[SIDE CONVERSATIONS]
ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROBERT
DESTRO: Are we ready?
OK.
Are we ready to go?
All right.
Very good.
Well, good afternoon, everyone.
Esteemed colleagues and
foreign representatives,
it's my pleasure to
welcome you to today's very
timely discussion of the human
rights crisis in Xinjiang.
Since most of you don't know
me, please allow me briefly
to introduce myself.
I'm Robert Destro,
the State Department's
new Assistant Secretary
of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor.
Over the course of my career
as a lawyer and public policy
advocate on both domestic and
international human rights
issues, I've
witnessed the progress
that can be made when nations
and committed human rights
activists work together.
When they don't for
whatever reason,
the suffering gets worse.
So we're here today because
the Chinese government
has detained over a
million of its own citizens
in camps in Northwest China.
The human rights
crisis in Xinjiang
did not start overnight.
It did not reach epic
proportions overnight.
This crisis has been
developing for years.
It's time that the member
nations unite in an effort
to bring these abuses
to the world's attention
and, eventually, to
bring them to an end.
So today we're honored to be
joined by U.S. Deputy Secretary
of State John J. Sullivan.
Deputy Sullivan will
give opening remarks
before we hear from
survivors, their family
members, and
experts, all of whom
will attest to the horrors
of the situation in Xinjiang.
Thank you so much
for being here.
I look forward to working
with your governments
to advance human rights
across the globe.
Deputy Secretary?
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you very much.
You can go ahead.
DEPUTY SECRETARY
JOHN J. SULLIVAN:
Thank you, Assistant
Secretary Destro.
We've waited a long
time get him on board.
He just reminded
me that we first
spoke about his appointment over
two years ago in July of 2017.
And good things come
to those who wait.
And so we're delighted
to have you with us.
And good afternoon, everyone.
And thank you to the many
distinguished guests joining us
here in New York for this
very important event.
The first thing I want
to do is to acknowledge
my esteemed
diplomatic colleagues
from Canada, Germany, the
Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom, all of whom are
cosponsoring today's side
event.
We're joined today
by representatives
from over 20 nongovernmental
organizations
and over 30 UN member states,
as well as representatives
from the European Union.
I'm particularly grateful
to the delegation
from the Organization
for Islamic Cooperation
representing 57
Muslim majority member
states as the collective
voice of the Muslim world.
Thank you for being here.
Most importantly, I'd like to
express my sincere appreciation
to the panelists who will
be courageously sharing
their experiences and taking
questions from the audience.
A few brave survivors of the
internment camps in Xinjiang
first testified on the world
stage last March in Geneva.
We've gathered this
afternoon to bear witness
again to what too
many individuals have
suffered at the hands of
the Chinese government.
We will hear firsthand
accounts today
from our panelists that will
separate truth from fiction
when it comes to China's
brutal campaign of repression
of Uighurs, ethnic
Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz,
and other Muslim minority
groups in Xinjiang.
But let's start with
some facts first.
According to our own
estimates, as well as
those of independent
organizations such as Amnesty
International and the UN
Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination,
the Chinese government
has detained more than 1 million
individuals in internment camps
in Xinjiang since April 2017.
We've received credible reports
of deaths, forced labor,
torture, and other cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment
in these camps.
Additionally, there
are many reports
that the Chinese
government forces detainees
to renounce their
ethnic identities
as well as their culture
and their religion.
One can be detained simply
for possessing books
on religion and Uighur
culture, reciting the Quran
at a funeral, or
even wearing clothing
with the Muslim crescent.
Two, China claims these
internment camps are,
quote, "humane job
training centers," unquote.
But the detainees include
accomplished medical doctors
and academics, successful
business people
and other professionals,
as well as
young children and the elderly.
Doctors, professors,
and children
don't need job training.
Doctors need to be able to
care for their patients.
Professors should be
writing and teaching.
And children should be
learning and playing.
Three, China's highly
repressive campaign
extends far beyond the camps.
Xinjiang is subject to
pervasive, arbitrary, high-tech
surveillance, and involuntary
collection of personal data,
including DNA samples.
The use of these techniques has
spread to other parts of China,
and has been exported to
other countries as well.
They are a core focus
of China's campaign
to suppress human rights
and fundamental freedoms,
not just in their own
country, but increasingly
around the world.
It's nothing short of Orwellian.
Fourth, the Chinese
Communist Party
has shown extreme hostility to
all faiths since its founding
70 years ago.
And this repression has only
intensified in recent years.
For many years,
it has restricted
the free and independent
practice of Christianity, which
has only grown in recent years.
In an effort to
eradicate any faith
that the Chinese Communist Party
deems a threat to its ideology,
children are banned from
attending church services.
This egregious suppression
of religious freedom
is an example of the
troubling global trend
lines President Trump
addressed yesterday.
It's an example of the sort
of state sponsored behavior
that the United States
will not ignore.
In Xinjiang the
Chinese government
prevents Muslims from praying
and reading the Quran.
And it has destroyed or defaced
a great number of mosques.
Men's beards are
forcibly shaved.
Women's hijabs are
removed, and they're
required to dress in ways
they consider immodest.
Muslims are forced to eat
pork and drink alcohol.
The Chinese Communist Party
outlawed the observance
of Ramadan five years ago.
The Chinese government also
places Communist Party members
in Uighur homes to monitor
whether they are engaging
in religious practices.
In short, this is a
systematic campaign
by the Chinese Communist
Party to stop its own citizens
from exercising their
inalienable right
to religious freedom.
Fifth, let's be clear.
China's repressive
campaign in Xinjiang
is not about
countering terrorism.
If you've not read Ambassador
Sales and Ambassador
Brownback's May article on this
subject in The Washington Post,
I encourage you to do so.
Their piece reveals
China's attempt to erode
the long-standing and hard-won
international consensus on how
to fight real terrorists--
through law enforcement,
information sharing,
border security, respect
for human rights,
and other measures.
Put
Simply, Beijing's
actions and statements
are counterproductive
to that effort.
Indeed, these efforts could in
fact encourage radicalization
by denying people
the right to engage
in peaceful religious practices.
Recently, China has
taken to calling
the pro-democracy activists
in Hong Kong as terrorists,
revealing the Chinese
Communist Party's
own intentional
misapplication of the term.
Beijing wrongly insists
that its actions are
undertaken in a humane manner.
China has hosted Potemkin
tours in a failed attempt
to prove that.
But if there were
nothing to hide,
diplomats, reporters, and
independent investigators
would be allowed to travel
freely throughout Xinjiang,
and for that matter Tibet.
So we must ask ourselves, what
is the Chinese Communist Party
afraid of?
What are they trying to hide?
Though I should stress that
the United States government
is not the only source
of this information.
Despite limitations on
independent access to the area,
there are countless open source
academic and news organizations
that offer credible
evidence that
contradicts China's propaganda.
The group Chinese
Human Rights Defenders
has conducted in-depth
research, as has
the independent researcher
Adrian Zenz and Human Rights
Watch.
Much of their work relies
on data and documents
from the Chinese
government itself.
Credible news organizations,
including The Wall Street
Journal, The Economist,
the BBC, and many others
have published hard
hitting reports
attesting to the realities
on the ground in China.
Despite claiming to be a leader
in the international community,
China openly flouts
key aspects of the UN's
foundational documents.
We do not view these agreements
as a menu of options.
They are inseparable
pieces of a whole.
China is a signatory
to these documents,
like the UN Charter, the
International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights.
These were designed to protect
fundamental human freedoms
and build a better,
more peaceful world,
not to be discarded when
politically or ideologically
inconvenient.
We cannot be the only guardians
of the truth nor the only
members of the international
community to call out China
and demand that they stop.
The United Nations Charter
clearly says that, and I quote,
"promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights
and for fundamental
freedoms for all,"
unquote, is a core purpose
of the United Nations.
The UN and its member states
have a singular responsibility
to speak up when
survivor after survivor
recounts the horrors of
state repression in China.
In June of this year, Beijing
invited Under-Secretary-General
for Counter-terrorism
Vladimir Voronkov
to visit Urumqi in his
capacity as the UN's
top counter-terrorism official.
Over U.S. objections and
serious concerns expressed
by many others in
this room, Voronkov
agreed and became the
senior-most UN official
to Xinjiang, legitimizing
China's false narrative
that what it is doing
there is counter-terrorism.
It is not.
Instead of bolstering
the UN's moral authority
by resisting Beijing's
cynical offer,
we witnessed the
erosion of UN leadership
in a blow to the
reputation and credibility
of a body we should
instead look to as
a clear voice of conscience.
This must not happen again.
We call on the UN to
uphold its own values
and carry out the
many responsibilities
we have entrusted to it.
The UN must seek the
immediate, unhindered,
and unmonitored access to
Xinjiang for the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
The United Nations,
including its member states,
have a responsibility
to stand up
for the human rights
of people everywhere,
including Muslims in Xinjiang.
We urge the UN to investigate
and closely monitor
China's human rights
abuses, including
the repression of religious
freedom and belief.
It is incumbent on every
member state in this room
to ensure that the UN is
willing and able to do its work.
Before I close, I'd like
to take the opportunity
to commend those who
have already joined us
in standing up for the
rights of the more than 1
million members of ethnic
and religious minority groups
that the Chinese
government is abusing.
We invite others to join
the international effort
to demand an immediate end
to China's horrific campaign
of repression.
History will judge the
international community
for how we respond to this
attack on human rights
and fundamental freedoms.
Together we must seek
to understand the truth
and act on it.
And so I thank you again for
taking the important step
of bearing witness today.
And I look forward
to our discussion,
hearing from our panelists,
and the discussion
with our panelists today.
I'm honored to stand
here with them.
Assistant Secretary
Destro, I turn the podium
back over to you.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
ASSISTANT SECRETARY
DESTRO: Well, thank
you, Deputy Secretary Sullivan.
And now we welcome a few words
from the United Nations Special
Adviser to the Secretary-General
on the Responsibility
to Protect, Karen Smith.
Thanks for being here.
Nice to meet you.
SPECIAL ADVISER KAREN SMITH:
Good afternoon, everybody.
I would first like to
thank the organizers
for inviting me to
participate in this very
important discussion today.
While today's event focuses
on the disturbing reports
about restrictions on religious
practice, surveillance,
disappearance, and large-scale
arbitrary detentions of Uighur
Muslims and other Turkic
minorities in the Xinjiang
region of China, I would like
to also use this opportunity
to reflect more broadly on the
principle of the Responsibility
to Protect.
Let me start at the
outset by saying
that the protection of
vulnerable populations,
including minority groups, is at
the core of the Responsibility
to Protect.
At the heart of paragraphs 138
and 139 of the World Summit
document that were adopted
unanimously in 2005
lies the acknowledgment
by member states
of their primary responsibility
to protect their populations
from genocide, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing, and crimes
against humanity.
Rather than undermining
sovereignty,
which is a charge often
leveled at the Responsibility
to Protect, it
actually reinventions
sovereignty as
responsibility rather than
sovereignty as a right.
In doing so, it
places responsibility
both upon individual states
and upon the international
community collectively
to actively inhibit
a recurrence of the
type of mass atrocities
that shocked the world
during the 1990s.
Importantly, therefore,
the responsibility
primarily entails the
prevention of such crimes,
including incitement, and
is consistent with existing
obligations under
international human rights,
humanitarian, and
refugee law, which
are binding on all states.
This emphasis on
prevention is also in line
with the Secretary-General's
broader prevention agenda,
which recognizes the obvious
truth that prevention is always
preferable to reaction.
We know from existing evidence
that both conflict and atrocity
crimes can be rooted
in the extreme forms
of identity-related
discrimination and violence.
And therefore, the
cornerstone of prevention
stems from inclusive,
tolerant, and
non-discriminatory societies
capable of managing diversity.
It is in this context
that the 2019 report
of the Secretary-General on
the Responsibility to Protect
addresses the need to manage
diversity as a strength rather
than a weakness.
This is also at the core of
Sustainable Development Goal
16.
The management of diversity
requires national policies
and norms that pay respect to
differences, whether religious,
ethnic, or otherwise.
Building resilience
means building societies
that accept and value
diversity, and in which
different communities
can coexist peacefully.
This comprises laws
and institutions
designed to promote equality
between individuals and groups
and protect them
against discrimination.
This includes upholding the
freedom of religion and belief,
as per article 18, paragraph 1,
of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights.
Under Responsibility to Protect,
the international community
also has a role to play.
There is, however,
a misconception
that the international
community's responsibility only
becomes relevant at
a particular moment--
for example, when
there are concerns
of imminent atrocities.
This is when we sometimes hear
calls for R to P to be invoked.
This is a misunderstanding, not
only of the principle itself,
but also of the role of the
international community,
which should also primarily
be focused on prevention,
including through structural
preventive measures that
help to build more resilient,
inclusive societies
in which the risk of
atrocities is lower.
At the same time,
there is a need
to consider available options
for the international community
to carry out its responsibility
to protect in situations where
states are manifestly failing
to protect their populations,
and where atrocity crimes, or
the risk of their commission,
are imminent.
Such actions should
always be in accordance
with international law
and, in particular,
with the charter of
the United Nations,
and should not replace the
obligation of individual member
states to adopt measures
to prevent atrocity crimes
and to protect their own
populations, which remain
their primary responsibility.
If, as the international
community--
and here I include member states
of the UN, the United Nations
System, the regional
organizations, civil society
organizations, and individuals--
if our ultimate aim is to
protect vulnerable populations
from atrocity crimes,
we should work together
in a constructive
manner and devote
more energy and resources
to effective prevention
in order to limit the
risk of the occurrence
of atrocity crimes.
Let us remind ourselves that
the responsibility to protect
encompasses all populations,
including minorities, migrants,
indigenous people, and
other vulnerable groups,
at all times, and in all states.
And there is
currently no shortage
of situations of concern
in all parts of the world.
Today's crises require
strengthened international
cooperation and
multilateral institutions.
However, as we all
know, we are currently
witnessing a troubling decline
in international commitment
to multilateralism, which
is also affecting efforts
to prevent atrocity crimes.
There is a growing gap
between words of commitment
and the protection of vulnerable
populations around the world.
Stronger political will
is now necessary to make
the Responsibility to
Protect a living reality.
And for this we need the
support of all UN member states.
Thank you for listening.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR SAM
BROWNBACK: Thank you.
I appreciate that.
And I want to thank everybody
for being here today.
My name is Sam Brownback.
I'm the Ambassador at Large for
International Religious Freedom
for the United States.
I'll be conducting the panel
and the questioning that will be
taking place with this panel.
You have in front
of you three Uighurs
that are amongst the 1 million
Uighurs that have experienced
the effects of the detention
facilities, the concentration
camps in Western China.
One of these individuals
has been in the camps.
The other two have family
members that are there.
They will be telling you what
they have experienced, what
their family has experienced.
So you can have that
firsthand opinion
and experience that
they are seeing,
that they are feeling,
that their families are
having done to them.
The first is Ms. Zamrud Duat.
She was detained in
a camp in Xinjiang
from April to June of 2017.
In the camp she was
beaten by Chinese guards
and given unknown medicines that
made her dizzy and disoriented.
Upon her release she was
forced to officially renounce
her faith and live with a
government assigned Han Chinese
quote, unquote, "relative."
She arrived the United States
with her husband and three
children in April of 2019.
Mrs. Duat, please give
us your testimony.
MRS. ZAMRUD DUAT:
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: First of
all, a salaam alaikum.
I would like to thank
everyone on behalf
of 20 million Uighur Muslims.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And
also, I would like
to thank to the U.S. Government
in organizing this event
and giving us the opportunity
to talk about Uighurs.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Because
of the time limit,
I just would like to focus
on my experience briefly.
I wish to just move on to
talk about my experience.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: It was
2018, 31st of March.
It was Saturday.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I have
three children.
I was with my three children
at home, sitting together.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER:
Suddenly I got a call
from a nearby police
station, telling me
that I must go there urgently.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I
stopped with whatever
I am doing, as soon as I--
and I went to the
police station.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: As soon as I got
there, they took my phone.
And then they told
me to sit down.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After
about 15 minutes,
I was taken to an underground
interrogation room
and forced to sit.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After getting into
underground interrogation room,
and they forced me to
sit in a steel chair,
with steel shackles
on my hands and feet.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And the police
told me to sit there,
and they asked me to wait.
And I have waited
about 20 minutes.
And they came with a
bunch of papers like this.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: In
that paper, there
were lots of telephone
numbers were listed.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And they told me
that, you have communicated
with people in overseas.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: My husband
is a citizen of Pakistan.
And he had an import-export
business in Urumqi.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And because of my
husband's business, sometimes
I have to help him.
And sometimes I do
answer telephone calls
about his business.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Among that
list is so many numbers,
I don't remember which
numbers belong to who.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And according to
them, when they questioned,
they said, those numbers
belonged to who they are,
and you have to tell us, why
did you communicate with them?
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I told him that I
don't know about these numbers.
And I spent more than 24
hours in that underground room
with no food or water.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After
24 hours, then
they took me back to upstairs
and back into the police
station to the office room.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: My hand
still was shackled.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I sit
there about 20 minutes.
And then I saw that one
car called police car came
in front of the police station.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I just
need to add one thing.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Just addition
to previous questioning,
when they questioned,
the question was,
you have spoken with so
many people in overseas,
and why did you
connected with them?
The second, was you had U.S.
visa, American visa in 2016.
Why did you obtain U.S. visa?
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And also,
the additional question
was, why did you get
U.S. visa, and what
was your purpose of traveling
to the U.S., America?
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After they
took me back to upstairs,
again I was shackled.
Both my hands and legs
were all shackled.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Then they put
a black hood over my head.
And then they put me into a car.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After
that, with this car
we traveled about an hour.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After about an
hour, we got to another place.
I stood in a long line
with other Uighur women.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And
in that line, they
were only just the Uighur women.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After staying
in that long line, eventually
they took me to a room for a
long series of medical tests,
including full body scanning.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: The scanning
machines can move.
We can stand on that
machine, and that machine
can be moved backwards
and forwards.
The operator of the machine
sat behind a glass partition.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And then they
brought me into another room.
In that room, they
took our blood samples.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And I had to
stand in front of a microphone
and read one page of
a book they gave me.
And I had to read the same
page over and over again.
Maybe I read it
about for 20 minutes.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: They
checked everything.
They did eye checks,
they did liver checks
through this scanning.
They did lung checks, all
sorts of medical checks.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After
that checks, they
took me to the so-called
re-education camps.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: The condition
in the camp were unbearable.
It's just difficult
to describe for me.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: It's
impossible that we
can take a shower in the camp.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: The detained
Uighur women, all of them
were just female woman, the
ages from 15 to 65 years old.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: We had to
learn Xi Jinping thoughts.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: In
that re-education,
we have to go to the
re-education classes,
even though we were
leg and ankle shackles,
they still had the teacher far
away from us behind iron bars,
like a cage, as if the teacher
had to be protected from us.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And we were
given food three times a day.
And it's only just a
watery soup without meat--
a vegetable soup without meat.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: In that camp,
there was a woman 65 years old,
like my mother's age.
And she had diabetes.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: She was
suffering from her sickness.
And I got punished,
just because of I
have given my Chinese
bun to her to eat.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: The guard saw that
I have given my bun to her.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And then
the guard came in,
and they start to
beat me with a stick.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Because of that
humiliation and beating,
I cried out, [NON-ENGLISH].
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Then the guard
told me, call your god.
Tell him to save you
right now from my hand.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Because of that
incident, I was punished.
And I wasn't given
food for three days.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I didn't
eat for three days.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: And also,
there was another woman.
She had a liver disease.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: She
always felt very pain.
And she always held her side.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: One day,
she suddenly fainted.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Then the
police, two police came.
And they took her
away from the room.
Since then I never
see her again.
I don't know whether
she died or alive.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: There are
lots of things to tell you
about the camp experience.
But due to time limit, I have
to brief everything and shorten.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: My husband
went to Beijing,
to the Pakistani
embassy, to save me
through the Pakistani
embassy in Beijing.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Although
he has visited
many times the Pakistani
embassy, but because of there
is no result, and he
had to appeal to media.
He gave interview to media.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: I don't know
whether because of my issue
is publicized through the
media, and I got released.
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
I'm going to have
to wrap this piece of it up.
But thank you very, very
much for your testimony,
and for bearing witness to
what's taking place here.
INTERPRETER:
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
MRS. DUAT: Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
Thank you for your--
thank you for your testimony.
We are running shorter on time.
And so I'll ask the next two to
be, if you can, a bit briefer
so we can get to the
interventions as well.
Dr. Rishat Abbas is a longtime
advocate for the Uighur people
suffering religious persecution
and human rights abuses.
His sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas,
a retired medical doctor
in Xinjiang, was abducted
in September of 2018.
Although authorities have
provided no reason for her
detention, the family suspects
it was because of his advocacy
and that of his sister's.
Still, since Gulshan's
disappearance a year ago,
China has provided
no information
about her whereabouts or
any information about her.
Dr. Abbas.
DR. RISHAT ABBAS: Thank
you, Ambassador Brownback
and the State
Department leadership
for spotlighting
the Uighur crisis.
That gives hope to
the Uighur people.
I'm honored to be
given this opportunity
to talk about the largest human
rights crisis of our time.
With more than 1
million innocent Uighur
and other Turkic ethnic Muslims
in modern day concentration
camps China is getting away
with perpetrating crimes
against humanity.
Yet the world is muted.
The UN must not be
ineffective in the face
of these unprecedented
atrocities.
The fate of an entire
ethnic group is at stake.
My own family has become
victim to these atrocities.
My sister Dr. Gulshan Abbas,
a retired medical doctor,
was taken by the
police in Urumqi city
on September 11,
2018 as retaliations
against our advocacy
in the United
States for our voiceless
people back home.
On September 5, 2018,
my other sister,
Rushan Abbas, a U.S. citizen,
exercised her fundamental right
of freedom of speech by
speaking at the think
tank in Washington, DC about
China's brutal persecutions
of the Uighurs and the condition
of the concentration camps.
Six days later,
my sister Gulshan
was forcefully abducted.
Since then, we have not been
able to get any information
on her whereabouts
or her condition.
Clearly, Dr. Gulshan Abbas
was abducted as a tactic
by Beijing to
silence us from being
vocal about the camps and
the current situations
in the Uighur region.
Fear is a common weapon utilized
by the authoritarian regime
when we were in the
diaspora to keep us silent.
China says that this facility
are vocational training
centers.
But my sister,
Dr. Gulshan Abbas,
is a retired medical
professional.
She does not need any sort
of vocational training.
Gulshan worked at the state
owned hospital in Urumqi
before she retired due to
personal medical reasons.
She has multiple health concerns
which require medication
and medical attention.
Now she is in the camp, subject
to torture and forced labor.
Unfortunately, like so many
other Uighurs around the world,
my family's story is not unique.
Almost every Uighur
in diaspora has
friends and family who are
detained, some by the dozens.
The camps are the
result of decades
of repressive and
assimilatory policies
by the Chinese
government that aim
to totally assimilate and
socially re-engineer the Uighur
people.
Due to the Chinese government's
information blockade,
many people in the
world do not even
know about the plight
of the Uighur people.
The tragedy unfolding today is
beyond comprehension, and only
comparable to some of
the worst human rights
abuses that the
world has ever seen.
Everything that makes
Uighur people unique
has been treated as an
abnormality and targeted--
language, religion, culture,
history, and ethnic identity.
Dr. Olsi Jazexhi, a
Canadian-Albanian scholar,
joined a group of reporters
on a visit to the camps
by invitation of the
Chinese government.
When he first went, he
aimed to tell the world
that the concentration
camps were just
false propaganda by the U.S.
and the Western countries.
However, when he saw
in those pre-trained,
pre-arranged
government-orchestrated visits
and interview, with pre-coached
supervised detainees,
as Uighur facing brutality
only because of their faith.
Dr. Jazexhi went out in public
and said that he witnessed,
was a real concentration
camp as depicted
in George Orwell's 1984, and
a brutal gross human rights
violation.
During his interviews the
government and the principal
for those camps repeatedly
told the journalists
in Dr. Jazexhi's group that
those detainees in the camps
returned to their
homes for weekend,
and are able to use phone to
call their family members.
My sister Gulshan has
not returned home.
Nor has she called her
two daughters living
in the United States.
She has completely disappeared
for more than one year now,
unable to communicate
with anyone.
What is happening
to the Uighur today
is a common knowledge to you.
Yet, still we have
seen no action.
These crimes against
humanity committed
by the Chinese government
must face accountability.
With Communist China's
aggression as a totalitarian
regime, it is not only is the
fate of the Uighurs at stake
today, but it's also all of
the progress we have worked so
hard for in the past 100 years.
It endangers our
Western democracy
and the world's security as
China changes the rule of law
with despotic tyrannical scheme.
China is seen as an
economic superpower.
Its growth potential
is limitless.
And right now,
millions of Uighur
are becoming collateral damage
to international trade policies
that are enabling China to
continue to murder my people,
enabling them to continue its
police state in the Uighur
regions, enabling China
to continue to threaten
our freedoms around the world.
But it is not just about
the freedom of religion.
To millions of incarcerated
in China right now,
it's about freedom to live.
It's about survival
and existence.
To combat the backlash
from Western countries
that China is receiving
for the Uighur crisis,
the Chinese government
is pressuring countries
that have influence to make
public statements showing
support of the camps.
This is a ploy to justify
what are they doing,
and ultimately weakens
the Western countries
who oppose them.
This is unsurprising
when you look
at how countries that
are influenced by China
act in the United Nations.
China is the second largest
donor to the United Nations,
which causes
economically-dependent country
to turn a blind
eye to its actions.
China now are
claiming those camps
are anti-terrorism and
de-extremization work
for its national security.
The only crime of my
sister Dr. Gulshan Abbas,
and the millions
of Uighur suffering
in Gulag style concentration
camps, is being Uighur Muslims.
We the Uighurs urgently
request the United Nations
to take action
and pressure China
to close its
concentration camps,
and hold China accountable for
these crimes against humanity.
The United Nations must
not lose the ability
to stand up independently
against evident evil.
Now is the time.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK: Thank you.
Our final testimony will
be from Nury Turkel.
He is a Uighur rights advocate.
He's former president of the
Uighur American Association,
as well as the current
chair of the board
of directors of the Uighur
Human Rights Project.
Nury.
MR. NURY TURKEL:
Thank you very much.
Thank you all for being here.
As a Uighur-American, I'd
like to extend my appreciation
to our government, the United
States government leadership,
for being the voice
for the voiceless.
The Uighurs desperately
need it for this hope
that you're giving.
And I've never seen this
many senior government
officials coming together to
discuss the Uighur issues.
For that I'm
profoundly grateful.
According to the
evidence-based research
the Chinese government
began its construction
of a massive network
of concentration camps
in late 2016 with the arrival
of this Chinese official
by the name Chen
Quanguo from Tibet.
He was technically promoted
to run the Ethnic Affairs,
and now with these ongoing
repressive policies
in the Uighurs' homeland.
Initially, those of you
who are doubtful about what
you have been reading
in the newspaper, let's
pay attention to what
the government official
lines about these camps.
In the words of the
Chinese government itself,
these camps are designed to
quote, "teach like a school,
be managed like the
military, and be defended
like a prison," unquote.
The specific purpose in the
words of one Chinese official
quoted in AFP, to quote,
"break that Uighur lineage,
break their roots,
break their connections,
and break their
origin," unquote.
In addition to
what they are doing
by mass detention of more than
10% of the Uighur population
and establishing the
surveillance state,
the Chinese authority is
also preventing the victims
and expat community members to
publicly come out and speak.
This has been a common
practice in Europe.
Thankfully, the United
States Uighur communities
have been quite forceful,
giving media interviews,
publishing outlets, testifying.
In order to prevent
that from continue
to happening, the Chinese
government police, security
officials sending text
messages, threatening them
with the remaining family
members if they are still
out of the camps, or
recruiting them to be spies
for the Chinese government.
So the oppression, the
Chinese repression,
is happening in
Uighur-American communities.
For decades-- I might
say this for the record.
I was born in re-education
camp 48 years ago.
I never thought in
my lifetime that I
would talk about what
happened to me and my mother.
The history is taking
a very strange turn
to be repeat itself.
Now we're talking about
a similar camp situation,
with the very specific
purpose to destroy Uighurs'
ethnonational identity.
And this one, that's the major
difference between the two.
I'd like to share a few
stories to illustrate
what is really happening to
Uighur-American communities.
Before the current
crisis come to existence,
or come to our attention, we had
a semi-normal life, regularly
calling family
members, checking up.
I personally have not seen
my mother since my law school
graduation 15 years ago.
They have not been allowed
to leave the country.
This has been the
case for many Uighurs.
The basic freedom to be
able to call our home,
congratulate when there
is a significant event,
or express our condolence
when somebody is passing,
or celebrate somebody's
significant birthday--
my father just turned
80, but I was not
in the position to call
him and say happy birthday.
So this kind of crippling
anxiety, and sense
of hopelessness, and sense of
guilt is creating huge problem.
There's a Uighur woman in one
of the southern states, a very
successful businesswoman.
Her brother disappeared.
She called me last summer,
asked me to reach out
to my contacts in
the U.S. government,
to see if there's
any way to find out
if her brother's still alive.
If not, she would
like to know, so
that she will have a closure.
She's been having serious health
issues and seeing counseling.
And then there's another Uighur,
a business executive working
for one of the major
multinational companies
in the United States.
Went to Beijing
for a conference.
He took a detour,
tried to pay respect,
pay a visit to his
father's grave.
When he showed up, the
Chinese authorities
told him that it's
too religious.
It was not permitted
for a foreigner
to be wandering
around in a cemetery.
On top of that, he went
to try to see his sister.
Because his iris scans were
not profiled, archived,
he was not allowed to
get into that complex
to visit the sister.
And the security calls the
sister to meet him outside.
And she declined to
do so out of concern
that being associated with
that foreign American Uighur
individual might result in
her being taken to the camps.
And finally, we have a
Uighur young lady here
in the audience.
She had extreme difficulty
to even carry out
a conversation about
this forced marriage
that the Chinese government
has been implementing.
She told me that, while we
were talking to media, Nury,
that woman could be me.
The Chinese
government could force
me to either marry
someone by force,
or my parents will be
taken to the camps.
So the narrative is very clear.
Something horrific is happening.
We Uighur-Americans expect a
global condemnation, rightfully
so.
I'm so glad that we
have representatives
from the countries that has
a sizable Uighur population.
I'd like to see others as well.
This should not be the
matter for the United States
government to concern only.
Especially, the
European countries
have experienced fascism, and
how it works, how it ends,
when a government
or regime targets
a specific ethnic group, we have
seen this in the history books.
The Uighur people
don't want it to be
seen in the history books
written by historians
and regretted by politicians.
It is past time for action.
I implore you to
join the effort to be
on the right side
of the history.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK: Thank
you, Nury, appreciate that.
We'll now we go
to some questions.
We have time for, I think,
a couple of questions.
First we'll go to the EU
representative of the--
if you have a question
to provide to the panel.
We'll see if we've
got a traveling
mic that can get to you.
Howard, would you take this
mic over to that lady there?
PAOLA PAMPALONI: Thank you.
This is Paola Pampaloni from
the European Union coming
from Brussels for the events.
Thanks for the organization
of these events.
The testimonies that
we have just heard,
these are for sure important
information that are also
deeply moving and are
enforcing our own strong belief
that it's important for all
the international community
to speak up on the
situation on Xinjiang.
And I wanted to reassure
the speaker, especially
those who are the victim
of this situation,
that the EU has always
been repeatedly speaking up
on the situation in Xinjiang.
Just last week at the
Human Rights Council,
the EU was very clearly making
our own statement of concern
about the existence of the
political re-education camps,
the widespread surveillance,
the restriction
on the freedom of religions
and belief against the Uighurs
and other minority in Xinjiang.
And we have urged--
and not only in last
week, but constantly--
to allow meaningful access to
the international community,
to independent
observer, to Xinjiang,
including to the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
And we are continued to be very
much alarmed by the situation
of this, about more
than 1 million,
1 and 1/2 million
people, that are
in political a
re-education camp.
And we are concerned by all
the reports that we receive
and we read, especially from
NGOs, the civil society,
about information about
mistreatment and torture
that is happening
in this facility.
And we are also concerned
about the report of Uighur
that are living, as you
said, outside China, not
only in the U.S.,
but also in Europe.
And we are in regular
contact with many of them.
And many of them,
they come to Brussels,
and they come to visit
us at the European Union.
And I want just to,
again, to reassure that we
are in contact with China.
We speak up also with
China, not only publicly.
We have a human rights
dialogue with China.
I'm the chair on behalf
of the European Union.
And in all the session,
these issues of Uighurs
is for sure one of our important
element of the discussion.
And we believe
that is difficult.
It's one of the most frustrating
meetings for sure that I have.
But it's a very
useful tool to engage
with China in a
discussion, and also
to pass very strong message.
You probably noticed at the
end of all our human rights
dialogue, we published
quite strong press release
with information, with a
message, that we have also
conveyed bilaterally to China.
And we are also
raising the issues
at the highest level,
even a high-level meeting,
but also at the
European Parliament.
There have been
recently a couple
of meetings on the
situation of Xinjiang,
where our statement has
been also been published
and is available in the website.
One question I would like also
to have, maybe to the victim,
the Chinese authorities are
always inviting us to Xinjiang
under their own conditions.
Of course, we are not
ready to go and to visit
the re-education
camp in Xinjiang
under the Chinese condition.
We are in the moment
under negotiation
of a sort of terms of
reference for our free access
of revisiting Xinjiang.
Is anything that you can
suggest from your side,
how should we handle
this invitation by China
to visit the
Xinjiang, the region?
Thank you.
MR. TURKEL: I think
you should take up
that offer with a condition.
Recently, as Dr. Abbas cited,
the Albanian journalist,
a historian, released a series
of video representations.
One of the things that he did
not know before going to China
was the training that he had
to go through at the hotel.
But, you know, the Chinese
government's effective policies
to get millions of
people out of poverty,
all the technological
high-rise buildings built up,
and technological
advantages that they have.
They tried to even brainwash
people that they invited.
So I think you should go,
because there are a lot
of things that we
need to find out,
including the state-run
orphanage system that they set
up, forced labor camps that
have been transformed from--
the individuals from
the concentration camps
to the labor camps.
There is a strong political
economy in this crisis.
And also, you should look
at, with your own eyes,
the surveillance state.
New York Times reported
recently that, they
reported standing in the corner
of the busy intersection.
He noticed two dozen security
cameras pointing at him.
So it's important for you
to go with the mindset
that they have a
specific purpose.
As Deputy Secretary pointed
out, the Potemkin villages,
if they are only showing
you Potemkin villages,
then there's no point.
But if you can go with
a certain condition,
I strongly recommend to go
and see it with your own eyes.
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
Thank you, Nury.
Go ahead, please.
DR. ABBAS: Can I just add--
so you should ask for
unfettered visits.
And also, go with the names
of the disappeared Uighur,
and ask to meet them.
Thank you.
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
Anything you'd like to add?
INTERPRETER:
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: You should visit.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: There
are situation,
where women are sterilized
without their knowledge,
and without their permission.
Even I am one of them,
because there are lots to say.
But I missed.
I was unable to
talk to you before.
There are lots of things to say.
Please visit.
MRS. DUAT: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: Even myself
was forcefully sterilized.
Right now I am unable
to have a child.
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
We are limited on time.
And we're going to be
going to interventions now
from the other countries
that are participating here.
Would you all please join me
in thanking this panel again,
please?
[APPLAUSE]
The first intervention
will be done by Lord Ahmad
of the United Kingdom.
Lord Ahmad.
LORD TARIQ AHMAD: First
of all, thank you, Deputy
Secretary of State, and
also Ambassador Brownback.
John, Sam, we've worked
constantly and consistently
as partners on this important
issue and human rights
generally.
And we continue to
remain committed to this.
Excellencies, ladies,
and gentlemen,
thank you for joining us all.
And my particular thanks first
and foremost to the three
Uighur activists who have
shared their personal insights.
I think I speak for everyone
in this room and beyond,
anyone who will have heard
the words, the advocacy,
the expressions of
emotions, we stand with you.
And that's representative
of this room's being
filled to its capacity today.
To Zamrud, to
Rishat, and Nury, we
have heard what you've
said, your advocacy.
And we stand with you.
Like our colleagues and
friends in the United States,
and indeed our other
co-hosts today from Europe,
we in the United Kingdom
are deeply concerned
about the human rights
situation in Xinjiang.
It is our collective
responsibility
as an international community to
acknowledge the gravity of what
is happening and,
more importantly,
draw attention to the
plight of those suffering,
to alleviate their
conditions, and to call
for the return of their human
dignity and human rights.
As we've heard today, reports
of over a million workers
and other ethnic minorities
who are being detained
in extrajudicial so-called
re-education centers
is disturbing enough.
But the situation
goes beyond that.
This is nothing less
than a systematic program
against the free practice
of the noble faith of Islam
and, as we've heard today,
Uighur culture in general.
We already know mosques are
being destroyed or closed.
Young men and women are
banned from any display
of religious identity.
There are severe restrictions
on under-18s from worshipping.
We have also seen the
invasive and extensive use
of surveillance.
In addition to that,
there are increasing
number of reports indicating
that forced labor is being
used, and children are
being forcibly separated
from their parents.
Firsthand observations by our
own diplomats on the ground,
most recently in
May, support much
of this open source
reporting of restrictions
targeted at specific ethnic
and religious groups.
Elsewhere in China,
we also remain
gravely concerned about the
political motivated detentions
and trials of human rights
defenders, academics,
and indeed lawyers.
As Deputy Secretary of
State Sullivan said,
the international
community cannot stand idly
by on the issue of Xinjiang.
The extent of our collective
unease and concern,
as was demonstrated by
the EU representative
as we heard just
a few moments ago,
was shown at the UN
Human Rights Council
in March, where
the side event was
held with our co-host today.
And as we saw today,
as we saw then,
there was standing room only.
Xinjiang is a priority for human
rights for the United Kingdom.
I personally raised it in my
speech at the Human Rights
Council in March in Geneva.
And the United Kingdom
was one of 25 signatories
of a joint letter to the
Human Rights Council President
and High Commissioner
for Human Rights in July.
We have repeatedly
called on China
to implement recommendations
of the UN committee
on the elimination of racial
discrimination relating
to Xinjiang.
We did so again in
our national statement
at the Human Rights
Council just last week.
And I say it again today.
China has repeatedly said that
the Xinjiang detention centers
are for vocational
training which
benefits the local population.
If that is indeed true, China
should allow in the UN experts,
including the High
Commissioner for Human Rights,
with immediate and, as we heard
in the testimonies just now,
unfettered access to the
region, so they can verify it.
A final thought if, I may,
your Excellencies, ladies,
and gentlemen.
To all those,
wherever they may be
in the world, who usurp the
human rights and dignity
of others, we must ask
the simple questions--
why?
What do you fear?
What possesses you to deny
the human dignity of others?
Because ultimately,
the greatest strength
of your own convictions, your
own religion, your own faith
or belief, whatever
it may be, is
when you stand up for the human
rights and dignity of others.
And let me assure you
today, for our part,
the United Kingdom has, will,
and continue to do just that.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK:
Thank you, Lord Ahmad.
I will next go to the German
representative, Acting Director
General for Asia and
Pacific, Petra Sigmund.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR PETRA
SIGMUND: First of all,
thank you very much for
organizing this event.
And thank you, thanks to all
of the participants, especially
the Uighur activists that
testified about what they are
going through in Uighur with
regard to their relatives'
lives and their own tragedies.
It was very enlightening
and eye opening
to listen to your stories.
Thank you very much for that.
But also, thank you
to your contributions,
to the speakers
who have been here,
and to your testimony of how
you actively raise and counter,
hopefully, Chinese policies
with regard to Xinjiang.
We believe that with regard
to the ongoing tragedy
in Xinjiang, we cannot and
must not look the other way.
We deeply deplore the
repressive measures
of the Chinese
authorities in Xinjiang,
including extrajudicial
and arbitrary detention,
cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment,
separation of children
from their parents,
forced labor, pervasive
high-tech surveillance,
as well as extreme
controls on the expression
of cultural and
religious identities.
China has been
explaining its measures
as part of a counter-terrorism
and de-radicalization strategy.
And a lot has been
said about that.
Terrorism is a huge
challenge in the world.
And fighting terrorism
is a common cause.
But the fight against terrorism
cannot be a justification
for massive, systemic human
rights violations against
a whole people.
Even the fight against
terrorism must respect
fundamental human rights.
In the name of universally
agreed human rights,
and in the spirit of
respectful cooperation,
we need to continue to raise
China's policies in Xinjiang
in the relevant
multilateral fora,
like the United Nations and
its Human Rights Council,
as well as in our political
dialogues and exchanges
with China.
We stand ready to do so.
And we are glad to see that
many other partners share
these views and policies.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK: Do
any of the other co-sponsors
for the event seek
interventions?
If not, I'll turn it back
to Deputy Secretary Sullivan
for a few closing comments.
Yes.
DEPUTY SECRETARY SULLIVAN: Well,
thank you all for being here.
My colleagues from our
allies and partners
who are working closely with
us on this important Issue I
know it's a busy week.
But there's nothing that's
too important to keep us
from coming here today, to
listening to the testimony
that we've heard.
It's a little jarring to hear
the use of the word reports
or allegations.
What we have here is evidence.
We have testimony from a witness
which, in court, is evidence.
It's concrete.
We know what's going on, and we
need to do something about it.
Thank you, Ambassador Brownback,
for your guiding today's
discussion, and for
all the work that you
are doing on this
issue, and again
to each of the panelists
for their fearlessness,
the conviction with
which they spoke,
the risk that's posed to you
personally and to your families
from coming and
speaking about this.
It's hard to believe in this
day and age and in this country
we have a Deputy
Secretary of State
say that about colleagues who
are here on a panel with us.
But you spoke from a place
of strength, resilience,
and fortitude that I know has
made a lasting impression on me
and everyone in this room.
We can't forget what
we've heard today.
It's incumbent on each and
every member state in attendance
to examine what more can be done
to raise the costs of China's
outrageous behavior and implore
the United Nations to fulfill
its obligation to the
international community it
was established to serve.
I ask each and every
one of us today
to go back to our
capitals, share the truth
that has been shared with us.
It's the least we can
do for these brave
people, their families, and
the millions of Uighur who
are suffering as we speak.
So again, thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
AMBASSADOR BROWNBACK: Thank
you, Deputy Secretary Sullivan.
I want to again
thank our panelists
and say to the media
present, the panelists
will be available for
interviews if maybe you
would seek that afterwards.
Thank you as well to the
co-sponsors for the event.
And thank the other
nations that you
would stand up on this issue.
This is an extraordinary,
and difficult, and troubling,
troubling issue.
It requires action.
And that's why we have
stood this panel up today.
We draw this to your attention.
And we ask that people act.
Thank you for coming.
We're dismissed.
