Uyghur tribunal rules that China ‘committed genocide’ against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities

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“The court is convinced that the People’s Republic of China [People’s Republic of China] It has affected a deliberate, systematic and concerted policy aimed at the so-called ‘optimization’ of the population in Xinjiang through a long-term reduction of the Uyghur population and other ethnic minorities to be achieved by limiting and reducing Uighur births. ” Geoffrey Nice, who presided over the court, said Thursday while reading the verdict.

He added that the court was “satisfied that President Xi Jinping, Chen Quanguo and other senior officials of the People’s Republic of China and the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] they have primary responsibility for the events in Xinjiang. “

While the “perpetration of individual criminal acts that may have occurred, rape or torture, may not have been carried out with the detailed knowledge of the president and others, but the court is convinced that they have occurred as a direct result of the politics, the language and speeches promoted by President Xi and others and, furthermore, these policies could not have happened in a country with such rigid hierarchies as the People’s Republic of China without an implicit and explicit authority from the top, “he said.

The ruling follows a series of court hearings in London this year, during which a jury panel made up of lawyers and academics, among others, reviewed evidence and testimony.

The non-governmental Uyghur Tribunal was founded in 2020 by Nice, a British lawyer and international human rights lawyer, at the behest of Uighur activists.

Nice was one of several British individuals and entities sanctioned by the Chinese government in March this year in retaliation for British sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang.

According to their website.

China’s ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, has called the Uyghur Court “political manipulation aimed at discrediting China.”

“The organization has been designed to tarnish China’s image, mislead the public here, spoil goodwill between the Chinese people and the British people, and disrupt the smooth development of the China-UK relationship,” Zheng told a conference on press in September. .
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has called the court “pure anti-China farce.”

On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in London called the court “a political tool used by some anti-China elements to mislead and mislead the public. It is not a legal institution. Nor does it have any legal authority.”

He added that the Xinjiang region “now enjoys economic progress, social stability and ethnic solidarity. China will remain focused on doing the right thing and following the path that suits its national reality.”

The US State Department estimates that up to 2 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities have passed through an extensive network of detention centers in Xinjiang, where former detainees allege they were subjected to intense political indoctrination, forced labor, torture. and even sexual abuse.

Human rights groups and Uighur activists abroad have also accused the Chinese government of forced cultural assimilation and forced birth control and sterilization against Uighurs.
The US government has accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, as have lawmakers and human rights groups in the UK and Canada.

Beijing vehemently denies allegations of human rights abuses and insists the camps are voluntary “vocational training centers” designed to crack down on religious extremism and terrorism.

In March, the United States along with the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom announced sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang. China responded almost immediately by imposing a series of tit-for-tat sanctions, as well as travel and business bans.

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics nears, international pressure on China’s treatment of Uyghurs has been mounting, with activists calling for a boycott of the Games.

On Monday, the Biden administration said it would not send an official US delegation to the Games as a statement against China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang”, although American athletes will still be able to compete in Beijing.
Since then, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada have joined the United States in the diplomatic boycott.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that “human rights abuses and problems in Xinjiang” were some of the concerns raised by the Australian government to Beijing.

Also on Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban the import of goods from Xinjiang over concerns about forced labor. The “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” was passed by an overwhelming 428-1. It must also be approved by the Senate and signed by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to become law.

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