On December 10th, the Uyghur American Association (UAA) joined organizations and individuals around the world in commemoration of Human Rights Day. As part of global efforts to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in East Turkistan, UAA, UHRP and the Uyghur American community convened a candlelight vigil on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

December 10th was proclaimed Human Rights Day because it is the day, in 1948, that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Enshrined in the Declaration is a pledge from the international community that regardless of nationality, race, religion, or sex, each and every person’s fundamental human rights are guaranteed, and will be protected. The Declaration was adopted following the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of 6 million innocent Jews and millions more.

Seven decades later, the world is witnessing another genocide unfold. The Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples is the largest, in scale and brutality, since the Holocaust. Yet, the very body that promised Never Again, the very body that declared its unflinching commitment to holding human life and dignity as the highest value, is paralyzed when it comes to holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their unspeakable crimes. The inaction of the United Nations, and the inaction of the powerful countries that comprise it, is the greatest injustice of our time.

Perhaps it is futile to wait until the United Nations chooses to take swift, decisive action to end the Uyghur genocide. After all, the Chinese Communist Party has successfully hijacked this sacred institution through the systematic strong-arming of member states. However, the inefficacy of the United Nations need not deter countries from banding together to live up to that hallowed mandate set forth in 1948.

In commemoration of Human Rights Day, we beseech citizens to call on their governments to pass legislation that holds the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the Uyghur genocide. We call on industry leaders to stop contributing to Uyghur forced labor by cutting ties with suppliers in East Turkistan. We call on consumers to stop purchasing products from companies that remain complicit in Uyghur forced labor.