By Kadir Duran
In May 2024, the independent news website Notus published an article on the subject of human rights groups sexual harassment, in which several interviews were conducted with young women who worked for a number of human rights organisations. Now, five months later, Dolkun Isa, who was accused of sexual harassment, has stepped down as chairman of WUC in early August pending an investigation, what has become of the young woman who was caught up in this incident? Our reporter interviewed her recently.
“I am Esma Hazal, 25 years old and I study philosophy and moral science. Previously, I was active as an activist in the Uyghur cause, being a Belgian-Turkish woman who has sympathy with the Uyghurs.”
We know that in May of this year, Notus, an American news site, reported on your experience. May I ask you why you chose to disclose your “secret”?
Esma: One day in 2023, I discovered that the problem of sexual harassment was not just my experience in the Uyghur cause, but that it affected other women as well. When I learned about this, I wanted to be part of a project with several female victims to create external awareness with the media, because it was learned that internal remarks to find a solution to this problem were not taken seriously. On the contrary, they ensured that the problem was not really solved, but that it remained rather silent.
This incident then became a hot topic, especially at the international level, how did you withstand such enormous public opinion and pressure?
Esma: To tell you, I did not put up with it in a good way. I have had a lot of support from Uyghurs who are important in the cause like Dilnur Reyhan, Arslan Hidayet, and Tumaris Almas, but also from non-Uyghurs who work in this field as researchers like David Tobin, or Alicia Hennig. The support helped me to continue to keep my motivation to fight injustice, which I continue to do even if things go slowly because I also have to combine my studies. But this period has affected me mentally and I hope to make the wrongdoers pay for it. I did not deserve any negative reaction for speaking the truth.
I wrote down the details of those days and the mental, physical and social effects of talking about sexual harassment in my blog Reflect-In https://www.reflect-in.com/post/the-mental-physical-and-social-cost-of-speaking-out-against-sexual-harassment
What changes have occurred in your personal life after this incident? Are you still helping the Uyghur World Congress? Did Dolkun Isa contact you again?
Esma: I never helped the Uyghur World Congress. When Dolkun Isa began to bother and intimidate me with these sexual remarks, we had never seen each other in real life. He contacted me because I was contributing to the Uyghur cause with my outreach projects and volunteer work. After the release of the article, it’s been 5 months and he still did not apologize. However two days after the NOTUS article came out, he posted a tweet in which he apologized briefly and promised to make changes at the Uyghur World Congress, but afterwards I took part in interviews in which I did not humiliate him, and that is why he quickly forgot these superficial excuses without him or his organisation publicly apologizing. Afterwards, he began to manipulate the Uyghur people about China often attacking him and that NOTUS ‘article could be a Chinese attack to disturb the Uyghur cause. It was there that he began to insinuate that I was a spy.
I have also read interviews and reports about you. Why did they accuse you of being a “Chinese spy”?
Esma: Firstly, because I spoke of a truth that is difficult for the Uyghur people to accept in relation to their leader, who is the face of the Uyghur cause and the best-known organisation in the Uyghur cause. Then, I am not a Uyghur, and unfortunately, since China works with a lot of spying, there are even Uyghurs who do spying work to protect their families in east Turkestan. As a non-Uyghur who comes out with a heavy truth about a Uyghur leader, I guess it does something with their traumas and trust issues in general. But all this is no reason not to believe in the victims when we talk about a man in power who has the resources to manipulate his people not to believe in what is said about him.
You have already helped the Uyghur World Congress do volunteer work. Can you tell us what kind of organisation this is?
Esma: I did not help the Uyghur World Congress and I did not exactly know what kind of organisation it is, but I learned during that time that it is an organisation that is far from being run by sincere people because sincerity in human rights activism is about being neutral in these times of crisis.
The feminist movement in recent years has encouraged many women to stand up and denounce the problem of unjust power. What do you think about the problem of corruption in some international human rights organisations?
Esma: I find that in recent years there has been a lot of awareness to denounce the problem of corruption within these human rights organisations. But I think we should be aware that this is the side that dares to stand up and denounce this problem. With the reactions I have had and the negative campaign that the so-called Uyghur activists like Meryem Sultan or Abduweli Eyup have caused after the post by talking about the beautiful moments with Dolkun Isa and questioning the experiences of the victims, it is clear that other victims will have difficulty reporting what they have gone through. As we know, there are other victims. I however do observe there is change, as for example, young Uyghur women are sensitised on this subject and will be more careful when they come into contact with men in power. If I could avoid even one woman who could be subjected to perverse approaches by anyone in the Uyghur cause, it is already a big step for me.