As international pressure mounts on China to end its incarceration and mistreatment of millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic people in East Turkistan, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) will gather in Prague, Czech Republic, from November 12-14, 2021 for the world’s largest meeting of Uyghurs in the diaspora.
More than 200 Uyghur delegates from over 25 countries will gather in the Czech capital to elect the organization’s leadership for the next three years. Delegates to the 7th General Assembly will be joined by representatives from other communities, civil society, Parliament members and national governments, as well as leading academics and legal experts, to reflect on recent developments of the Uyghur genocide.
“Over the past few months, we have worked around the clock to prepare for the General Assembly,” WUC President Dolkun Isa said. “It is very important that we can offer the Uyghur people in the diaspora the proper democratic means to choose who represents them, a right Uyghurs in East Turkistan have been stripped of by the Chinese government”.
The conference and assembly are being co-organized by the WUC, the Uyghur Center for Human Rights and Democracy, and the Forum For Human Rights, a Czech non-governmental organization.
On the evening of November 11, the event will open with a welcome reception and dinner, which will also feature a book fair and exhibition on the Uyghur crisis.
The day-long international conference, ‘’Uyghur Rights: The Road Towards Accountability,’’ will take place on November 12, bringing together survivors of China’s camps, leading academics and legal experts, as well as diplomats, policymakers and government representatives. Panels will feature topics such as survivor testimonies, policy approaches toward the Uyghur crisis, legal means to hold perpetrators accountable, and the research practices that have been essential to exposing the Uyghur genocide.
German researcher Adrian Zenz, who will participate in the conference as an expert witness, says: “We now have a much clearer idea of what the Chinese government is planning to do over the longer term. Now, it’s going to be much harder for states not to determine this a genocide.”
WUC President Dolkun Isa urges the international community to take tangible steps to address this genocide. “We should not only pay more attention, but take concrete steps like imposing sanctions,” Isa says. “This is the moral obligation of the global community.”
Immediately following the conference, the WUC and other invited guests will join an official reception at the invitation of the Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib, at his residence (The Lord’s Mayor’s Residence/Rezidence primátora).
On November 13-14, the outgoing leadership of the WUC and its committees will report on the organization’s activities and financial record from 2017-2021. This will be followed by the General Assembly’s democratic elections, during which members of the WUC’s 16 different committees and boards, including its presidency, will be chosen by more than 200 delegates from 25 countries. Sixty two candidates will be running for 32 positions.
Following confirmation of the election results on November 14, the General Assembly will continue meetings of the newly elected board and president to plan and strategize the organization’s priorities and activities for the next three years. Also on November 14, the WUC will organize a workshop for youth leaders, teaching them about activism and advocacy.
To ensure the General Assembly follows the highest democratic standards, its processes will be monitored and audited by independent observers. Moreover, the general public can closely follow the international conference, which will be live-streamed, and the process of the General Assembly elections, which will be kept up to date via a live feed on the WUC’s website.
For more information or inquiries, or for assistance in interview requests, please contact us via contact@uyghurcongress.org.
UYGHUR DAYS in the Czech Republic:
The international conference and WUC 7th General Assembly will occur in parallel to “Uyghur Days in Czechia,” a series of other events in the Czech Republic related to the situation in the Uyghur homeland.
A public debate with former prisoner Omir Bekali will be held on November 10 at 1-3 PM at Kampus Hybernská. This event is organized by the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Department of Sinology of Charles University in Prague.
An academic half-day conference on China’s Xinjiang Policy in the Xi Jinping Era: Impact and Implications will take place on November 11 from 2-4:30 PM. This event is organized by the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Dr Sean Roberts of George Washington University will discuss his recent book on the crisis in a talk titled, “The War on the Uyghurs: Cultural Genocide in the Name of Counterterrorism” on November 15 from 10 AM to noon at the American Center in Prague. This event is co-organized by the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
The Uyghur Days in Czechia program will also include events across the country. Screenings of the film “In Search of my Sister,” a documentary about one Uyghur activist’s journey for answers in the forced disappearance of her sister, will be shown during the week, followed by discussions with the film’s protagonist, Rushan Abbas, and experts.
Screenings dates and locations as follows:
November 16 at 1:15 PM in Olomouc. Palacký University, Faculty of Arts, Křížkovského 10, classroom 2.40. Screening will be followed by conversation with Rushan Abbas and Ondřej Klimeš, Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences.
November 17 at 5:00 PM in Pilsen. Moving Station, Koperníkova 574/56. Screening will be followed by conversation with Rushan Abbas and Filip Jirouš, Sinopsis.
November 18 at 5:00 PM in Ústí nad Labem. North Bohemian Scientific Library, Velka Hradebni 49. Screening will be followed by conversation with Rushan Abbas and Filip Jirouš, Sinopsis.
