Germany-based Uyghur rights group, World Uyghur Congress, founded in 2004 in munich has been nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for its work toward peace, democracy and the plight of the Uyghur and other Turkish people who live under what the nomination letter described as a “repressive regime in China,” Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Canadian lawmakers and a leader of the Young Liberals in Norway, the youth wing of Norway’s Venstre political party, nominated the organization. “The World Uyghur Congress has the main purpose of promoting democracy, human rights, and freedom for the Uyghur People and supporting the use of peaceful, non-violent, and democratic means to help the Uyghurs achieve self-determination,” the nomination letter read.
Although the committee didn’t disclose the names of the Nobel Peace nominees because of the rules, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, one of two Canadian members of parliament who nominated the group, revealed the name and shared the letter with VOA.
The awards ceremony takes place in December in Oslo.
The nomination letter noted the World Uyghur Congress has drawn global attention to China’s treatment of Uyghurs with “the overwhelming campaign of physical, religious, linguistic, and cultural repression” by the Chinese government.
“To achieve this, the World Uyghur Congress has a wide range of activities, including campaigning for the rights of people being forcefully disappeared, advocating for the release of political prisoners, protecting the rights of asylum seekers to prevent forcible repatriation to China, and advocating at the UN, EU, and national level, where the WUC has successfully contributed to numerous achievements, which led to the international community developing policies and actions to help secure the rights of the Uyghurs,” Brunelle-Duceppe said in the letter.
Beijing has repeatedly denied mistreating Uyghurs, with China’s state news agency, Xinhua, describing the allegations as “lies” concocted by “anti-China forces in the West,” according to VOA.
“Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion at all, but about combating violent terrorism and separatism,” stated Xinhua in a 2021 article, as it pointed out the region has experienced economic and social development.
The Chinese embassy in Washington criticized the World Uyghur Congress’ nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.