CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2025, 4:00 PM EST
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CFU and CUS Honor Srebrenica Victims and Demand Action on Uyghur Genocide During Event in Sarajevo
Washington, D.C. – On September 4, 2025, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) and the Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) co-hosted a conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide. The event honored the memory of the victims of Srebrenica while drawing attention to the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in East Turkistan. By bringing together lawmakers, diplomats, scholars, survivors, and advocates, the conference underscored the shared struggle against genocide and authoritarian repression.
The conference opened with remarks from Abdulhakim Idris, Executive Director of the Center for Uyghur Studies, who emphasized the importance of learning from Srebrenica to prevent ongoing and future genocides. Keynote addresses were given by Bosnian parliamentarians Šemsudin Mehmedović and Adi Kalem. Kalbinur Sidik, Uyghur survivor of the CCP’s concentration camps, shared moving testimonies that connected the tragedies of the past to the ongoing persecution of Uyghurs. The remarks and testimonies were followed by a panel discussion moderated by CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas. Panelists, including Abdulhakim Idris, journalist & author for Bitter Winter, Marco Respinti, investigative journalist, Gjergji Thanasi, Uyghur publisher, religious scholar, and Director of Religious Affairs for the World Uyghur Congress, Abdujelil Turan, and Uyghur researcher and Assistant Director of the International Relations Academy in Türkiye, Muhammed Emin Uygur, explored themes of genocide, memory, resilience, and global complicity in human rights abuses.
“…at the highest levels of dialogue, the European Union has expressed to China its ‘deep concern about the human rights situation’ in Xinjiang — most recently, on July 24, 2025, at the 25th EU–China Summit. Yet this falls far short of what could truly help the Uyghur people. As a people who know what it means to endure the silence of the world, we have a responsibility never to remain silent about the suffering of others. For today, it is the Uyghurs. But tomorrow, if we remain silent, it could be any one of us, once again,” said Šemsudin Mehmedović.
Adi Kalem declared, “In both cases, the goal is the same: to eliminate a people—either by killing their sons and fathers or by stripping generations of the right to be who they are. The same fate, different places, the same pattern of oppression…Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality, it’s complicity. Silence is what allowed Srebrenica, and silence is what allows the camps in Xinjiang. So, dear friends, the message from Sarajevo today must be clear: Never again.”
“As we honor the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide, we are reminded that the failure to act decisively against atrocity allows history to repeat itself,” said Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs. “We call on the international community to learn from Srebrenica’s lessons, to confront Beijing’s crimes with urgency, and to stand with Uyghurs in their struggle for justice and freedom.”
CFU emphasizes that commemorating Srebrenica must serve as remembrance and as a commitment to preventing future atrocities. We call on governments, international institutions, and civil society to confront China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs with the same resolve demanded after Srebrenica. The Sarajevo conference highlighted the urgent need for accountability and truth by fostering solidarity between Bosnian and Uyghur communities and coordinated global action to uphold the promise of “never again.”
