Justice for the Uyghurs: What the US Can Do

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November 16, 2021   

During the public launch of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s new report last week on the creeping destruction of the Uyghur community in China, Radio Free Asia journalist Gulchehra Hoja called on the “the international community to break the silence… not just about a Uyghur tragedy, but about a human tragedy.” The report affirms that this is not simply a moral imperative, but a legal one. According to the Holocaust Museum, the comprehensive evidence “triggers the legal obligation, binding on all states, to take appropriate action to prevent or halt genocide [and]… to protect victims of genocide and crimes against humanity.” The report builds on a growing number of expert reports and government declarations finding that the mass atrocities against the Uyghurs — including the mass internment, forced sterilization, and separation of families — amount to genocide and crimes against humanity.

Over the past year, China’s Foreign Ministry has increasingly hosted faux press conferences in a panicked reaction to the mountains of evidence corroborating the government’s crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. During these conferences, authorities smear victims and survivors, who have courageously borne witness, and attempt to intimidate them into silence by showcasing videos of family members’ forced confessions and statements. During a press conference in April 2021, China’s Foreign Ministry produced one such video of Gulchehra Hoja’s immediate family condemning her behavior and claiming that life is “very good” and “normal” in Xinjiang. China’s Security Agency added that Hoja has been on China’s terrorist list since 2017.

Read the full article: https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/justice-for-the-uyghurs-what-the-us-can-do/