Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on July 21st, 2020

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Jelilova, you've held up some documents throughout your testimony. I was wondering if it's possible for you to share those with the clerk so that they may be shared with the committee.

I'd like to go back to your testimony and clarify some of the things you said that were somewhat alarming. You mentioned the injections and the pills that you were forced to take. You didn't indicate what you think the intent of those pills and injections was. Do you know what that caused in your body?

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

So the girls would cease having menstrual cycles. If we were hungry, we would not feel hunger and we would lose any feelings of pain, so we were numb after all the procedures.

I was not able to recall my own children. I was lost.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I am so sorry that happened to you. I hate to ask more questions about this, but you mentioned—

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

My psychology is not good.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I think you are a very strong and courageous women, a survivor. Thank you for speaking.

You mentioned in your testimony, that instead of shooting people, they're giving injections. Do you believe these injections are intended to kill people?

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

These detainees knew in advance that they were given death sentences, so they would have to wait one, two, three months, and when the time came they would put black coats over their heads and they were taken away.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

This is absolutely horrifying, but I think it's important to get all this on the record.

We've heard in some of the testimony that the intent of all this is to destroy the souls and eradicate the Uighur people. Do you think that is the intent?

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

Yes, it is a wiping us out by elimination. I was begging them to kill me instead of enduring this torture, where they would put a black hood on me and take me out to rape, to torture me, so I was pleading with them to kill me.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I am very grateful that you survived.

Mr. Ali, you mentioned that when you were first detained they brought you to a medical facility and they were checking your liver, your skin, your irises, your kidneys. We hate to think it, but why do you think they were doing that?

[Omerbek Ali]

[Witness speaks in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

I am a well-travelled person. I have travelled internationally and been employed by a travel agency, so I knew beforehand the experience of Falun Dafa followers, of their organs being harvested all the time. My guess is that there is a drive called “halal organ harvesting”. That is the only explanation for why I was examined so closely, because I was checked very closely, not like an ordinary procedure for any ordinary person. I witnessed in one week several people being taken away from our cells, and they were gone. There is a lot of evidence in my personal experience.

As well, because there is no video evidence or hard proof, the international community was not paying attention to our claims, and it was not given the much-needed attention we were asking for, although we have been testifying for a long time about these incidents.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I want to thank you very much for testifying today. It's very important that the international community hear it.

[Omerbek Ali]

[Witness speaks in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

There's no doubt about is happening: organ harvesting is happening right now. People have been transported to interior China for organ harvesting, and many people see this. It's even happening with three-year-old children who are taken away to camps, and you might have seen on videos of the crowded facilities with 50 to 60 children in one room. What is happening right now is an ethnic cleansing; it's a forceful assimilation and, on top of that, commercialized slave labour. This is happening right in front of our eyes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We'll move to Monsieur Brunelle-Duceppe for seven minutes, excluding interpretation time.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

First, I want to thank you very much for being here. You are brave, strong and courageous. Your testimony is powerful and will serve a purpose.

Because you are here and you are telling us what is going on over there, because you have experienced it in a horrible way, I'd like to know what you expect from the international community.

[Omerbek Ali]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

If I gave my opinion to the world, people would laugh at me.

In March 2019, I testified before a UN tribunal in Geneva. I described in detail what had happened. So far, the international community has not responded because of trade with China. They are putting economic interests first. It is very sad, but that is the reality.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Can Ms. Jelilova also tell us what she expects from the international community?

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

[Witness spoke in Russian, interpreted as follows:]

My sincere thanks to the Canadian government for the opportunity to speak today on behalf of my people, the Uighurs. I would like Canada to be actively involved in stopping China's genocide of the Uighur people. We know that Canada is against the forced sterilization of women.

I am currently living in Turkey, where there are many Uighur refugees. I am asking you whether it would be possible to give refuge to us because we are a stateless people.

I am not afraid to die.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

In her testimony, Ms. Jelilova said that she was told the Chinese government had a long arm. Does she feel threatened? Has she been threatened since she has been in Turkey? The question is also for Mr. Ali in Holland.

[Gulbahar Jelilova]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

I live in Turkey in a constant and permanent state of fear. I am followed by the Chinese police. The Turkish police even approached me to ask me who those people following me were. We receive threats over the telephone. It is very real, and I live in fear.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Go ahead, Mr. Ali.

[Omerbek Ali]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

As I said, I'm not afraid to die, but since leaving Kazakhstan in 2017 and since giving my first media interview, I have been constantly harassed and threatened with death. I have received death threats. Even when I travelled to Japan, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland, I was constantly harassed. I have received harassing telephone calls. I am not afraid to die; I will make it through this ordeal.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I don't know whether you can answer my question. I would like to know whether you feel things have gotten worse since Xi Jinping took power.

[Kayum Masimov]

I did not understand your question.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Has the situation worsened or changed since Xi Jinping has been in power?

[Omerbek Ali]

[Witness spoke in Uighur, interpreted as follows:]

Things have certainly gotten worse since Xi Jinping came to power. China has become a trading powerhouse. This powerhouse mistreats its own people. Nearly 1.5 million people are currently being detained in East Turkestan. The situation has indeed worsened a great deal. It is now much worse.