Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

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Leaked data shows the scale and horror of internment of Uyghur minority in China

February 24, 2023

A data leak has revealed that 1.5 million of the Uyghur population of Chinese people have been forced into internment camps by the Chinese government. The government’s efforts to silence their families and other ethnic minorities in the region has led to the breakup of families and genocide. The former President of Xinjiang University, Dr. Tashpolat Tiyip, is one example; after being tried, convicted, and issued a death sentence for seemingly unjust causes in 2018, he has disappeared. These atrocities warrant action.

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/asia/china-police-data-leak-uyghur-families/

February 17, 2023

President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

The Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS) is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars that has been working, since 1972, on the advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for our colleagues all over the world. For over half a century, CCS has been helping persecuted scientists and scholars escape injustice.

We are seeking your assistance with the Uyghur minorities in China. The Uyghur population is about 11 million, of which ~1.5 million have been forced into internment camps in China. A CNN piece “China, Police, Data Leak of Uyghur Families” by Rebecca Wright and Ivan Watson sheds light on how surveillance has been used in detention as well as silencing of Uyghur families and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2023/02/asia/china-police-data-leak-uyghur-families/

The data leak reveals a large-scale atrocity in which the Chinese government’s action has led to the breakup of families and placement in internment camps. The situation inside the internment camps is desperate. The data leak provides a trace amount of hope that families may someday be reunited. This separation and silence of Uyghurs in China, we believe, warrants action. The fate of family members goes beyond breaking up families and forced relocation to internment camps.

One example is the former President of Xinjiang University, Tashpolat Tiyip. He is a renowned scholar having published 6 books, written more than 200 scholarly articles, and led 17 national and international research projects. In March 2017, Dr. Tiyip was removed from his position as President of Xinjiang University and he disappeared. We understand that he was accompanying students to Germany for a conference when he was detained at the airport in Beijing. In 2018, Dr. Tiyip was tried for “separatism” and convicted, issued a death sentence, and his whereabouts at present are unknown to us.

Because the publicity the Uyghur’s plight has received worldwide has been so modest despite its scale, we are asking that you include Tiyip’s name and the topic of Uyghur internment and genocide in any discussion with China.

Thank you for your attention to this very important matter and we look forward to a response from you shortly.

Respectfully,

signatures
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

CC:

Senator Charles E. Schumer
Senate Majority Leader
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (518) 431-4070
Twitter: @SenSchumer

Representative Kevin McCarthy
Speaker of the House
US House of Representatives
2468 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (661) 327-3611
Twitter: @SpeakerMcCarthy

Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Twitter: @ABlinken

Filed Under: CCS Cases, China Tagged With: Tashpolat Tiyip, Uyghur Internment Camps

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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