Europe
World News
Posted : Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:40:09 GMT
Berlin - An association of Uyghurs in
exile accused China of "cultural
genocide" and called for a boycott of
the Beijing Olympics at the start of a
Uyghur congress in Berlin on Monday.
Uyghurs from the north-western Chinese
region of Xinjiang were being detained,
tortured and deported in an attempt to
crush their language and culture, Rebiya
Kadeer, president of the World Congress
of Uyghurs (WUC), said.
The repression of the largely Sunni
Muslim Uyghurs had increased during the
run-up to the Games, Kadeer said.
She called for the Olympics to be
boycotted, and more particularly for
political leaders to boycott the opening
ceremony on August 8, saying the Beijing
Games had brought her people nothing but
suffering.
Kadeer said Chinese authorities had
effectively deported hundreds of
thousands of Uyghur women between the
ages of 15 and 25 to other parts of
China under the pretext of providing
jobs for them.
Many Chinese had been brought to the
region to take their places with the aim
of eradicating Uyghur culture, she said.
Kadeer, a mother of 11 and a successful
businesswoman, was once a member of the
Chinese National People's Congress.
After spending time in prison in China,
she now lives in exile in the United
States. According to the WUC, two of her
sons are in detention in China.
The human rights commissioner of the
German parliament, Guenter Nooke, called
on Beijing to enter into constructive
and open dialogue with the minority
Uyghurs.
He also demanded that journalists should
be allowed to report on conditions in
China ahead of the Games.
Nooke urged European Union countries to
accept 17 Uyghurs being held at the US
Guantanamo Bay military base, noting
that the US authorities are prepared to
release them.
