that our voices are still being ignored only reinforces our determination to fight for freedom and hold the Chinese government accountable for their heinous crimes. We will not rest until justice is served, and the Uyghur people are free from oppression and persecution.”

CFU calls on President Macron to speak out against the ongoing atrocities being committed against the Uyghurs and to use his platform to demand justice for the Uyghurs and to hold the Chinese government accountable for its actions. CFU remains committed to standing with the Uyghur people and advocating for their rights and freedoms. We will continue to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in East Turkistan and work towards ending it.