Date: Monday, June 10, 2024

Time: 10:00–11:00 a.m. EDT

Watch live on UHRP’s Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube pages

Uyghur and other Turkic women face multiple forms of discrimination and are subject to horrific human rights abuses on the basis of their ethnic identity, religion, and gender. UHRP’s recent report, Twenty Years for Learning the Quran: Uyghur Women and Religious Persecution, presents compelling evidence of the systematic oppression faced by Uyghur women, revealing stark persecution on the basis of religion.

Chinese women also face inhumane gender based violence in China as documented in Leta Hong’s groundbreaking book, “Left Over Women”, and by Falun Dafa Infocenter. 

Our event will feature Cynthia Sun, a researcher at the Falun Dafa Information Center; Rahima Mahmut, a human rights activist, translator and UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress; and Mihrigul Tursun, a concentration camp survivor. The event will be moderated by Ilshat Hassan, UHRP Chinese translator and research consultant.

Speakers:

Cynthia Sun is a researcher at the Falun Dafa Information Center. Her research focuses on persecution, transnational repression, and policy recommendations. Before joining Falun Dafa Information Center, Cynthia worked as a Research Affiliate for database synthesization at Innovations for Peace and Development. She also has experience as a research intern at the Edward A. Clark Center for Australian & New Zealand Studies. Cynthia holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Business Minor, from the University of Texas.

Rahima Mahmut is an Uyghur singer, human rights activist, and translator. She interpreted for camp survivors during the Uyghur Tribunal, and has collaborated with journalists on breaking news stories relating to the Uyghur genocide. A prominent voice for Uyghurs in the UK, Rahima is currently UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress, Executive Director of Stop Uyghur Genocide, and an Advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. 

Mihrigul Tursun is a concentration camp survivor. She is originally from Cherchen County, East Turkistan. At the age of 12, she was taken to Guangzhou for middle school (as part of the government campaign to have Uyghur children study in inner China), and would later go on to study economics at Guangzhou University, before working for a private company that did business with Arab countries. In December 2010, she went to Egypt to study English, where she met her husband and gave birth to triplets in March 2015. She was arrested and detained in the Camp after she returned to East Turkistan from Egypt. 

Moderator:

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