China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities. That is what a people’s tribunal in London ruled this morning. According to the tribunal, the government is “deliberately and systematically” trying to destroy Muslim communities through forced birth control and sterilizations.
–
The so-called ‘Uyghurs tribunal’ is a panel of experts that investigated the ‘atrocities and genocide’ against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Turkish Muslims in China’s Xinjang province. The tribunal sees sufficient evidence of human rights violations and rules that China is guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, including rape, torture and forced sterilization.
–
Since 2017, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been locked up in camps. There they are victims of torture, sexual violence and forced labour, the tribunal ruled. In addition, Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are forced to use birth control, including through sterilization.
–
By lowering birth rates, China is pursuing a “deliberate and systematic” policy to destroy Uyghur community and culture, said the tribunal president Geoffrey Nice. He speaks of ‘state repression’.
–
Hearings
The tribunal was established in September 2020 and consists of nine experts, including lawyers, doctors, a businessman and a former diplomat. Dozens of victims and experts gave statements in several hearings at the Church House conference center in London’s Westminster.
–
The 42-year-old Tursinay Ziyawdun stated, according to the British newspaper The Independent, that she was raped multiple times during her detention. “I am not afraid of the Chinese government. I’m not afraid of them at all. Although it looks like I’m alive, I’m already dead. The Chinese government has taken everything from me. They took over my body, they took over my mind. Everything. I do not have anything anymore.”
–
Qelbinur Sidiq (52) was forced to learn Chinese in several internment camps in Xinjiang. She was sterilized like many other women. “When I arrived at the clinic, there were hundreds of Uyghur women waiting in line. I waited four hours and when it was my turn I was sterilized.”
–
The verdict of this ‘people’s tribunal’, which was established in September 2020, has no legal status and cannot impose any penalties. But the experts hope by making evidence public the international community to force into action.
–
Watch our news videos in the playlist below:
–
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
–
–
