The Congress was nominated by Canadian Member of Parliament (MP), chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights (SDIR), and co-chair of the Canada-Uyghur Parliamentary Friendship Group, Sameer Zuberi, together with Canadian MP and SDIR co-chair Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe and leader of the Young Liberals in Norway, Ane Breivik.

“It makes me very proud to see that the World Uyghur Congress’ hard work to end the Uyghur genocide has not gone unnoticed,” said WUC President, Dolkun Isa. “This nomination is not only a recognition of the WUC’s work, but a show of support for the Uyghur people as a whole.”

The WUC has been nominated for its contribution to human rights, the advancement of democracy, and bringing the Uyghur genocide to the forefront of the international community. As the leading representative Uyghur organisation worldwide, the WUC is dedicated to protecting the rights of the Uyghur people, both in East Turkistan as well as in the diaspora. “It is the ceaseless fight for the civil liberties and human rights of Uyghurs and other Turkic people suffering genocide and crimes against humanity, that the WUC should receive the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize”, one of the nomination letters reads.

The work of the WUC has made a significant contribution to drawing international attention to the crushing campaign of religious, linguistic, and cultural repression currently being waged by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in East Turkistan. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that these human rights violations “may amount to … crimes against humanity”, and the United States, eleven parliamentary bodies – including in Canada – as well as the independent Uyghur Tribunal have concluded a genocide is taking place.

It is vital that the international community does not let the crimes committed by the CCP against the Uyghurs go unnoticed and committed with impunity.

Nominating the WUC for the Nobel Peace Prize is an important message against authoritarianism and reflects the importance of ending the Uyghur genocide.

The WUC sincerely thanks MP Brunelle-Duceppe, MP Zuberi and leader of the Young Liberals, Breivik, for recognising the importance of the WUC’s work and nominating the organisation for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.