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| Uyghur communities held protests in their countries17th anniversary of the "July 5th Urumqi Massacre |
Uyghur communities around the world have held demonstrations in their countries of residence to mark the 17th anniversary of the "July 5th Urumqi Massacre."
Uyghur communities around the world have held protests in their countries of origin to mark the 17th anniversary of the "July 5 Urumqi Massacre" and to call on the international community to pay attention to China's increasingly brutal repression policies in East Turkestan.
On July 5, 2009, Chinese authorities cracked down on Uyghur students and residents in the city of Urumqi, peacefully protesting for justice for the brutal attack on Uyghur migrants in the Chinese city of Shaoguan, in a bloody crackdown that shocked the world; the incident was followed by years of mass detentions and punishments. The massacre was seen as a turning point in the Chinese regime’s increasingly harsh crackdown on Uyghurs.
This year's commemoration demonstrations, held in the United States, Canada, Europe, Turkey, Japan, and Central Asian countries, centered on the theme "We will not forget, we will not be forgotten!", once again demonstrating the Uyghur diaspora's steadfast determination against Chinese oppression.
In its statement, the World Uyghur Congress continued to demand accountability for those involved in the "July 5 Urumqi Massacre" and demanded justice for those who were forcibly disappeared, detained, and killed in the incident.
The East Turkestan Government in Exile issued a statement, reminding the international community that the "July 5 Urumqi Massacre" laid the structural foundation for the ongoing systematic genocide, and criticized the international community's failure to take effective measures to stop Chinese oppression. It also reiterated its call for the decolonization of East Turkestan.
In its statement on the construction of Uyghur human rights, it called on the international community to uphold justice and to pressure China to end Uyghur forced labor, one of the most pressing forms of oppression today.
