Motion 0120
General Assembly – December 27, 2020
Name of Union Submitting Policy
Jüdische Studierendenunion Deutschland (JSUD), Uniondes Etudiants Juifs de Belgique (UEJB), Jüdisch österreichische Hochschüler:innen (JöH) & the Board of the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS)
Preamble
Right now, up to three million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim-majority peoples are being held behind several layers of fences, barriers, and sophisticated surveillance, in concentration camps in what the Chinese government calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in Northwest China.
The Chinese government is persecuting its Turkic peoples through a ruthless, industrialized campaign of brainwashing, torture, and dehumanisation, which amounts to genocide. Inside the internment camps, leaked documents have revealed the sheer size and scale of the detentions taking place, while survivor testimonies have alleged that internees are forced to eat pork, drink alcohol, and denounce their identity as Muslims. Detainees are also alleging that they are forced to take pills, injections, and are subjected to sterilization procedures, medical experiments, organ harvesting, and, in some cases, sexual violence.
As young Jews, we can no longer remain silent. We are saying Never Again, Right Now!
EUJS believes
- That the genocide and crimes against humanity being endured by the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in China necessitates a decisive and concerted response from civil society and sub-state actors, as well as at a national and international level;
- That, as Jews, and as a people who have known genocide and statelessness, we have a certain responsibility to stand up and speak out when such crimes are being committed against any people;
- That, as an organisation built on the ethos that “Jewish rights are human rights” and vice versa, we must look to apply such an outlook when gross human rights violations are taking place in Europe and around the world and, therefore, must actively stand in solidarity with the persecuted Uyghur population;
EUJS resolves to
- Advocate to relevant organisations, actors, and individuals at an EU level to take decisive and effective action towards the prevention of the Uyghur genocide in line with EUJS’s 10 Pledge document, which has been endorsed by the World Uyghur Congress. The aforementioned document contains the following action points;
1.1. Acknowledge that the existing motions for a resolution in the European Parliament on the Uyghur persecution in China, simply represent a first step, and further-reaching and more effective actions must be taken;
1.2. Urge the passing of a “Uyghur Act” in the European Parliament that will call for the:
1.2.1. Immediate closure of all concentration and other such camps, as well as the release of all those detained;
1.2.2. Restoration of religious and cultural freedoms guaranteed by the Chinese constitution for the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in XUAR;
1.2.3. Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in XUAR to be able to communicate freely with relatives overseas;
1.3. Support and instigate efforts to implement the Global Magnitsky Act/EU Human Rights Sanction Regime as adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council;
1.4. Call on the EU and member states to place economic and diplomatic sanctions on China and responsible individuals, in line with the Global Magnitsky Act;
1.5. Urge the EU to fast-track and proceed with the asylum requests of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities who suffer persecution;
1.6. Hold the relevant multinational and Chinese companies publicly to account and advocate for restrictions on export, re-export, import, and in-country transfers of items providing critical capability to the suppression currently practiced in XUAR (such as surveillance technology produced by HUAWEI and ZTE) or of items produced by slave labour (such as Chinese Cotton);
1.7. Advocate for the assignation of an EU special rapporteur or counsel to XUAR, with the task of documenting the suffering of the Uyghur and other Turkic minorities, to present a clear body of evidence to the international community;
1.8. Advocate for the imposition of restrictions on research and educational collaborations and exchanges with Chinese institutions, professional bodies, and companies (such as Beijing Genomics Inc, and HUAWEI) that have critical roles in suppression in XUAR (including professions involved in forced organ harvesting, abortion, and sterilisation);
1.9. Call on Representations to the International Olympic Committee to remove the Winter Olympics 2022 from China for breaching the human rights and dignity provisions of the Olympic Charter;
1.10. Call on Member States’ Representations to the UN to remove China from the Human Rights Council and to the World Bank to cease loans to China;
- Explicitly acknowledge that a genocide (as defined in the Article II of the UN’s “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”), is occurring against the Uyghur population in China, which warrants a preventative international response;
- Build coalitions and establish partnerships with individuals and organisations across Europe and internationally to effectively raise the profile and awareness of the persecution of Uyghurs in China;
- Encourage Member Organisations, NGOs, political groups, governments, and others to continue being and become active on this topic so as to raise the profile of this issue;
- Continue to work closely alongside Uyghur activists and organisations so as to empower Uyghur voices and take direction from such activists/organisations, where necessary.
