UHRP Commends Canada’s Targeted Sanctions on Chinese Officials, Calls for Greater Multilateral Cooperation

December 11, 2024 | 9:00 a.m. EST
For Immediate Release
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 790-1795, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722

The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) welcomes Canada’s decision to impose sanctions on eight Chinese officials in response to their involvement in serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.

“This decision by Canada is a significant step toward accountability for the architects of mass repression in East Turkistan,” said Omer Kanat, UHRP Executive Director. “Targeted sanctions send a clear message that perpetrators of atrocity crimes cannot act with impunity.”

The sanctions, announced on December 10, target officials linked to the mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, and intrusive surveillance of Uyghurs, which multiple governments and human rights bodies have recognized as crimes against humanity and genocide.

The eight individuals sanctioned hold senior roles in China’s security apparatus and political institutions, which have overseen the construction and operation of internment camps, high-tech surveillance systems, and coercive labor schemes.

Those sanctioned include Chen Quanguo, the former Communist Party Secretary of the Uyghur region, who played a key role in atrocities targeting Uyghurs, as well as top regional officials Erkin Tuniyaz and Shohrat Zakir.

Canada’s action follows similar measures taken by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom as part of a growing global response to the ongoing Uyghur genocide. In March 2021, Canada joined the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union in response to human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs.

For a comprehensive overview of sanctions enacted by the US government in response to human rights abuses against Uyghurs, see UHRP’s US Sanctions Tracker.

UHRP calls on other governments to expand their own targeted sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the repression of Uyghurs, and emphasizes that financial sanctions must be accompanied by broader measures, including bans on goods produced with Uyghur forced labor and diplomatic efforts to pressure China to end its repressive policies.

UHRP urges Canada to continue to prioritize human rights in its foreign policy, ensuring that accountability measures against Chinese officials are sustained and expanded. UHRP reiterates its call for a coordinated, global effort to end the Uyghur genocide and protect those fleeing persecution.

UHRP hails coordinated sanctions over China’s atrocities, March 22, 2021

UHRP hails long-awaited sanctions on China’s Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, August 3, 2020

UHRP Applauds Continued Action by Executive Branch on Uyghur Human Rights Crisis, May 27, 2020

UHRP Welcomes European Call for Targeted Sanctions In Response to the Uyghur Crisis, December 20, 2019

Uyghur Human Rights Project applauds U.S. sanctions against Chinese entities and officials complicit in human rights violations, October 9, 2019