Washington-based non-profit organization Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) will hold a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC on July 5 to commemorate the victims of the Urumchi Massacre and raise the voices of Uyghurs who have been facing genocide.
Taking to its official Twitter handle, Campaign for Uyghurs stated, “Join us at a protest commemorating the victims of the July 5th, 2009 Urumchi Massacre and raise the voices of #Uyghurs under genocide. July 5th, from 4- 6 PM 3505 International Place, NW, Chinese Embassy, Washington DC.”
Earlier in June, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) commemorated the 35th anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy Uyghur student protest in Urumchi and highlights the courage of the protesters.
“Yesterday, @UyghurCongress representatives in Turkiye were advocating at the Turkish parliament for #Uyghur rights,” tweeted World Uyghur Congress.
The Urumchi protest preceded the Tiananmen Protest in 1989 and became one of the most significant large-scale public expressions of discontent against the Chinese government’s discrimination policies against Uyghurs, World Uyghur Congress said in an official release.
In 1985, students mobilised a mass protest to denounce discriminatory education policies that disadvantaged Uyghur students, birth control policies and the devastating effects of nuclear testing in the Lop Nur region on the health of locals, and the lack of genuine representation in government and employment opportunities for Uyghurs.
World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa said, “In university, I quickly learned the limitations of being an Uyghur. The policies implemented by the State were explicitly discriminatory against us. This is why I became a student leader leading up to the 1988 pro-democracy protest.” Isa added, ”At the time, there was still some freedom to organise such movements. Today, everyone is locked up.”