Berlin [Germany], April 10 (ANI): The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), in a joint letter to the Federal German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, urged him to raise the issue of Human rights situation and atrocities in Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, Southern Mongolia and China itself.
This comes ahead of German Chancellor Scholz’s four-day visit to China scheduled this month, the World Uyghur Congress said in a press release.
Moreover, the letter also called on Scholz to advocate for the rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers, and Chinese individuals living in Germany.
The World Uyghur Congress took to X, and stated, “The @UyghurCongress, @GfbV, @savetibet, @FreiHk, and @tibetinitiative have sent a joint letter to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ahead of his visit to China. The letter urges Chancellor Scholz to raise concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet, East Turkistan, Hong Kong, Southern Mongolia, and China with the Chinese government. Additionally, the letter calls on Chancellor Scholz to advocate for the rights of #Tibetans, #Uyghurs, #HongKongers, and #Chinese individuals living in Germany.”
https://x.com/UyghurCongress/status/1777697751796428942
The signatories of the letter were Dolkun Isa, the President of the World Uyghur Congress, Hanno Schedler from the Society for Threatened Peoples; Kai Muller from the International Campaign for Tibet; Ray Wong from Freedom for Hong Kong and Tenzyn Zochbauer the Tibet Initiative Germany.
“On the occasion of your upcoming trip to the People’s Republic of China, we as a coalition of human rights organisations are turning to you with the request to address concerns that concern the situation in Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong and southern Mongolia and China itself, should be brought up forcefully with the Chinese government,” the letter stated.
In addition, they urged them to take a stand for the rights of people living in Germany.
“We ask you to stand up vigorously for the rights of people living in Germany who have fled the repression of the Chinese Communist Party and who are committed to the rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers and Chinese,” they said.
Against this background, they asked the German Chancellor to work hard to improve the situation of those being persecuted, to end the repressive policies of the Chinese Communist Party and to speak about this openly to the Chinese government.
Highlighting the human rights concerns in Tibet, the WYC stated that an end to the Chinese government’s sinicization policy towards the language, religion and culture of the Tibetans, in particular, an immediate closure of the forced boarding schools for Tibetan children and an end to the forced resettlement of nomads and rural populations.
“Further, the preservation of the freedom of religion and belief of Tibetan Buddhists, in particular, the sole right of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Buddhists to decide on his reincarnation or that of Buddhist dignitaries without state intervention, as well as the release of the kidnapped Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima,” the letter read.
The WYC in its letter, urged to put an end to “torture and ill-treatment, systematic violations of freedom of expression and assembly, in particular the release of peaceful protesters such as those in the eastern Tibetan region of Derge, as well as the release of Tibetan human rights and environmental defenders…”
The same letter also made demands regarding the Xinjiang area (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region).
The letter mentioned, the immediate end to the genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs, as already expressed in the special report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner, and the Research Service of the German Bundestag.
They further urged to put an immediate end to the “cruel assimilation policy against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, in particular, the cultural identity, language and traditions of the Uyghurs must be respected and protected to preserve their rights and freedoms as a people.”
The letter concluded that the “turning point”, Scholz, announced in February 2022 in view of the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia, must not only be limited to Russia but should also be consistently implemented towards all autocracies in the world.
“This is particularly true of the sole ruling Chinese Communist Party, which has become even more repressive under Xi Jinping and now has openly totalitarian traits,” they said.
Immediately after Xi Jinping was appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party and Head of State of the People’s Republic, it became clear that the party sees itself as opposed to universal human rights, pluralism, and democracy and, as a consequence, wanted to undermine our liberal democracy in Germany, the letter added. (ANI)
