Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign Commemorates 29th Anniversary of the February 5 Ghulja Massacre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

February 4, 2026

Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign solemnly commemorates the 29th anniversary of the February 5, 1997 Ghulja Massacre, one of the most brutal episodes of state violence against the Uyghur people in Chinese-occupied East Turkistan.

On February 5, 1997, thousands of Uyghurs gathered peacefully in the city of Ghulja to demand the release of young Muslims who had been detained the night before for engaging in prayer during the holy month of Ramadan on ‘Laylatul Qadr,’ the Night of Power. The demonstrators posed no threat and carried no weapons. Their demands were rooted in basic religious freedom and human dignity.

Chinese occupying forces responded with unprovoked gunfire, opening fire on the crowd and killing at least 100 peaceful protesters. In the days that followed, repression intensified. More than 200 Uyghurs were sentenced to death, and approximately 4,000 were arrested. Many of those detained remain disappeared to this day, their families still denied truth or accountability.

Survivors of the massacre have recounted horrific torture and inhumane detention conditions. Testimonies describe Uyghur detainees being confined in a building for six days, repeatedly doused with freezing water and left in subzero temperatures. At least 50 people are believed to have died as a result of these conditions alone.

The Ghulja Massacre marked a turning point in the Chinese government’s campaign of repression against the Uyghur people, laying the groundwork for the mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, forced labor, and cultural erasure that continues today.

Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, President of Justice For All said  “Twenty-nine years later, the pain of Ghulja has not faded, because justice has never been served, the world must remember that the Uyghurs who were killed in Ghulja were not criminals or extremists. They were Muslims demanding the right to pray and to live with dignity. Remembering Ghulja is not about the past alone. It is about confronting an ongoing injustice that the world has tolerated for far too long.”

Arslan Hidayat, Team Lead of Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign, emphasizes the continued relevance of the massacre today. “The Ghulja Massacre was an early warning that the international community ignored. What began with bullets in the streets has evolved into mass detention camps, forced labor, and the disappearance of an entire generation. Honoring the victims of Ghulja means demanding accountability, standing with survivors, and refusing to let the Uyghur genocide be normalized or forgotten.”

Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign calls on governments, international institutions, and civil society to commemorate the victims of the Ghulja Massacre, to press for the release of all Uyghurs arbitrarily detained by the Chinese government, and to take concrete action to end crimes against humanity being committed against the Uyghur people.

Contact Information: Hena Zuberi, Director Of Advocacy

Email: hena@justiceforall.org. Phone: 202-908-JUST

Website: https://www.justiceforall.org/save-uighur/