MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the cases of unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs in China, notably Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas

B10‑0117/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the cases of unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs in China, notably Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas

(2024/2857(RSP))

The European Parliament,

-  having regard to its previous resolutions on the People’s Republic of China (PRC),

-  having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the promotion of and respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law should be at the centre of the EU’s relations with China, in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold these values in its external action and China’s commitment to adhere to them in its own development and international cooperation;

B. whereas Ilham Tohti, who has worked tirelessly to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese for more than two decades, was given a life sentence by the Chinese for his activism in September 2014;

C. whereas Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uyghur doctor who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges and seriously disrupting social order in a secret trial in March 2019, a sentence which  is believed to be linked to her sister, Rushan Abbas's work in exposing the regime’s crimes against humanity committed against the Uyghurs;

whereas doctor Abbas urgently needs medical treatment for her multiple chronic diseases;

D. whereas since 2017, various NGOs have repeatedly reported that China has been pursuing the mass detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang;

1.  Calls for an end to China’s brutal repression across mainland China, including Xinjiang, Tibet, as well as Hong Kong and Macau; condemns China’s state-directed repression, crimes against humanity and arbitrary detention against the Uyghur minority, which violated fundamental human rights;

2.  Reiterates its calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the scholar and 2019 Sakharov Prize Laureate Ilham Tohti and Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and at the meantime to ensure that they have regular and unrestricted access to their family and the lawyers of their choice and medical treatments;

3. Calls on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to set up an independent international mechanism   to monitor, report on, and investigate allegations of severe human rights violations in China, including crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and present an action plan to hold the Chinese government accountable;

4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China.