After opening remarks from UNPO President, Ngawang Choephel, and Society for Threatened Peoples President, Ulrich Delius, the floor was given to renown Uyghur activist and President of the World Uyghur Congress,  Rebiya Kadeer, to speak on the first panel addressing systematic state oppression of minorities.

Ms Kadeer addressed the issue of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. By drawing on the example of the increasing occurrence of suppressive measures used by the Chinese government, Ms Kadeer discussed how minorities in China, particularly the Uyghurs, Mongolians and Tibetans, are often targeted by authorities. She spoke of how the state increasingly uses religious extremism or national security issues as a front for their violent persecution of these minorities. An example of this is the life sentence handed to Mr Ilham Tothi, a moderate critic of the Chinese government who was charged with inciting separatism as a result of criticising the state’s response to a suicide attack in Beijing. Ms Kadeer also stressed the troubling response of the Chinese government towards student protesters in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) who face mass trials and prison sentences of up to 15 years for trying to exercise their right to free speech.

Following Ms Kadeer was Enghebatu Togochog of the Southern Mongolia Human Rights Centre who addressed the issue of land grabbing, arbitrary arrests and repression in Southern Mongolia. Mr Togochog talked about the vulnerable state of the Mongolian people who are currently a minority in their own region. This demographic shift has occurred as a result of a concerted effort by the Chinese state to remove traditional Mongolian nomadic farmers from their herding territories in an attempt to secure mineral wealth that is located in the region. The issue is compounded by the fact that the Chinese government often restricts information during flashpoints in the area such as the recent killing of Ayungaa, a Mongolian herdsman who was on horse-back when he was killed in a road collision with a Chinese mining truck. Following the incident there was a media blackout in the region as the state tried to control any backlash to the incident. This is a pattern that is often repeated – in 2010, 6 Mongolians were killed trying to defend their lands and many more have been detained with little media coverage or access to reliable information.

The final speaker for the first panel, Dawa Tsultrim from the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, addressed violent responses towards non-violent resistance that he has experienced in Tibet. Mr Tsultrim spoke strongly about his belief that the treatment he experienced at the hands of the Chinese government was significantly harsher due purely to his geographical location. China’s unwillingness to readdress the issues of Tibetan Buddhist religion and the role of the Dalai Lama is driving the state’s harsh reaction to Tibetan culture and patriotic sentiments. Mr Tsultrim used the example of the recent expulsion of Tibetan nuns from their monastery to illustrate his point. The 26 nuns expelled from the Driru monastery were victims of the harsh new ‘Rectification Campaign’ in China which is targeted specifically at Tibetan Buddhist practices and the worshiping of the Dalai Lama. Any monastery deemed to be ‘illegal’ is under threat of destruction and any person in possession of pictures of the Dalai Lama is likely to suffer harsh jail sentences. Following Mr Tsultrim’s speech there was a debate on China’s strategy regarding minorities and recent improvements concerning dialogues between minorities and Chinese intellectuals. However, these dialogues are in reality only applicable to Tibetans and not the many other Chinese minorities are currently benefiting.

Ms Aishe Memetova, a representative of the Crimean Tatars, was the first of two speakers on the second panel which addressed international conflict and the ensuing violence against minorities. Ms Memetova discussed the issues facing Crimean Tatars within the context of the current geopolitical struggle in the region. She outlined the parallels between the historic statehood of Crimea and outlying autonomous regions in China and the strategies used by both the Russian and Chinese governments in repressing minorities within their territories. Since the annexation of Crimea by Russia, religious extremism and state security has often been used as an excuse for widespread ethnic persecution of the Crimean Tatars. As with minorities in China, freedom of expression is severely limited by the Russian state with respect to the Crimean Tatars. This is particularly targeted at patriotic sentiments with both the Commemoration Day for the Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union (18 May) and National Flag Day (26 June) having been banned this year. The Mejils (the governing body of the Tatar community in Crimea) has experienced a number of discriminatory restrictions by the Russian government including the freezing of all official bank accounts. The number of incidents of disappearances and public discrimination against the Crimean Tatars is increasing and the Russian state police are often totally non-compliant with requests for thorough investigations to be held. As a result, Ms Memetova believes that the actual number of disappearances is much higher than current estimates. She finished her speech by drawing a parallel between the current situation and the historic deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet government. Unlike before, this time there is no direct deportation, but the Tatars are slowly leaving Crimea in the face of racism and economic ethnic discrimination.

The final speaker was Zena Al-Esia, a minority rights activist of Fayli Kurdish origin. She spoke of the issues currently facing the Shia Kurds and Turkmen in Iraq. Ms Al-Esia spoke of the cultural diversity that has existed historically in Iraq in contrast to the increasing persecution that ethnic minorities are facing there since the reign of Saddam Hussein and more recently, from the so called Islamic State. The Shia Kurds and Turkmen face significant issues derived from their status as a ‘double minority’ – being persecuted by Saddam for being non-Arab and by the IS for being Shia. She outlined that many minorities are recognized in Iraq but the Fayli (Shia Kurds) and the Turkmen are often neglected by both the domestic authorities and by the international community, including international media. Ms Al-Esia therefore called on the international community to conduct thorough investigations into the situation of these invisible minorities in Iraq and Crimea before further persecution is allowed to occur.

The overall conclusion drawn was that events such as this often provide the only political platform for unrepresented nations and peoples to raise awareness of their concerns and struggles. Due to their unrecognized status within their own countries and the neglect that they are facing from the international community due to, amongst others, geopolitical forces, it is imperative that these issues are voiced, in order to ultimately prevent further state persecution by building international pressure.