Legal Challenge to Govt Decision to Allow Huawei 5G Network Access
Legal Challenge to Govt Decision to Allow Huawei 5G Network Access
Latest: June 29, 2020
Update as to Work Undertaken So Far to Raise Human Rights in Huawei Decision
On the 28 April 2020, a letter was sent to the Government on behalf of two British Uyghur clients, Rahima Mahmut, and Enver Tohti Bughda, who is also an activist and a member of the International Adv…
Read moreWe are two British Uyghurs, Rahima Mahmut, a human rights activist and head of the World Uyghur Congress's London Office and Enver Tohti Bughda who is also an activist and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China.
We were alarmed and very disappointed that British Government has decided to allow Huawei to provide parts of the United Kingdom's 5G network due to the mass repression of the Uyghur people in Huawei's supply chain. Please contribute to our legal challenge now so we can hold the British Government to account and share this page with your friends, family and on social media.
The reason why we were so alarmed and disappointed is because there is evidence from well researched independent sources such as the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that Huawei plays an integral part in the mass repression of the Uyghur people which amounts to the crimes against humanity of torture, enslavement , forcible transfer, imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law, enforced marriage and pregnancy, and persecution. The evidence from the ASPI Report Mapping China’s Technology Giants shows that Huawei is ‘deeply implicated in the ongoing surveillance, repression and persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minority communities in Xinjiang.’ Further evidence about Huawei's role can be found in the PBC Frontline documentary China Undercover and in the ITV Exposure documentary Undercover Inside China's Digital Gulag.
Further, there is also evidence of the use of slavery in Huawei's supply chain which means that their products contain components which are made by Uyghurs who are transported thousands of miles from their homes under force or the threat of force.
We are raising funds to challenge the Government about their decision to allow Huawei to be a part of the UK's communication network. We strongly believe that given the evidence about Huawei the British people would not support their continued participation in our 5G network.
The initial target of this Crowd Justice campaign is £5000 which will cover pre-action legal work including the sending of written representations to the Government requesting that the decision to choose Huawei be reconsidered.
If the Government fails to respond to these representations we will be forced to challenge their decision in Court and will fundraise further for this. Our aim is to prevent Huawei from taking part in the UK's 5G network given the intense pain and suffering inflicted upon our people with this company playing an integral part of that oppression.
Please do not forget the Uyghur people! Thank you for your help with this case!
Please do contribute if you are able and share this page with your friends, family, and contacts.
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British Uyghurs, Rahima Mahmut & Enver Tohti Bughda
June 29, 2020
Update as to Work Undertaken So Far to Raise Human Rights in Huawei Decision
On the 28 April 2020, a letter was sent to the Government on behalf of two British Uyghur clients, Rahima Mahmut, and Enver Tohti Bughda, who is also an activist and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China.
This letter requested that the Government agree to reconsider allowing the company Huawei to take part in the provision of the the United Kingdom’s 5G network given the strong evidence that Huawei plays an integral part in the systematic oppression of the Uyghur and other Turkic people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (East Turkestan) which amounts to crimes against humanity and a breach of jus cogens norms of international law as well as evidence of the use of forced labour and slavery in Huawei’s supply chain.
Our legal team received a response from the Government on 11 May 2020 in which they stated that a decision to allow Huawei access to provide infrastructure for the 5G system had not yet been taken. Following the receipt of this letter, on 24 May 2020 it was announced that there would be a further review as to whether Huawei will be allowed to provide 5G infrastructure[1].
On 2 June 2020, following the Government’s announcement, our legal team have written to the Government to insist that this review, as well as considering the security implication of allowing Huawei access, also considers issues relating to human rights, including Huawei’s alleged involvement in forced labour and international crimes amounting to breaches of jus cogens norms.
On 22 June 2020, the Government responded that following the 'US announcement of additional sanctions against Huawei the NCSC [National Cyber Security Centre] is looking carefully at any impact such additional sanctions could have upon the UK’s networks' but that 'The Foreign and Commonwealth Office follows the human rights situation in Xinjiang closely and has made public statements setting out its concerns'.
Our team has since made written submissions to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee's inquiry ‘Broadband and the road to 5G’ and is preparing letters to the UK's telecoms providers, who would be using Huawei technology if the Government allows Huawei to provide the infrastructure, asking them to abide by their own human rights and slavery policies and refuse to do so.
We are also preparing submissions to the United Nation's Special Rapporteurs and will provide you with further information about this shortly.
We continue to call on the Government to abandon plans to allow Huawei access to provide 5G infrastructure and will consider stopping them from doing so through the Courts if needs be.
We appreciate your support for our efforts and will keep you updated as to the progress we make. Please share this campaign with your friends and family.
[1] Reported by the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52792587
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