The World Uyghur Congress recently commemorated the victims who lost their lives when Chinese security forces violently suppressed a large peaceful protest in Yarkand, leading to many innocent Uyghurs losing their lives.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Yarkand massacre.

‘’10 years later, the situation on the ground hasn’t improved, but drastically deteriorated over the past few years,’’ said WUC President, Dolkun Isa. “The Yarkand massacre marks the deadliest episode since the Urumchi massacre in July 2009.”

According to Uyghur sources, the protests started as a response to the Chinese government’s response to a protest in Bashkent Township which led to the extrajudicial killing of a Uyghur family of five during house to house searches.

As a result, many Uyghurs fled to nearby Elishku Township, where they took part in the protests.

Based on Chinese government’s statistics,96 civilians (including 59 Uyghurs) were killed when police and security forces clashed with protesters. Chinese state media labelled the incident a “premeditated terrorist attack on a police station in Xinjiang.”

Although the attack took place on Monday, July 28, state media took a full day to release any official reports about the incident.

Uyghur groups, however, reported that the incident involved residents protesting against “Chinese security forces’ heavy-handed Ramadan crackdown […] and extra-judicial use of lethal force in recent weeks.”

According to Uyghur sources, at least up to 3000 Uyghurs may have been killed during and in the aftermath of the protests. To this day, the full number of those arrested, killed and disappeared remains unclear, given the lack of transparency and judicial accountability.

On the tenth anniversary of the Yarkand massacre, the WUC calls on international solidarity to pay respect to the victims that have lost their lives. The WUC renews its calls on the Chinese government to immediately and transparently disclose the whereabouts and fate of the missing and deceased to their family members and the wider Uyghur community.