A committee of the Parliament of Catalonia is considering a resolution that condemns China's persecution of Uyghurs, demands the release of arbitrarily detained people and urges European action.
...
The text "condemns the systematic persecution of the Uyghur people exercised by the People's Republic of China." It cites mass detentions, torture, forced labour, destruction of cultural and religious heritage and forced sinicization. It demands "the release of all persons arbitrarily detained." It also reaffirms the right of Uyghurs to decide their political future "without external interference."
The resolution urges the Catalan government to press European bodies, specifically the European Commission's presidency, to adopt proportionate diplomatic and economic measures. It would set up ways to alert Catalan companies linked to Uyghur forced-labour supply chains. It asks the government to offer support and reception to Uyghurs who reach Catalonia fleeing persecution, under asylum rules. Copies would go to the Generalitat, EU institutions, the UN human rights office, the World Uyghur Congress in Munich and Uyghur community representatives in Catalonia.
...
The preamble says Catalonia, "as a nation with a strong tradition in the defence of language, culture and self-determination," has a responsibility to speak out when other peoples are denied their rights. Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain with its own language. Under Francisco Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975), Catalan language and cultural institutions faced severe restrictions.
...
[In the past, similar declarations have been made by European and international lawmakers that branded China's policy in the Xinjiang regions as genocide, including the parliaments of the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, France.]
...
no comments (yet)