Tibetan activists staged a silent protest in Zurich on Sunday to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 2009 Urumqi massacre. They planned to hand over a letter of appeal and take a video statement in front of the Chinese consulate in Zurich but the Chinese consulate called the police on them, who stopped the activists from getting in front of the consulate.
“This gross violation of freedom in speech in an allegedly free country like Switzerland shows the CCP’s disregard of freedom and human rights everywhere.” the activist collective says. After failed negotiation with the Zurich police, the activists continued their action in a place near the consulate.
The Tibetan activists in their letter to the Consular General in Zurich said that they have gathered on this important day to let the Chinese government and the international community know that they have not forgotten about the gross human rights violation caused by the Chinese government during the July 5th Urumqi Massacre.
“We demand from the Chinese government to immediately end the human rights violation in East Turkestan; close the internment camps, stop the forced mass sterilisation and birth prevention of Uyghur women and restore freedom and human rights in East Turkestan.” it added.
On July 5th 2009, several thousands Uyghurs peacefully protested in the city of Urumqi. They expressed their anger at the Chinese government’s inaction during the Shaoguan incident in which several Uyghurs were killed by a mob of Chinese factory workers. In the protest on July 5th, Uyghurs demanded to be treated equally and for their rights and freedoms to be respected. The Chinese government responded with hundreds of police men armed with shields, rifles and clubs who interfered in this initially peaceful protest and caused it to escalate. In the following two days, hundreds of protestors were killed or kidnapped by the Chinese government. Many families still do not have any information about the fate of their loved ones.
Today, the CCP’s treatment of Uyghurs have morphed from systemic repression and discrimination, to total assimilation and demographic genocide.
“We want to show the Chinese government that we have not forgotten about the 2009 Urumqi massacre. We are here to stand in solidarity with our Uyghur brothers and sisters and call for an end of the gross human rights violation in East Turkestan, Tibet, Southern Mongolia, Hong Kong and China.” says the activist collective.