CUS Press Release
For Immediate Release
Feb 05, 2026
Contact@uyghurstudy.org
February 5, 2026 marks the 29th anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre, one of the most traumatic and defining events in recent Uyghur history. On February 5, 1997, in the city of Ghulja in East Turkistan, Chinese security forces violently suppressed a peaceful Uyghur demonstration, killing, arresting, and forcibly disappearing hundreds of Uyghur youths.
In the years leading up to the massacre, the Uyghur youths in Ghulja had sought to address growing social challenges through the revival of Meshrep: traditional Uyghur cultural and religious gatherings centered on moral guidance, community responsibility, and youth education. These gatherings played an important role in strengthening social cohesion and reviving Uyghur cultural and religious values. Rather than supporting these community-led efforts, Chinese authorities viewed Meshrep as a threat, banned the gatherings, and arrested young organizers.
On February 5, 1997, more than 500 Uyghurs gathered peacefully to demand the release of detained youths and to call for basic rights and freedoms. The response was swift and brutal. Armed police forces cracked down on the demonstrators, opening fire, conducting mass arrests, and initiating a campaign of repression that extended far beyond that day. In the months that followed, Ghulja witnessed widespread arbitrary detentions, disappearances, and collective punishment that devastated countless Uyghur families.
Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris said,
“The Ghulja Massacre was one of the early signs of the Chinese Communist Party’s deliberate and long-term plan to suppress and eradicate the Uyghur people. It was also a severe act of religious persecution, as it targeted Uyghur youths who were reviving their cultural and religious heritage through traditional Meshrep gatherings. The violence in Ghulja foreshadowed the systematic policies of repression, criminalization of religious practices, and mass detention that would later engulf the entire Uyghur population.”
Today, we remember the victims of the Ghulja Massacre and honor all those who suffered for their dignity, faith, and identity. We renew our call on the international community to take meaningful action to stop China’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghur people. We also call on the Islamic world, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to fulfill its moral responsibility by clearly condemning China’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims and standing with the oppressed.
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