Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Of course, the Chinese government will do everything to ensure you see what they want you to see. The thing is, if you go inside the mosques, they post regulations on the walls specifically saying minors cannot be allowed, that preaching is, for example, for 30 minutes, and they

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  No, they were not fighting with al-Qaeda.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The Uyghur people have a completely separate set of cultural, historical, religious, and value systems when compared to the Chinese. Even our territory and way of life are completely different from those of the Chinese. When the Chinese government actually gave us so-called aut

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Although I'm still not yet a U.S. citizen, it was the United States' firm, hard-line pressure on China that got my release. As you probably know, the Chinese government accused me of being a terrorist, and not only of espionage or anything like that. China released me after the U

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In 1997 there was a big massacre. To us, it was more like a June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre. It happened in the city of Ghulja, which is very close to the Central Asian borders, and a lot of Uyghurs were executed. It was a peaceful protest, but the Chinese government cracked dow

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The Uyghur Canadian Association.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, that's correct.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, thank you very much for your questions and for your concern with regard to Mr. Celil's case. For me it's very important that Canada puts human rights before trade, because that could really help improve the human rights situation for Uyghurs and in China overall. Y

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In the case of the United States, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Congress are quite concerned with the case of the Uyghur people. And also, a lot of human rights organizations, certainly in the U.S., have been raising the case of the Uyghur issue together with the case of

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much for what you suggest. Of course, raising the case of Mr. Huseyin Celil, and not just raising it but demanding that the Chinese government release him immediately and unconditionally, is critical; otherwise the Chinese government can do anything in its prison

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Normally, the response of the Chinese government to a soft approach is to listen to Canadian or foreign concerns, just pat their shoulders, just smile, be nice, let the time go by so that they can waste as much time as possible. That's usually the Chinese approach to foreign inqu

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Jason Kenny for organizing this hearing today. Also, I would like to express my special gratitude for all those interested parties who are here, who care for the human rights of the Uyghur people, and it is my really great pleasure to come

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  This is the first time I have been to Canada, and I'd like to take a moment to tell you what an honour and what a pleasure it is for me to be here. I hope you are aware that all over the world, the word “Canada” invokes in the minds of people, both free and oppressed, an image of