(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/12/23) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today joined the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Campaign For Uyghurs and others inside and outside the Muslim community in condemning the Chinese Communist Party for hosting a “propaganda tour” to whitewash its genocide of Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic minorities in that nation.
A delegation of more than 30 Islamic figures from 14 countries participated in the Chinese government-organized propaganda visit. Afterward, some of the participants released a statement praising China for its “counter-terrorism” plan.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda trip cannot erase the fact that countless Uyghur Muslims are still missing, countless families are still divided, and countless mosques have been bulldozed or shut down,” said CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “Muslim leaders should express support for Uyghur Muslims and demand the release of all those currently held in Chinese concentration camps. Participating in propaganda tours without speaking the truth undermines the Uyghur people and emboldens China’s war on Islam.”
He noted that last November, CAIR welcomed a condemnation by 50 United Nations countries of China’s human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region.
Also last year, CAIR called the United Nations Human Rights Council’s vote against holding a debate on the Uyghur genocide “shameful.”
BACKGROUNDER ON UYGHUR GENOCIDE:
The Chinese government is targeting Uyghur Muslims and other Turkic ethnic minorities with a campaign of genocide. Millions of Uyghurs have been detained in concentration camps in which beatings, torture and rape are the norm. Millions more are being used as slave labor on plantations and in Chinese factories.
In April of last year, CAIR welcomed a new report by the U.S. Department of State exposing China’s ongoing genocide targeting Uyghurs Muslims in Xinjiang.
In its country report for China, the State Department said:
“Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. These crimes were continuing and included: the arbitrary imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than one million civilians; forced sterilization, coerced abortions, and more restrictive application of the country’s birth control policies; rape; torture of a large number of those arbitrarily detained; forced labor; and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR has called for “vigorous enforcement” of a new law that blocks imports linked to forced labor by Uyghur Muslims and other persecuted groups in China.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com