Evidence Indisputable That China Commits Genocide, Inhumane Crimes And Torture Against Uyghurs
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(OPINION) On Dec. 9 — as the U.N. was marking the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime — the Uyghur Tribunal, an independent inquiry, published its findings stating that China has committed genocide, crimes against humanity and torture against Uyghur, Kazakh and other ethnic minority citizens in the northwest region of China.
The Uyghur Tribunal was launched on Sept. 3, 2020, to assess the evidence of the alleged atrocities perpetrated against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Uyghur region of northwest China. Indeed, in recent years, several news outlets have reported on the dire situation of Uyghur Muslims in China, who were being detained in camps for reeducation.
This was followed by in-depth research suggesting that these minority communities are subjected to violence, abuse and modern-day slavery and women are subjected to forced sterilization, forced abortions, rape and sexual violence. The communist Chinese government continues to deny these allegations.
The launch of the Uyghur Tribunal followed a request from the World Uyghur Congress for an independent review of the allegations of international crimes being perpetrated against the minority communities. Over the subsequent months, the Uyghur Tribunal conducted several hearings with experts, victims and witnesses and reviewed further evidence submitted to it. The findings of the Uyghur Tribunal are damning.
The Uyghur Tribunal found that “torture of Uyghurs attributable to the PRC (China) is established beyond reasonable doubt” and “crimes against humanity attributable to the PRC is established beyond reasonable doubt by acts of: deportation or forcible transfer; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; torture; rape and other sexual violence; enforced sterilization; persecution; enforced disappearance; and other inhumane acts.”
The Uyghur Tribunal further added that it “is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the PRC, by the imposition of measures to prevent births intended to destroy a significant part of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as such, has committed genocide.”
Commenting further on the issue of measures to prevent births within a group, the Uyghur Tribunal identified that China has “put in place a comprehensive system of measures to ‘optimize’ the population in Xinjiang” by way of mandatory sterilization and forced abortions, including sterilization by removal of wombs and widespread forced insertion of effectively removable IUDs.
As the Uyghur Tribunal noted, “These policies will result in significantly fewer births in years to come than might otherwise have occurred. The population of Uyghurs in future generations will be smaller than it would have been without these policies. This will result in a partial destruction of the Uyghurs.”
The findings of the Uyghur Tribunal are damning and will add to the challenges faced by countries in deciding how to respond. In light of the findings, mere condemnations, a few sanctions or diplomatic boycotts cannot be enough. Now the onus is on countries and international organizations to follow up with decisive steps that will make a difference to the whole communities subjected to atrocities that we have promised to prevent again and again.
This piece was republished from Forbes with permission.
Ewelina U. Ochab is a legal researcher, human rights advocate, doctoral candidate and author of the book “Never Again: Legal Responses to a Broken Promise in the Middle East” and more than 30 U.N. reports. She works on the topic of the persecution of minorities around the world.