Don’t Look Away from China’s Atrocities Against the Uyghurs
April 6, 2023 | United States Institute of Peace | By Lauren Baillie; Matthew Parkes
Not only were these recommendations critical to further developing a U.N. record of findings on China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, the committee’s review process provided an important opportunity for advocates to publicly pressure Beijing. Uyghur and international human rights advocacy organizations including the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and the International Service for Human Rights submitted civil society reports on China’s progress in implementing the covenant presenting arguments that Beijing’s conduct toward the Uyghurs constitutes forced labor and mass atrocities.
Given the slow progress of accountability efforts at the U.N. level, members of the Uyghur diaspora have increasingly sought recourse through domestic forums, with some notable momentum in recent months. In August 2022, the WUC and the UHRP filed a criminal complaint in the Federal Criminal Court of Buenos Aires alleging that Beijing was committing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs. The complaint was filed under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the Argentine courts to hear cases related to international crimes — including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity — regardless of where the crimes were committed. A similar investigation has been opened by Argentine authorities into the Myanmar government for crimes committed against the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority. The complaint triggered a preliminary investigation by the court, which may choose to open a broader investigation into China’s treatment of the Uyghurs based on its findings. These efforts have received international support, including an amicus brief submitted by international experts in January 2023.
Read the full article: https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/04/dont-look-away-chinas-atrocities-against-uyghurs