Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Time: 10:00–11:00 a.m. EST

Watch live on UHRP’s Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube pages (@UyghurProject)

This year is the 3rd anniversary of the finding of genocide by the Uyghur Tribunal on December 9, 2021, and the 76th anniversary of the Genocide Convention. Every year, Uyghurs around the world commemorate this day as the day that Uyghur Genocide has been recognized by an independent tribunal.

Since the findings of the Uyghur Tribunal, the French National Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the situation as genocide, and the European Parliament passed a resolution stating that the persecution of Uyghurs amounts to crimes against humanity and “provide[s] serious indications of a possible genocide.” The US Government and legislative bodies in the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Czechia, Ireland, and Taiwan have all made similar determinations of genocide and crimes against humanity. The United Nations has also come to similar conclusions, calling the situation “possible crimes against humanity.”

Speakers will discuss the importance of the independent Uyghur Tribunal and its determination of what Chinese government has committed against Uyghurs.

Speakers:

Abduweli Ayup is a writer, journalist and a linguist specializing in Uyghur language education. Born in Kashgar, he was a university lecturer and opened language schools and kindergartens in Ürümchi and Kashgar in 2011. He was arrested in August 2013 and detained for 15 months on political charges. In exile since 2015, he founded Uyghur Hjelp in 2016. He has interviewed former detainees, translated leaked documents, and documented the plight of Uyghurs in diaspora. He is the author of seven books in Uyghur and English, and co-author and contributor to several UHRP reports.

Alex Zhang holds a Master of Public Administration from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, where he graduated with honors. Before joining the Falun Dafa Information Center, Alex worked as an Analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a Graduate Scholar at the New York State Assembly, and a Virtual Student Federal Service Intern at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore. He also contributed as a Policy Research Analyst Intern at the New York State Department of State’s Office for New Americans. Fluent in Chinese, Alex is skilled in research, policy analysis, and understanding federal regulations and public sentiment.

Dr. Teng Biao is an academic lawyer, currently Hauser Human Rights Scholar at Hunter College, and visiting professor at the University of Chicago. Teng defended cases involving freedom of expression, religious freedom, the death penalty, Tibetans and Uyghurs. He co-founded two human rights NGOs in Beijing – the Open Constitution Initiative, and China Against the Death Penalty, in 2003 and 2010, respectively. Teng has received various international human rights awards including the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic (2007) and NED’s Democracy Award (2008).

Moderator:

Ilshat Hassan Kokbore is an activist, writer, and commentator for Radio Free Asia. He is UHRP’s Chinese translator and research consultant, former vice chairman of the WUC Executive Committee, and former president of Uyghur American Association.