Press Releases

Following today's announcement in the Chinese state media that "full Internet access" has been restored in East Turkestan, the Uyghur American Association (UAA) calls upon the international community to remember the many Uyghur website administrators, bloggers and journalists who have been detained since July 5, 2009, many of whom remain in detention.

On April 24, Chinese state media announced that 57-year-old Zhang Chunxian, formerly the Communist Party Secretary of Hunan Province, had been appointed to the post of Party Secretary for the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), replacing 65-year-old Wang Lequan, who has been made deputy secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee.

The Uyghur American Association (UAA) extends its deepest gratitude to the UN mandate holders, States, and NGOs that have raised aspects of the Uyghurs' plight during the 13th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is in progress in Geneva, Switzerland for most of the month of March 2010.

The Uyghur American Association marks the thirteenth anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre, when police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of Uyghurs in the city of Ghulja [Ch: Yining] in East Turkestan (also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), and thousands of people were detained on suspicion of participating in the demonstration.