UHRP Highlights Critical Testimony from Peter Irwin at Uyghur Tribunal

December 13, 2021

Peter Irwin, UHRP Senior Program Officer, testified in front of the Uyghur Tribunal on September 21, 2021. His remarks underscored the growing body of evidence that the Chinese government is responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.

Irwin’s testimony highlighted the Chinese government’s targeted repression of Uyghur cultural and religious leaders, including intellectuals, scholars, artists, and imams. This strategy of “cultural eliticide” seeks to dismantle Uyghur social and cultural structures by eliminating key community figures.

Imams, as central figures in religious life, have faced particularly harsh persecution, including detention and “re-education” for carrying out routine religious activities. Irwin emphasized that these efforts are part of a broader campaign to erase Uyghur identity and enforce ideological control​, which he wrote about in a 2021 UHRP report, Islam Dispossessed: China’s Persecution of Uyghur Imams and Religious Figures.

Irwin’s testimony, presented before a panel of legal experts and scholars, provided critical context on the international response to the crisis and highlighted the moral and legal obligations of states and corporations to prevent complicity in these abuses. His analysis was supported by documentation from UHRP’s extensive research, as well as reports from UN bodies, academics, and human rights organizations.

The Uyghur Tribunal, an independent people’s tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, aimed to determine whether the Chinese government’s actions against Uyghurs constitute genocide or crimes against humanity under international law. The final judgment, released in December 2021, concluded that the Chinese government had committed genocide, echoing findings from human rights groups, legal scholars, and governments worldwide.