Week of Action 2020
Justice for Uyghurs in China
WEEK Of Action: Feb 18th-21st, 2020
Delta Phi Epsilon, the University of Southern California's International Relations Society, hosted a week-long Week of Action that brought attention to the injustices currently being suffered by Chinese Uyghurs. In the middle of the week, DPE held a campus demonstration to increase the level of awareness of this topic on campus. This demonstration was covered by the Al-Hurra TV network.
When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over East Turkestan in 1949, the desire among Chinese authorities was to eradicate the separatist threat of the Uyghur people. Now, since April 2017, Chinese officials have detained up to an estimated two million Uyghurs into concentration camps, hundreds of which are located in the northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, which Uyghurs call East Turkestan. Detained Uyghurs are forced to renounce Islam and pledge loyalty to the CCP, and women have shared stories of forced abortion and sexual violence. Yet, very little has been done: the international community continues to wrestle between condemning China's human rights abuses and maintaining economic ties to China.
Campus demonstration: Freedom & justice for uyghurs
“Students dressed in blue carried signs saying “Uyghur rights are human rights” and “Cultural Genocide” at a campus demonstration aimed at bringing attention to the injustices suffered by Chinese Uyghurs. The event was organized by Delta Phi Epsilon, an international relations and foreign service fraternity.
More than 30 students joined the 30-minute walk from Tutor Campus Center to USC Village chanting “What do we want? Human rights. When do we want them? Now.” and “What do we want? Justice. Who is it for? Uyghurs.” Attendees were encouraged to dress in blue in honor of the East Turkestan flag.
Humanitarian Affairs Vice President Breana Stanski said the organization decided to bring attention to the cause after briefly studying it in international relations classes. Students were frustrated that their classes didn’t go into much detail about the injustices.” - TWESHA DIKSHIT, The Daily Trojan
Professor Panel: Brainwashed and disempowered:
This panel will bring together experts on China and human rights issues in order to have a discussion upon the Chinese government’s Uyghurs policies, international responses, and the impact (or lack thereof) of the responses.
Fundraising:
Through tabling and raising awareness on campus during our Week of Action, we raised more than $1,000 for for the Uyghur Human Rights Project.