Washington [US], May 16 : Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) has appreciated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for acknowledging work done by CFU to expose China's war on Islam and genocide against Uyghurs.
"CFU greatly appreciates @SecBlinken for acknowledging the work we have been doing to expose #China's war on Islam and genocide against #Uyghurs. We will continue to defend the human rights of Uyghurs," Campaign for Uyghurs tweeted on Tuesday.
CFU advocates the democratic rights and freedoms of the Uyghur people, both in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and around the world.
The US State Department on Monday (local time) released its annual report on religious freedom around the world and raised concern over violations in China and Iran.
Blinken said that most oppressive nations around the world are growing even more dire. "Governments in many parts of the world continue to target religious minorities using a host of methods, including torture, beatings, unlawful surveillance, and so-called re-education camps," he said.
Blinken underscored abuses against the predominately Muslim Uyghur minority group in the Xinjiang province of China, a country one senior State Department official described as "one of the worst abusers of human rights and religious freedom in the world."
The report accused Beijing of jailing as many as 10,000 or more people in 2022 in a widening campaign of repression against religious belief meant to bring all theological activity under the Chinese Communist Party's control.
The estimate of those imprisoned in the country ranging "from the low thousands to over 10,000" is one of many contained in the State Department's International Religious Freedom Report.
"The People's Republic of China seized, imprisoned, and banished predominantly Muslim Uyghurs to re-education camps. They continue the repression of Tibetan Buddhists, Chinese Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners - many of whom are fleeing the PRC's abuses," said Blinken.
The US has previously determined that Beijing's treatment of the Uyghurs amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity, and the report, which covers the year 2022, said that persecution has continued steadily.
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