Washington, DC [US], October 4 : The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has released its weekly brief, highlighting a surge in international condemnation of China's persecution of Uyghur Muslims, following new findings and global advocacy events exposing China's deepening campaign of cultural and religious repression in East Turkistan.
A recent US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) factsheet revealed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to target Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim clerics as part of its ongoing genocide in the region. Since 2014, more than 1,000 religious figures, including imams and teachers, have been imprisoned or disappeared. Among them, Kazakh imam Erjan Quwash received a 21-year sentence, and Uyghur imam Dadihan was sentenced to 20 years.
The report also documented the death of 96-year-old Imam Abidin Damollam in prison while serving a nine-year term. USCIRF further noted the persecution of Uyghur women such as Tursungul Ghopur and Heyrinisa Memet, who were imprisoned for teaching religion and culture, calling it part of Beijing's coercive "sinicisation" policy to erase Uyghur identity.
At the same time, UN human rights experts expressed grave concern over China's criminalisation of Uyghur cultural expression, citing the imprisonment of songwriter Yaxia'er Xiaohelaiti (Uigga) and the life sentence reportedly imposed on scholar Rahile Dawut. The experts warned that China's repression of art and academia could amount to crimes against humanity, urging Beijing to reveal the fate of disappeared individuals and end its campaign of enforced assimilation.
Marking the 70th anniversary of the so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the WUC and MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk hosted a roundtable at the European Parliament to expose seven decades of oppression under Chinese rule. Prominent voices, including WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun and Dolkun Isa, demanded concrete international measures to hold China accountable.
Human Rights Watch condemned China's newly proposed "Ethnic Unity" law, calling it a formal blueprint for cultural erasure through language restrictions and ideological indoctrination. Closing the week, WUC Executive Chair Rushan Abbas joined global advocates at the "Faith Under Siege" conference, urging collective action to defend religious freedom and resist Beijing's systematic repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other faith communities.
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