Washington D.C., February 20, 2018 –The Uyghur American Association (UAA) is pleased to support and co-sponsor the “One Voice, One Step” initiative’s protest against China’s detention of thousands of Uyghurs in so called ‘re-education’ camps. Uyghurs across the country will assemble in New York City on March 15 for a silent demonstration in front of the UN followed by a protest at the Chinese Mission to the UN.

One Voice, One Step was founded by a group of Uyghur women based in the United States and Europe to advocate for the human rights of the Uyghur people in East Turkistan. The March 15 protest, organized in collaboration with UAA, is the campaign’s first event. The “One Voice, One Step” initiative organizers scheduled the event in the United States to coincide with the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Protests in solidarity with the campaign are expected to take place across the globe – in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

“One Voice, One Step is about uniting our voices and taking a step together against the atrocities unfolding in our homeland,” Zubayra Shamseden. “We hope, on March 15, to make the cries of our suffering Uyghur brothers and sisters heard around the globe and to demand justice and accountability for China’s egregious human rights abuses.”

Following the silent demonstration, protesters will submit a petition to the UN calling for an official investigation into the concentration or “re-education” detention camps. The investigation request will include the plight of children of detainees and other human rights abuses –DNA registries, mandatory GPS tracking on all vehicles, mandatory installment of government spyware on devices, placement of Chinese officials in Uyghur homes, and attacks the Uyghurs’ cultural and religious identity –aggravated by China’s total securitization of the Uyghur region in recent years.

UAA and the One Voice, One Step initiative call on the UN, concerned governments and human rights organizations to investigate the intensifying situation in East Turkistan and take action to stop the forced assimilation of Uyghurs suffering under China’s total security state in their homeland.

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For more information, contact Rushan Abbas at (559) 375-3571 or Zubayra Shamseden at (571) 535-0639 or email onevoiceonestep@gmail.com.