Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Supporters of Uighur rights gathered in Tokyo on Sunday to urge the Japanese government and parliament to condemn what they described as the “Chinese genocide” of this ethnic group.

Speakers from the Japan Uighur Association and some prominent Japanese said 83 local councils from 29 prefectures nationwide have adopted positions on the Uighur issue since March 2021 and asked the government to respond.

Uda Kerrim, President of the Uighur Association, said, “Since 2017, three million innocent people have been detained, including many prominent cultural and economic figures. The international community should take action as soon as possible. The Japanese Diet has yet to show its position.”

Japanese journalist Yoshiko Sakurai pointed to “Japan’s slow response,” adding, “The Uighur situation is so serious, but somehow the circle of support in Japan is not growing. The Diet’s resolution condemning China has not passed at all.”

While the “genocide” is recognized in Europe and the United States, the movement to condemn it in the Japanese Diet failed to make progress.

“China was not included in the resolution, human rights ‘violations” were revised to human rights ‘conditions’, and the words of criticism were removed from the resolution,” a tearful Sakurai said. “We are determined to promptly consider the legal arrangements necessary to prevent and remedy serious human rights violations. I don’t want such a resolution to be passed, if it was revised out of concern toward China.”

The lecture was followed by testimony from Uighurs living in Japan. “It’s impossible not to do anything after hearing the living voices,” Sakurai said. “We must recognize that the suffering of the Uighurs is our common destiny.”