CUS Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 4, 2025
Contact@uyghurstudy.org
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina – September 4, 2025 – On the solemn 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, the Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) and Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) convened an international conference in Sarajevo to honor the victims of 1995 genocide in Srebrenica and to sound the alarm on the ongoing Uyghur Genocide in East Turkistan.
Opened by Abdulhakim Idris, Executive Director of the Center for Uyghur Studies, the conference brought together policymakers, scholars, professors, students, business leaders, members of the Turkish community in Sarajevo, journalists, survivors, and human rights advocates from across Europe, the Balkans, and beyond. In a spirit of solidarity, participants reflected on the enduring legacy of Srebrenica and drew urgent lessons for preventing atrocities today.
Keynote remarks were delivered by prominent Bosnian MPs Šemsuddin Mehmedović and Adi Kalem, followed by a moving testimony from Ms. Kalbinur Sidik, an Uyghur witness of China’s concentration camps, who recounted the immense suffering she witnessed under this brutal system of repression. The panel was moderated by Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs. Distinguished speakers included Marco Respinti (Italy), Gjergji Thanasi (Albania), Abdulhakim Idris (USA), Abdujelil Turan (Türkiye), and Muhammed Emin Uygur (Türkiye).
The conference explored three urgent themes:
- Genocide, memory, and resilience
- Global complicity in atrocities and human rights abuses
- Tools of resistance and testimony under repression
The audience expressed their solidarity and pledged to take concrete action to serve as a voice for the Uyghur people.
On September 3, conference organizers and speakers traveled to Srebrenica to pay respect at the cemetery where thousands of victims are buried and to visit the Srebrenica Memorial Center. There, they met with the Center’s team to deepen understanding of the genocide and its preservation in historical memory.
“The memory of Srebrenica demands that we never remain silent in the face of atrocity,” said Abdulhakim Idris, Executive Director of the Center for Uyghur Studies. “The Uyghur people today face crimes that echo the darkest chapters of history. Our solidarity is both a duty and a call for urgent action.”
By linking the tragedies of Bosnians and Uyghurs, this historic gathering in Sarajevo reaffirmed a shared moral responsibility: to defend the truth, honor the victims, and confront authoritarian violence wherever it arises. The conference concluded with a united call for global accountability and decisive action to end the ongoing Uyghur genocide.
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