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The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) weekly briefing has highlighted several key developments regarding China's human rights record and global responses.
In the recently released brief, it stated that on 11 August, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor urged Beijing to safeguard the rights of imprisoned human rights defenders, many of whom are serving sentences of ten years or longer. She called on authorities to allow family and legal visits, provide adequate medical care, and ensure that detainees are held in officially recognised facilities with transparent information about their whereabouts. According to the weekly brief, among the cases raised was that of renowned Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who is serving a life sentence. Lawlor noted that despite her February 2025 request for detailed updates on seven defenders' health, treatment, and access to counsel, China has so far provided only vague and unsatisfactory replies. The briefing also underlined the findings of the 2024 U.S. State Department Country Report on China, which reaffirmed that genocide and crimes against humanity continue to be committed against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan. The report documented systemic abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour, coercive birth control measures, cultural erasure, and repression beyond China's borders. It also listed prominent Uyghur political prisoners--such as Ilham Tohti, Rahile Dawut, Gulshan Abbas, Ekpar Asat, Qurban Mamut, Hushtar Isa, Erkin Tursun, and Yalqun Rozi--whose imprisonment underscores the Chinese government's targeted persecution of intellectuals, cultural figures, and community leaders. In addition, the WUC brief pointed to the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the United States. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, authorities reviewed 6,613 shipments in 2025, of which 5,541 shipments--worth nearly 97 million dollars--were denied entry due to links with forced labour in East Turkistan. Most of the flagged goods came from the automotive and aerospace industries, followed by apparel, electronics, and other sectors. The Act, which presumes all goods from the region to be produced with forced labour unless proven otherwise, continues to serve as a critical tool in holding supply chains accountable. The briefing further drew attention to China's efforts to suppress dissent abroad. The World Uyghur Congress is a global organisation of Uyghur exiles that claims to speak on behalf of the Uyghur people, representing their collective interests both within China's Xinjiang region and across the diaspora. (ANI)
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