Remember the Urumqi Massacre – Freedom For The Uyghurs
Human rights campaigners and Uyghur Community UK are staging a protest outside the London-based Chinese Embassy to commemorate and expose the 2009 killing and persecution of innocent Uyghurs by the Chinese authorities.
2023 marks the 14th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre by China. On 5th July 2009, a peaceful protest – demanding justice for two Uyghur factory workers murdered by a racist mob – was violently crushed down by the riot police. This sparked widespread clashes and riots and the deaths of dozens of people, both Uyghur and Han nationals. A violent crackdown by the authorities killed, disappeared and arrested thousands of Uyghurs.
Organised by the World Uyghur Congress, UK Uyghur Community, Uyghur Solidarity Campaign UK and Stop Uyghur Genocide, the protest will bring activists as well as labour unions, human rights and community groups together in support of the Uyghur people’s freedom struggle.
This annual protest will be held on Wednesday 5th July from 6pm to 7pm. Loud chanting of “Stop Uyghur Genocide” and “Free East Turkestan” is expected to echo the walls of the Chinese Embassy. This year’s annual demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy also coincides with the Weekly Tibet Vigil.
Urumqi is the largest city in East Turkestan (Ch: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region).
East Turkistan was invaded soon after Mao Tsetung and his comrades established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on 1st October 1949. In 2021, the Independent Uyghur Tribunal made a ruling that the Chinese State has committed genocide against the Uyghurs and other minorities in their homelands. Subsequently, parliaments around the world have also passed resolutions to this effect and continue to call for action against China. Over a million Uyghur Muslims are locked up in “concentration camps” who are being persecuted by the Chinese State.
Useful links:
http://www.stopuyghurgenocide.uk
http://www.uyghursolidarityuk.org
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) 