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China committed genocide against Uyghurs, UK-based tribunal rules

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According to the Uyghur Tribunal, China has committed genocide by imposing measures to prevent births that are intended to destroy a significant portion of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

According to the UK-based independent Tribunal, torture of Uyghurs attributable to China is proven beyond reasonable doubt. Deportation or forcible transfer; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; torture; rape and other sexual violence; forced sterilisation; persecution; enforced disappearance; and other inhumane acts constitute crimes against humanity attributable to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The Tribunal is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the crime against humanity and other inhumane acts have been proven.

Satellite imagery revealed the destruction or damage of approximately 16,000 mosques, or 65 percent of the previous total in the region, which was corroborated by direct witness observations.

Furthermore, cemeteries and other religiously significant sites have been destroyed. Uyghurs are imprisoned and tortured for showing religious zeal, such as attending mosques, praying, wearing headscarves and beards, and not drinking alcohol or eating pork.

The Tribunal is satisfied that the PRC has implemented a comprehensive policy of physical religious site destruction, as well as a systematic attack on Uyghur religiosity, with the stated goal of eradicating religious ‘extremism.’

The Tribunal received evidence that could be classified as being in this category, such as the forcible integration of Han people into Uyghur family homes, the pervasive surveillance systems installed throughout the region, effectively turning it into an open-air prison, the destruction of mosques and cemeteries, repression of religious and cultural expression, and forced or coerced marriages.

The number of Uyghurs detained, the number of mosques and graveyards destroyed or rendered unfit for purpose, the sterilisations and abortions, the repression of the use of language and practise of religion, the separation of Uyghur children from their parents all demonstrate that there was, in fact, an attack on the Uyghurs that was entirely without justification, even if some of them had sought separation from China and even if some Uyghurs had perpetrated

According to Chinese government figures, 880,400 primary and middle Uyghur school children were placed in Han-run and Han-staffed boarding schools between 2017 and 2019. According to the Xinjiang Education Department, this policy was intentionally designed to isolate children from the influences of their families.

Parents have been unable to resist the policy, and involuntary separation has become widespread, in part due to the internment of one or both parents in some families.

The Tribunal is convinced that China deliberately separated children from their families and placed them in state care with the goal of eradicating their Uyghur cultural identity and connections.

The Tribunal is satisfied that the PRC has pursued a deliberate, systematic, and coordinated policy with the goal of ‘optimising’ the population in Xinjiang through long-term reductions of the Uyghur and other ethnic minority populations, which will be accomplished by limiting and reducing Uyghur births.

The tribunal has received evidence, including satellite imagery, of the construction or conversion of hundreds of very large factories, some of which were built alongside internment camps. According to state media, hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs have been enrolled in labour programmes, with 611,500 being enrolled in Hotan alone in 2018. Transfers have occurred both within the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and into’mainland’ China.

The Tribunal is satisfied that China has established a vast network of detention and penal institutions, and that it has imprisoned hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Uyghurs without any substantive cause and without any recognisable or legitimate legal process.

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Brendan Taylor

Brendan Taylor was a TV news producer for 5 and a half years. He is an experienced writer. Brendan covers Breaking News at Insider Paper.







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