Muslim groups boycott Hilton’s plan to build hotel in Uyghur mosque

A group of more than 40 American Muslim-American civil rights organizations announced on Thursday that they launched a campaign to boycott Hilton Worldwide. They said the company plans to Uighur Authorities in Xinjiang, China, flattened the mosque.

At a press conference held in front of the Hilton Headquarters in Virginia, the forefront organization of the initiative, the Committee on Islamic Relations (CAIR), stated that they had been “indirectly negotiating” with the hotel group, calling on them to cancel the construction plan, but the negotiations were “to no avail.” .

“Today, we announced a global boycott against Hilton,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR.

Awad said: “You and I can choose where to travel or attend business meetings or hold events, weddings or banquets,” adding that the project violated human rights and contributed to the destruction of Uyghur culture and beliefs.

China has launched a long-term campaign against Uyghurs, mainly Muslims, through mass detentions, forced sterilizations, separating children from their families, and destroying religious and cultural sites. China denied these claims.

The website has Trigger a boycott It is a mosque in the Hotan area that was destroyed in 2018. Hilton plans to transform it into a Hampton Hotel.

Sign the petition https://t.co/XLtDkMoW71#Boycott Hilton

— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) September 16, 2021

Awad said they learned of the proposed project in early June.

In July, a bipartisan US Congressional committee called on Hilton Worldwide not to associate its name with the hotel project.

Approximately 16,000 mosques in 900 locations in Xinjiang are covered by Partially or completely destroyed According to research conducted by the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy, between 2017 and 2020.

The minarets of the mosques have been demolished, and some mosques closely monitored by China have been completely demolished. Ground reports confirmed the damage and compared satellite photos from previous years to the present.

Beijing officials told Reuters earlier this year that no religious sites in Xinjiang were forcibly destroyed or restricted and invited them to visit the area.

The agency stated that most of the mosques visited by Reuters reporters were partially or completely demolished during the 12-day report during Ramadan in April and May.

United Nations and Rights groups An estimated 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are detained in the camps where they were detained Go to Xinjiang to workChina initially denied the existence of these camps, but later stated that they were professional centers aimed at combating extremism.

China denies allegations of torturing ethnic Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang or performing forced labor there.

In January of this year, the United States announced a ban on the import of all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang on the grounds that these products were produced by Uyghur forced labor.

Several Western brands such as H&M, Burberry and Nike have faced consumer resistance in China after expressing concerns about suspected forced labor in Xinjiang. China owns about 20% of the global cotton market, and 85% of the cotton comes from Xinjiang.

China denies allegations of abusing Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang or performing forced labor there [Thomas Peter/Reuters]

In early September, a human rights organization filed a lawsuit against German prosecutors, accusing several fashion retailers of profiting through forced labor in Xinjiang, China.

The European Center for Constitution and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin accused Lidl, Hugo Boss and other retailers of directly or indirectly instigating and profiting from forced labor in the Xinjiang cotton industry, according to a 96-page complaint received by the Karlsruhe prosecutor. Federal Court.

On Monday, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said that recent efforts to enter China’s Xinjiang region to investigate reports of serious violations of Muslim Uighurs had not been successful, adding that she was finalizing a report on Report of this situation.

Bachelet said at the opening ceremony of the Geneva Human Rights Council: “I regret not being able to report on the progress of my efforts to seek meaningful entry into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

“At the same time, my office is completing an assessment of existing information on allegations of serious human rights violations in the area, with a view to making it public,” she said.