UHRP Calls on UK Foreign Office to Cancel Genocide Perpetrator’s Trip to London
February 9, 2022 | 11:00 a.m. EST
For Immediate Release
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 819-0598, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722
The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) is calling on the UK government to cancel a planned meeting with Erkin Tuniyaz, a top official responsible for overseeing the Chinese government’s genocidal policy in the Uyghur region.
“Erkin Tuniyaz is responsible for unspeakable brutality in the Uyghur homeland,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “There is nothing to gain from allowing a direct perpetrator of atrocities to land on British soil and defend the Chinese government’s atrocity crimes.”
Erkin Tuniyaz (also spelled Erken Tuniyaz and Alken Tuniaz) is the current chairman, and former vice chairman, of the regional government in East Turkistan, and responsible for carrying out policies of state violence and forced assimilation of the Uyghur people.
Mr. Erkin was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in December 2021 for engaging in “serious human rights abuses.” Under this U.S. Global Magnitsky designation, he is subject to a U.S. travel ban, asset freeze, and exclusion from the U.S. banking system.
The UK has already sanctioned Mr. Erkin’s deputy, Xinjiang government vice chair Chen Minguo, in March 2021, under the UK Global Magnitsky law. UHRP urges the UK government to impose the same sanctions on Mr. Erkin, who bears even greater responsibility for atrocity crimes under international standards.
UHRP calls on all EU member states to reject similar meeting requests from Mr. Erkin or any other Chinese government officials responsible for atrocities targeting Uyghurs.
Read more:
UHRP Welcomes Latest Magnitsky Sanctions on Perpetrators of Uyghur Genocide, Erken Tuniyaz and Shohrat Zakir, December 10, 2021
UHRP encouraged by UK parliament motion recognizing genocide, calls on governments to respond accordingly, April 22, 2021
UHRP hails coordinated UK, EU, Canada, US sanctions over China’s atrocities, March 22, 2021
Authoritative legal opinion concludes that treatment of Uyghurs amounts to crimes against humanity and genocide, February 8, 2021
Independent Uyghur Tribunal in London Concludes the PRC is Committing Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Against Uyghurs, December 9, 2021
UN Confirms Conclusive Evidence of Atrocities Against Uyghurs, August 31, 2022
Lawyers Acting for UHRP and WUC Submit Universal Jurisdiction Complaint to the Criminal Courts of Argentina for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, August 17, 2022