Indonesia: Muslim group urges UN action on Uighur abuse

JAKARTA, Indonesia A leading Indonesian Muslim group has urged the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to hold an emergency meeting on Uighur Muslims and take further steps in accordance with international regulations. The Turkic-speaking community lives in China's western region of Xinjiang and has faced discrimination at the hands of Chinese authorities. Haedar Nashir, chairman of non-governmental organization Muhammadiyah, said the UN and OIC have a responsibility toward creating peace in all parts of the world. He urged the Indonesian government to take steps in this regard. "Muhammadiyah is ready to mobilize humanitarian and material support for peace in Xinjiang, especially for the Uighur community," said Nashir. Human Rights Watch has condemned the Chinese government for a “systematic campaign of human rights violations” against Uighur Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in the country. According to a 117-page report published in September, the Chinese government conducted “mass arbitrary detention, torture and mistreatment” of Uighur Turks in the region. The report is based on interviews with 58 former residents of Xinjiang, including former detainees and relatives of detainees, it said. “Throughout the region, the Turkic Muslim population of 13 million is subjected to forced political indoctrination, collective punishment, restrictions on movement and communications, heightened religious restrictions and mass surveillance in violation of international human rights law,” it added. The Xinjiang region is home to around 10 million Uighurs where the world's most extensive electronic surveillance program is in place, according to the Wall Street Journal. Men are banned from growing beards and women from wearing veils. Up to 1 million people, or about 7 percent of the Muslim population in Xinjiang, have now been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to U.S. officials and UN experts.