Uyghur supporters gather outside US Capitol building to commemorate 33rd anniversary of 1990 East Turkistan Uprising

Washington [US], April 7 : Dozens of Uyghurs and American supporters, led by the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and East Turkistan National Movement (ETNM), gathered in front of the US Capitol Building to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the 1990 East Turkistan Uprising on April 5.

They urged the United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation recognizing East Turkistan as an occupied territory, the East Turkistan Government said in the press release. The demonstrators urged the international community, particularly the US, to uphold its promise of "Never Again" by passing new legislation and taking measures to end China's ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide and occupation in East Turkistan.

Haider Jan, the advocacy coordinator for the East Turkistan National Movement, in the press release said, "The heroic martyrs of Baren demonstrated that the people of East Turkistan were more than willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to liberate their homeland and ensure their independence and existence."

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) violently suppressed Baren township's protests against China's genocidal colonial policies led by Zeydin Yusup on April 5, 1990. In response to the Chinese action, many Turkists took up arms and fought against the Chinese forces to regain East Turkistan's independence, according to the press release.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile in the press release said, "Over several days, thousands of unarmed Uyghurs and other Turkic people were brutally massacred and over 7,600 East Turkists were arrested, many of whom were tortured, sentenced to long prison terms, and executed."

It further said, "In the three decades since the 1990 Baren Massacre, China has intensified its colonization, genocide, and occupation efforts in East Turkistan with the clear aim of "preventing East Turkistan's independence."

Millions of East Turkists, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others have been moved to concentration camps and prisons, where they were subjected to forced labour, forced starvation, forced medication, organ harvesting, rape, sterilization, and even execution, according to the East Government in Exile press release.

Amannissa Mukhlis, the Women and Family director for ETNM, in the press release, said, "What is happening in East Turkistan in 2023 even at this very moment is a "Never Again" situation that the international community is failing to prevent and stop."

She further said, "To be clear, what the Chinese government is currently doing in East Turkistan is a 21st-century Holocaust-like genocide which almost everyone is aware of but shamelessly ignores." East Turkistan Government in Exile Prime Minister Salih Hudayar called on the US Congress to introduce and pass legislation "recognizing East Turkistan as an occupied country, similar to Tibet."

According to the press release, the East Turkistan Government in Exile recently carried out a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking Uyghur and other East Turkist netizens whether they would choose 'greater autonomy' under China or 'an independent state' as a solution to the ongoing conflict between East Turkistan and China. Approximately 99 per cent of the 2400 respondents chose an "independent state" as a solution to the ongoing conflict between East Turkistan and China.