Uyghur Human Rights Project Commemorates the 37th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre
For immediate release
June 4, 2026, 10 a.m. EDT
Contact: Omer Kanat, +1 (202) 790-1795; Adaire Criner, +1 (612) 720-1136
Thirty-seven years after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) violently suppressed the peaceful pro-democracy protests in Beijing on June 4, 1989, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) calls on the Chinese government to acknowledge the truth about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, provide accountability for the victims and their families, and end its ongoing repression of those who seek justice and democracy.
“June 4 is not only a day to remember the students, workers, and citizens killed for demanding freedom and democratic reform,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “It is also a reminder of the consequences of impunity. The Chinese government has spent nearly four decades attempting to erase the truth about the massacre, while continuing to commit grave human rights abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and other communities. The denial of justice for Tiananmen paved the way for the atrocities we see today.”
UHRP stands with the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and with the families who have spent decades seeking truth, accountability, and the right to mourn their loved ones. This year, Chinese authorities prevented members of the Tiananmen Mothers group from visiting graves at Beijing’s Wan’an Cemetery.
UHRP is also concerned by the continued erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong. Until a 2020 ban, Hong Kong hosted the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China. Former vigil organizers, including democracy advocates Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, face prosecution under Hong Kong’s National Security Law for their role in preserving the memory of June 4.
Meanwhile, in June 2026, artists and activists in Hong Kong attempting symbolic acts of remembrance have been stopped by police. These recent developments highlight the extent to which Beijing campaigns against historical truth.
The same government that has never been held accountable for the killing of peaceful protesters in 1989 is today responsible for ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan. Mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, family separation, religious persecution, and the systematic destruction of Uyghur culture are all enabled by a system that has consistently escaped meaningful accountability for its abuses.
As the world commemorates the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, UHRP urges governments, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations to reject efforts to erase history and to stand with all those seeking justice. The memory of June 4, 1989, belongs to the families of the victims and to all who believe in human rights and freedom.