ETGE, Uyghur Groups Protest In US, Canada Alleging 'Ongoing Genocide' In Xinjiang

(MENAFN- IANS) Washington/Ottawa April 6 (IANS) Officials of the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and members of the Uyghur community staged protests across the United States and Canada, calling for global accountability and urgent international action over what they described as China's“ongoing genocide” in East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

These protests were held on Sunday in Washington and Edmonton, Canada, to mark the 36th anniversary of the 1990 East Turkistan Uprising, also known as the“Baren Uprising”, which the ETGE said was“one of the most significant acts of national resistance” against China's“colonial occupation” of the region.

According to the ETGE, thousands of East Turkistanis rose up on April 5, 1990, in Baren Township of Xinjiang to protest China's“genocidal enforcement of coercive population control policies”, under which it alleged that over 250 Uyghur women were subjected to forced abortions.

The exiled authorities claimed that the Chinese authorities responded by deploying over 20,000 troops, helicopter gunships, and heavy artillery, killing more than 3,000 people and arresting over 7,600 more, following the uprising.

Calling the Baren Uprising a legitimate act of“anti-colonial resistance”, the ETGE said,“Mass imprisonment, forced labour, coercive population control, family separation, and the systematic destruction of Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic cultures continue across occupied East Turkistan.”

Addressing the demonstration in Washington, Salih Hudayar, ETGE's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security, said,“The martyrs of Baren did not die fighting for so-called 'genuine autonomy', 'improved human rights conditions', or mere 'cultural rights' under the Chinese invaders. They died fighting for the restoration of the East Turkistan Republic.”

“Guided by their sacrifice, we reaffirm our collective vow to continue our national liberation and independence struggle with unyielding strength until the occupation ends and East Turkistan's national independence and sovereignty are fully restored,” he added.

The ETGE alleged that in February senior Chinese officials formally called for the "normalisation and continuation of genocidal policies in occupied East Turkistan”, followed by the enactment of the“so-called Ethnic Unity Law”, which, it said, mandates the“erasure of all non-Chinese languages, cultures, and identities”.

Emphasising the developments indicates that China has no intention of ending its atrocities, the exiled authorities said that“the conflict between East Turkistan and China is an international conflict between an occupied nation and an occupying power, not an internal affairs matter of China.”

Abdulahat Nur, Prime Minister of the ETGE, who led the demonstrations in Edmonton, said,“Canada must not remain silent while a genocide unfolds.”

The ETGE called on the authorities in the US and Canada, as well as the international community to formally recognise East Turkistan as an“occupied country” under international law and impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials "responsible for genocide".

It also urged a ban on imports linked to forced labour while supporting international accountability mechanisms, including an International Criminal Court investigation into China's“ongoing genocide”.

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