Uyghur American Association

Uyghur American Association
AbbreviationUAA
FormationNovember 16, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-11-16)
TypeNon-Profit NGO
PurposePromote Uyghur culture and human rights issues
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.,[1][2][3] United States
Location
Membership
approx. 1,000[4]
Official languages
Uyghur
English
President
Elfidar Iltebir[5][6][7]
AffiliationsUyghur Human Rights Project and World Uyghur Congress
Websiteuyghuramerican.org
Part of a series on
Uyghurs
Uyghurs outside of Xinjiang
Uyghur organizations

The Uyghur American Association (Uyghur: ئامېرىكا ئۇيغۇر جەمئىيىتى,[8] ئامېرىكا ئۇيغۇر بىرلىكى[9], romanized: Amérika Uyghur Birliki, Америка Уйғур Бирлики; Chinese: 维吾尔裔美国人协会[10]; pinyin: Wéiwú'ěryì Měiguórén Xiéhuì; abbreviated UAA) is a prominent[11][12][13][14][15] Uyghur American non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D. C.[1][2][3] in the United States. It was established in 1998[16] by a group of Uyghur overseas activists to raise the public awareness of the Uyghur people, who primarily reside in Xinjiang, China, also known as East Turkestan. The Uyghur American Association is an affiliate organization of the World Uyghur Congress[5] and works to promote the Uyghur culture and improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs.[24]

History

The UAA was founded in 1998. The UAA has had tax-exempt status since April 1998.[25] Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas played a significant role in the establishment of the UAA. She went on to become UAA Vice President and was the first Uyghur reporter to broadcast daily to the Uyghur region, for Radio Free Asia, in 1998.[26]

In April 2004, the National Endowment for Democracy provided US$75,000 for the UAA. This was the first time the American government had provided aid to a Uyghur exile group.[27][28][29]

In 2004, with a supporting grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, the UAA founded the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other minority groups in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community's democratic aspirations.[30][31]

In 2006, the UAA established a UHRP satellite office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.[32]

An article published by the Associated Press on October 10, 2008, quoted Elshat Hassan and Nury Turkel, two leaders of the Uyghur American Association, about plans for American-Uyghurs to help the Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo Bay acclimatize, once they have been admitted to the USA.[33] Court records included a detailed plan by the UAA to assist Uyghur detainees in resettling in the United States.[34]

In July 2009, Chinese officials singled out Rebiya Kadeer, then UAA President, for inciting the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.[35] The Chinese government said that a photograph provided by the UAA which was supposed to be East Turkestan separatist protesters in Ankara, Turkey was actually the scene of a traffic accident in Hangzhou, China.[36]

In December 2009, the UAA expressed concern at the return of 20 Uyghur refugees from Cambodia to China.[37]

In February 2012, the UAA and UHRP announced the launch of their redesigned websites, including a Mandarin Chinese version.[38]

Alim Seytoff, UAA President, said that China was increasingly able to leverage its economic and strategic weight in countries such as Thailand to seek the forcible return of individuals in disregard of international human rights conventions and norms.[39]

In a 2015 Reuters report, Australia's Refugee Review Tribunal was reported to have reviewed an unnamed Uyghur man's asylum application from September 2011. The review cited sworn testimony from UAA President Alim Seytoff that, "there is an extensive network of spies including some Uyghurs, who regularly monitor the activities of Uyghurs throughout the Western world and report on their activities to the PRC (People's Republic of China) authorities."[40]

On August 16, 2016, the Board of Directors of the UAA voted to separate the UAA from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP).[41]

In a 2016 interview with CNN, UAA President Ilshat Hassan said that his family had faced repeated harassment over his activism.[42]

On October 18, 2019, an exhibition named "A Prison Without Walls — East Turkestan Today", was opened, featuring photographs of re-education camps, the everyday lives of Uighurs and the July 2009 Urumqi riots opened at Taipei's 228 Memorial Museum. The exhibition was originally organized by the UAA and the One Voice, One Step initiative and has been presented in 33 cities in 15 countries. The exhibition was to run for one month.[43]

In a 2019 CNN interview, Nury Turkel, former head of the Uyghur American Association and chairman of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, discussing cybersecurity issues encountered by these organizations, reported that the UAA and UHRP, "were constantly attacked. Our websites were shut down at times, and I was personally the target of email-based hacking attempts."[44]

On 14 February 2022, the UAA and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism along with basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom jointly hosted a video event to raise awareness for the plight of Uyghurs in China.[45]

In December 2022, UAA President Kuzzat Altay visited Israel and implored its government to not turn a blind eye to China's genocide,[46] adding he believed that "no one can understand us better than the Jewish people".[47]

Organization

As of late 2008, the Uyghur American Association had approximately 600 members.[4] More than 200 members attended the Eighth Congress of the UAA in 2016.[48] The organization has a president and a board of directors[41][49] which, as of the founding in 1998, consisted of nine members: Chairman, Vice Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Director of Public Relations, Director of Education, Director of Communication, Director of Publication, and Director of Cultural Affairs.[50] The UAA has received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy.[28][51] As of 2005, the UAA's website was one of the two most active websites among Uyghur migrants.[52] The UAA website has been described as a key information provider on Uyghur issues.[53] The UAA renounces the use of violence to achieve political ends.[54]

Presidents

Nury Turkel, former UAA President and co-founder of the Uyghur Human Rights Project

Congresses

The First Congress was held in Arlington on May 23, 1998.[50]

The Second Congress was held in Washington, DC on May 28, 2000.[55]

The Fourth Congress was held in Washington, DC on May 29, 2004.[64]

The Fifth Congress was held on May 29, 2006.[65]

The Seventh General Congress of the UAA was held in Annandale, Virginia, on November 10, 2012.[66]

The Eighth General Congress was held in June 2016.[48]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b "Exile Groups Call For Muslims to End Silence on Uyghurs at Start of Ramadan". Radio Free Asia. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020. The Washington-based Uyghur American Association (UAA) also offered its best wishes for a safe and peaceful Ramadan but said the holy month "reminds us of the critical importance of serving others, especially the most vulnerable, during these difficult times."
  3. ^ a b Michael Clarke (January 2017). "The Impact of Ethnic Minorities on China's Foreign Policy: The Case of Xinjiang and the Uyghur". China Report. 53 (1): 12 – via ResearchGate. two key advocacy groups for the Uyghur—the Uyghur American Association (UAA) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), the former based in Washington, DC and the latter in Munich, Germany.
  4. ^ a b c Howard Schiffman; Mark S. Mandel; Daniel L. Greenberg; Lenor F. Horton (1 November 2008). "Amended Brief of Amicus Curiae Uyghur American Association in Support of Appellees and in Support of Affirmance of the District Court" (PDF). p. 13. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Center for Constitutional Rights.
  5. ^ a b c "Affiliate Organizations". World Uyghur Congress. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Uighur activists say China's coronavirus measures are causing widespread hunger". Hong Kong Free Press. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020. President of the Uyghur American Association Kuzzat Altay. Photo: Uyghur Human Rights Project.
  7. ^ a b Ben Fox, Christina Larson (8 March 2020). "Targets of crackdown in China fear government's reach in US". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 May 2020. Kuzzat Altay, president of the Uighur American Association
  8. ^ ئامېرىكا ئۇيغۇر جەمئىيىتى تىيەنئەنمېن قىرغىنچىلىقىنى ئىنسانىيەتكە قارشى جىنايەت، دەپ ئاتىدى. Radio Free Asia (in Uyghur). 3 June 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. ^ ئۇيغۇر ئامېرىكا بىرلىكى رەئىسى تۈركىيىدىكى شەرقىي تۈركىستان ۋەخپى رەئىسى بىلەن كۆرۈشتى. Radio Free Asia (in Uyghur). 28 October 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. ^ 美维人组织反驳中国"教唆"说法. Voice of America (in Simplified Chinese). 7 July 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. ^ Tian Guang; Mahesh Ranjan Debata (2010). "Identity and Mobilization in Transnational Societies: A Case Study of Uyghur Diasporic Nationalism" (PDF). Jawaharlal Nehru University. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. p. 69.
  12. ^ Mahesh Ranjan Debata (2010). "International response to Uyghur separatism in Xinjiang" (PDF). Himalayan and Central Asian Studies. 14 (4): 57. Two Uyghur organizations in USA, one is the Uyghur American Association (UAA)15 and the other is The Government in Exile of East Turkistan Republic, 16 have been trying to promote the Uyghur movement. The National Endowment for Democracy17, an independent organization funded by the US Congress, supports the Uyghur Human Rights Project, which documents and disseminates information about Chinese excesses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.[dead link‍]
  13. ^ Henryk Szadziewski (16 April 2019). "The push for a Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in the United States: recent developments in Uyghur activism". Asian Ethnicity. 21 (2): 211–222. doi:10.1080/14631369.2019.1605497. S2CID 150848605. The most recognized of the Uyghur-led groups in the United States include the Uyghur American Association (UAA)
  14. ^ Roy Anthony Rogers; Jatswan S. Sidhu (December 2016). "International Norms and Human Rights Conditions in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)". Malaysian Journal of International Relations. 4 (1): 121 – via University of Malaya.
  15. ^ Colin Mackerras (2012). "Causes and ramifications of the Xinjiang July 2009 disturbances" (PDF). Sociology Study. 2 (7): 502 – via Griffith Research Online. two major diasporic Uighur associations: the Uyghur American Association and the WUC.
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  17. ^ Mahesh Ranjan Debata; Robert Guang Tian (Fall 2011). "A Cultural Rights Approach Vs. Nationalist Mobilization: An Applied Anthropological Case Study of the Uyghur Diaspora Community". Practicing Anthropology. 33 (4): 35–38. doi:10.17730/praa.33.4.aj10000400566154. JSTOR 24782017.
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  19. ^ Yu-Wen Chen (June 2010). "Who Made Uyghurs Visible in the International Arena?: A Hyperlink Analysis" (PDF). George Mason University. Retrieved 7 May 2020. The Washington DC-based Uyghur American Association (UAA), for instance, is active in providing and disseminating information about the Uyghur cause to major news agencies, to international non-governmental human rights organizations, and on popular social networking platforms.
  20. ^ Kong Tsung-gan (24 June 2018). "The power of the peripheries: the need for solidarity in the face of China's communist hegemony". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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  26. ^ "Leadership". Campaign for Uyghurs. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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  29. ^ Mackerras, Colin. 'Pivot of Asia' sees China-Pakistan maneuvers Archived 13 July 2011 at Archive-It. Asia Times Online. 13 August 2004
  30. ^ "About Us". Uyghur Human Rights Project. Retrieved 7 May 2020. The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) was founded by the Uyghur American Association (UAA) in 2004 with a supporting grant from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
  31. ^ "Uyghur American Association". Action Without Borders. April 2005. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  32. ^ a b "Remarks at the 5th Biannual Congress of the Uyghur American Association by Nury Turkel". Uyghur American Association. 28 May 2006. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020. Through the hard work of UAA Vice President Omer Kanat, UAA has established a UHRP satellite office in Bishkek, which was included in UHRP's 2006 grant proposal.
  33. ^ Matthew Baraket (2008-10-10). "D.C. Uighurs wait to take in Gitmo detainees". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
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  45. ^ Shayna Han (2022-02-16). ""If Not Now, When?" Take Action NOW on Behalf of the Uyghurs!". Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  46. ^ Kuzzat Altay (February 26, 2023). "The Uyghurs should have no better friend than Israel". The Times of Israel. I recently visited Israel for the first time. The endless layers of history were fascinating, and I fell in love with the Jewish people. However, in my opinion, Israel is not doing enough to stand up for the Uyghur people – a people who are facing a level of persecution that few people, perhaps the Jews alone, understand. [...] Israel itself has too often been silent, turning a blind eye to the CCP's atrocities.
  47. ^ HERB KEINON (2022-12-23). "What can the Uyghurs learn from Israel?". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2024-03-15. "One of the reasons we are in Israel is because I believe that no one can understand us better than the Jewish people," he said.
  48. ^ a b c "The Uyghur American Association (UAA) has successfully held its Eighth Congress". Uyghur American Association. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020. The Uyghur American Association (UAA) has successfully held its Eighth Congress with the attendance of more than 200 members on Sunday May 29th. During the Congress, a five-member board of directors was elected by the UAA members with Mr. Ilshat Hassan as new President.
  49. ^ "UAA Letter to Colin Powell". Uyghur American Association. 5 June 2002. Archived from the original on 15 August 2002. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Internet Archive.
  50. ^ a b "First Uyghur American Association Congress". Uyghur American Association. 23 May 1998. Retrieved 8 May 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
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  62. ^ "Treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang nothing short of cultural genocide". Malaysiakini. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  63. ^ "Written Statement of Ilshat Hassan Kokbore President, Uyghur American Association Congressional-Executive Commission on China Hearing The Long Arm of China: Global Efforts to Silence Critics From Tiananmen to Today" (PDF). Congressional-Executive Commission on China. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2020. My name is Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, also known as Ilshat Hassan. I was born in Ghulja, East Turkistan.
  64. ^ "Fourth Annual UAA Congress". Uyghur American Association. 29 May 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
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  66. ^ "The Seventh General Congress of the Uyghur American Association" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2020.