UHRP hails coordinated sanctions over China’s atrocities

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March 22, 2021, 3:15 p.m. EDT
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 790-1795, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722

The Uyghur Human Rights Project welcomes coordinated sanctions by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, in response to human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs.

UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat said in response to the announcement: “Unprecedented cooperation between governments like this is how genocide will be brought to an end. This is what Uyghurs have been asking for—the dam has broken and the response has finally begun.”

The sanctions are the first of their kind for Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, and represent an escalation in actions taken against China in relation to the Uyghur crisis.

The United States, Canada, and the Netherlands have all labeled the treatment of Uyghurs as genocide in the last two months. Corresponding obligations under the UN Genocide Convention will require further cooperation between governments to compel the Chinese government to halt its abuse of the Uyghur people.

The sanctions follow similar actions by the U.S. government, including the imposition of Magnitsky sanctions for six US officials and two government agencies in July, 2020. In October 2019, the U.S. imposed visa restrictions on officials responsible for, or complicit in, human rights violations, and called on the government of China to end the repression.

Read more:

January 19, 2021: UHRP urges worldwide action in the wake of genocide finding

July 9, 2020: At last, accountability for human rights crimes against the Uyghur people

July 8, 2020: UHRP Welcomes Global Action To Address Likely Genocide, Finally

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

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

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

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