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Human Rights Radio Show focuses on Myanmar and Xinjiang

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April 27, 2021

Interview with Magnus Fiskesjö

Updates on the human rights situation in Myanmar and in China's Xinjiang/East Turkistan, with Prof. Magnus Fiskesjö.

This interview appears on the "Human Rights and Social Justice" radio show, hosted by Ute Ritz-Deutch, on WRFI.org, & on FM 88.1 in Ithaca. Recorded April 23, 2021. Available to listen on Soundcloud. 

Magnus Fiskesjö is an anthropology professor at Cornell University and faculty affiliate with the Southeast Asia Program and the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Fiskesjö gives an update on the situation in Myanmar (Burma), where the military took over the country in February, by imprisoning its elected leaders. Protests around the country continue even though the military has been killing protestors.

The professor also reviews the latest from China regarding the genocide of the Uyghurs, which the communist party denies. However, many of its practices, such as forced assimilation, sterilizations, and forced abortions of minorities are part of the definition of genocide as articulated in the UN Genocide Convention. Recently, the European Union and the United States have enacted sanctions against Chinese individuals involved in executing policies against ethnic minorities, and China in turn has sanctioned researchers and journalists from Europe. China is also targeting corporations who publicly committed to not use materials and products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In the U.S., the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" has been introduced in Congress. For more information about the Uyghurs visit uhrp.org/.

Recording available on SoundCloud.

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