Washington DC [US] May 2 (ANI): Uyghur advocacy groups, international institutions, and global human rights organisations have raised renewed concerns over what they describe as expanding transnational repression, legal accountability for corporate complicity, and intensifying legislative assimilation targeting Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities under Chinese state policies, according to the latest weekly brief by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC).
Citing a new investigation published on April 27, 2026, by Citizen Lab in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the WUC said Chinese state-aligned actors were exposed for allegedly targeting journalists and diaspora communities through phishing, impersonation, and malware campaigns.
According to the WUC weekly brief, Uyghur organisations, including the World Uyghur Congress itself, were among those affected.
The WUC noted that Citizen Lab documented how, in July 2025, a WUC leadership member received a phishing email impersonating a supportive European parliamentarian through a fake event invitation designed to steal login credentials.
Around the same time, the organisation reportedly received another malicious email disguised as correspondence from a human rights researcher, containing a malware link intended to compromise devices. As cited by the WUC brief, these incidents underscore the continued use of digital transnational repression against Uyghur advocacy groups operating abroad.
The WUC weekly brief also highlighted developments in the United States, where on April 28, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I, a case examining whether a major American technology company can be held legally accountable for allegedly assisting the Chinese government’s surveillance and persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.
According to the WUC, the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), alongside partner organisations, filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs and argued that corporations enabling state repression should face accountability.
The brief said victims in the case allege Cisco designed surveillance technologies that facilitated abuses, including torture. According to the WUC, the case could carry significant implications for future corporate responsibility in relation to international human rights violations.
In Europe, the WUC reported that on April 30, 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning China’s new Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress, warning that it deepens repression and forced assimilation of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongolians, Hui, and other minority communities.
As cited by the WUC weekly brief, the European Parliament criticised the law’s prioritisation of Mandarin, restrictions on cultural and religious freedoms, and extraterritorial provisions that could affect individuals living abroad.
According to the WUC, the resolution called on China to repeal the law, urged the European Union to impose sanctions on responsible officials and entities, and warned that implementation of the legislation could seriously harm EU-China relations.
During the parliamentary process, a WUC delegation was present and held what the organisation described as a productive meeting with Member of European Parliament Engin Eroglu, Chair of the European Parliament’s China Delegation. The WUC said it had conducted two rounds of advocacy missions to Brussels and Strasbourg ahead of the vote in support of the resolution. (ANI)