UK Politicians Rally in Support of Uyghurs and Remember Ghulja 28 Years Ago

MP Katrine Murray, flanked by left, Maira Aisa, President of the U.K. Uyghur community, and Rahima Mahmut, Executive Director of Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG) and Director of the London World Uyghur Congress office.

The Ghulja Massacre in 1997 persuaded Chinese authorities they could go on with a genocide and get away with it.

by Ruth Ingram

Bitter Winter, 02/14/2025

As Uyghurs remembered the day 28 years ago when Chinese government forces opened fire on peaceful Uyghur protesters, killing and maiming hundreds, UK lawmakers lined up to pledge support for ongoing efforts to hold Beijing to account.

Rahima Mahmut, head of Uyghur advocacy group Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG) and Director of the World Uyghur Congress’ London office, addressed MPs gathering in solidarity at a special event recalling the massacre in her hometown of Ghulja, on February 5, 1997, as if it was yesterday. 

She told how Uyghurs, marching to protest decades of discrimination, religious persecution, and the banning of Meshrep, a cherished Uyghur cultural tradition, were gunned down and rounded up to face “sham trials” followed by public executions in the city stadium.

“The world knew about this but did nothing,” she said, citing the incident as a “watershed moment” leading the Chinese government to realize “they could get away with everything.”

Uyghurs and fellow supporters protesting outside London’s Chinese embassy to commemorate the Ghulja Massacre, 28 years ago on February 5, 1997. Centre, holding the Uyghur blue East Turkestan flag, is Rahima Mahmut.

Uyghurs and fellow supporters protesting outside London’s Chinese embassy to commemorate the Ghulja Massacre, 28 years ago on February 5, 1997. Centre, holding the Uyghur blue East Turkestan flag, is Rahima Mahmut.

She has traced an acceleration of the superpower’s genocidal policies against her people from that event culminating in the well publicized mass arrests, and roundups of 2016–2018, and the internment of at least one and a half million Turkic people, mostly Uyghurs of China’s north west, into so-called “re-education camps.”

“This tragedy was not an isolated incident but part of a long and ongoing pattern of repression that has since evolved into systematic persecution,” she said. “Despite efforts to silence them, the courage of those who stood in Ghulja remains a powerful call for justice and freedom,” she said.

“The Ghulja Massacre is not just history, it continues today in the ongoing cultural erasure, the banning of our language, mass sterilizations, separating children from families, the crushing of religious freedom, and forced labour of our people,” she said.

Han Chinese student, Kyle, telling the crowd that his eyes had been opened to the “fake news” given to him as a child growing up in mainland China, after Uyghurs were burned to death in an apartment fire in Urumqi during the COVID lockdown. “We Han Chinese must recognize our collective responsibility,” he said.

Han Chinese student, Kyle, telling the crowd that his eyes had been opened to the “fake news” given to him as a child growing up in mainland China, after Uyghurs were burned to death in an apartment fire in Urumqi during the COVID lockdown. “We Han Chinese must recognize our collective responsibility,” he said.

The event marked a turning point in her own life and when she finally managed to leave her country and come as a student to England three years later, she vowed to campaign for her people from exile.

From across the political spectrum the MPs were unanimous in their condemnation of Chinese state persecution of the Uyghur people. 

Rahima appealed to them to add their weight to the Stop Uyghur Genocide campaign in parliament.

Despite being branded a genocide by UK parliamentarians in April 2021, UK ministers still refuse to accept the definition, insisting that must be determined by a “competent court.”

Rahima urged them to support changes to the Energy Bill going through parliament, to ensure that solar panels and other exports made by Uyghur forced labour in China were barred from UK shores. 

She wanted to see laws against modern slavery scaled up and due diligence toughened. 

“The current modern slavery legislation has no teeth,” said  Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of René5 Cassin, the Jewish Voice of Human Rights and Chair of the SUG board.“Products from Uyghur slave labour are still getting through,” she said.

UK MPs waiting to show their solidarity to Rahima Mahmut (far right) Maira Aisa (second right) and Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of René Cassin and Chair of the SUG  board.

UK MPs waiting to show their solidarity to Rahima Mahmut (far right) Maira Aisa (second right) and Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of René Cassin and Chair of the SUG  board.

Mahmut also appealed to MPs to press the government to refuse Beijing permission to open a “super embassy” next to Tower Bridge, one of London’s cultural landmarks, and to give Uyghurs fleeing persecution refuge in the UK.

John Grady, Labour MP for Glasgow East expressed his “deep concern” about the situation. “Since Xi Jinping a lot has happened in China,” he said. “It is very, very worrying.”

MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, flanked by left, Maira Aisa and Rahima Mahmut.

MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, flanked by left, Maira Aisa and Rahima Mahmut.

“We must not stay silent,” said Rahima. “On this solemn anniversary, we honour those who lost their lives and all who continue to suffer under China’s brutal regime. We carry the spirit of Ghulja, the spirit of defiance, resilience, and hope.”