The public hearing on Forced Labor and Violent Assimilation in the Uyghur Region at the Czech Senate

On Friday, October 20, 2023, a public hearing on the topic of Forced Labor and Violent Assimilation in the Uyghur region took place at the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The students from the Faculty of Law at Charles University (Sára Eva Neničková, Lenka Hanušová, Magdaléna Milbachová, and Helena Šmolková), who were also the authors of the Policy paper containing recommendations to aid the Uyghur minority, were invited to this event along with other members of the Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (prof. Helena Hofmannová and Mgr. Karel Řepa, Ph.D.). This opportunity allowed the authors to present this unique student project to the Czech Republic's public authorities, the intended recipients.

The public hearing was organized by the Vice-Chairman of the Senate, Jiří Oberfalzer, in collaboration with the World Uyghur Congress, the Campaign for Uyghurs, the Ilham Tohti Initiative, Forum for Human Rights, the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences, and Sinopsis. The program included firsthand testimonies from survivors of concentration camps in the Uyghur autonomous region of Xinjiang. Additionally, representatives of global organizations supporting Uyghurs urged the Czech Republic and its representatives to impose sanctions on the import of forced labor products from the Xinjiang region. This call came from figures such as Dolqun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, and Enver Can, President of the Ilham Tohti Initiative.

The main idea behind the student Policy paper was to leverage the Czech legal system as effectively as possible, aiming to offer assistance to the Uyghur minority and other communities from the Czech Republic's position. The recommendations covered areas of domestic legislation, EU law, criminal law, and international public law. Over the past few months, the students worked on formulating clear and persuasive proposals for defining the legal framework and direct recommendations for future legislation.

The presentation of this strategic document, delivered by one of its authors, Sára Eva Neničková, during the public hearing, was highly successful. Its content sparked great interest, not only from the Uyghur attendees and experts on the subject but also from members of the Czech Parliament, such as Senate Vice-Chairman Pavel Fischer. We extend our gratitude to Iveta Vancáková, a member of the Forum for Human Rights, and Ondřej Klimeš from the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Sinopsis, for enabling the presentation of the student Policy paper at the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

We believe that the entire event and the individual student recommendations will inspire public authorities to utilize various mechanisms offered by both domestic and international public law to assist the Uyghur minority and other communities whose fundamental human rights are grossly and systematically violated in the territory of the People's Republic of China.