Washington, DC (November 13, 2009) - In conjunction with a special exhibition at the Laogai Museum, "The Uyghur Experience: 60 Years under Chinese Communist Rule," the National Endowment for Democracy, the Uyghur American Association, and the Laogai Research Foundation are co-sponsoring a panel discussion examining the profound effects of the July 2009 violence in Urumchi on ethnic relations in China, and exploring potential ways forward for Uyghur-Han relations.
 
Distinguished panelists include Nury Turkel, past president of the Uyghur American Association and noted attorney in Washington, DC; Dr. Sean Roberts, Central Asia expert and Director of the International Development Studies Program at George Washington University; and Dr. David Dahai Yu, Publisher of Beijing Spring magazine. The program will be moderated by Amy Reger, Researcher at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, and Louisa Greve, Vice President for Programs--Asia, Middle East/North Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy.  
 
Light refreshments will be served. 
 
Details for this event are as follows:
Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
Location: National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street, NW, Suite 800
 
For further press inquiries, please contact Lindsey Purdy at (202) 408-8300 or e-mail at Lindsey@laogai.org. 
 

The Laogai Research Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992. Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai, China's extensive system of forced-labor prison camps.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts.

The Uyghur American Association (UAA) works to promote the preservation and flourishing of a rich, humanistic and diverse Uyghur culture, and to support the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, democratic means to determine their own political future. The UAA has undertaken the Uyghur Human Rights Project for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other indigenous groups in East Turkistan (also known as China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community's democratic aspirations.