The London Uyghur Tribunal has gone where governments and international bodies have feared to go in declaring the atrocities in Xinjiang a genocide.
by Ruth Ingram
The somber and measured verdict delivered by Sir Geoffrey Nice, QC, deputy prosecutor at the Slobodan Milošević war crimes trial in The Hague, was delivered to a packed hall containing activists, politicians, and individuals who have been directly impacted by brutal CCP policies in their homeland. The response from the floor was of muted relief and vindication given the severity of the crime and the fact that their country folk are still in the midst of the brutalities.
Following eighteen months of deliberations, hundreds of thousands of documents, ten thousand hours of background research and scrutiny of 500 witness statements, the historic judgement was delivered on the basis that draconian birth control policies imposed by Beijing were specifically designed to at least partially destroy the Uyghur population in China’s most North Westerly region.
The “crime of crimes” according to the Geneva Convention, to which China is a signatory, is measured on five counts with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such. Whilst on the basis of the evidence available, smoking guns were established on four of the five acts, which include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, the genocide determination itself had to be based on watertight evidence and proof of intent under the terms of the Genocide Convention.
In his summing up Sir Geoffrey stated, “The imposition of measures to prevent Uyghur births evolved into plans at every level of regional, local and community government, to reduce the Uyghur population, thereby to destroy it to an extent by birth control and sterilization.” Referring to the draconian birth control measures which in some cases resulted in full term babies being killed at birth, he added that the “unborn” part of the Uyghur ethnicity, and the long term reduction in Uyghur births should be taken into consideration when contemplating the genocidal intent.
“These policies will result in significantly fewer births in years to come than might otherwise have occurred. The population of Uyghurs in future generations will be smaller than it would have been without these policies. This will result in a partial destruction of the Uyghurs,” he added.
“Crimes against Humanity attributable to the PRC were established beyond reasonable doubt, concluded Sir Geoffrey, through acts of deportation or forcible transfer; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; torture; rape and other sexual violence; enforced sterilization; persecution; enforced disappearance; and other inhumane acts.”
Speaking after the judgement, Rahima Mahmut, director of the UK World Uyghur Congress was muted in her response given the pain of her community worldwide, but hoped the verdict would “bring us one step closer to justice.” This was only the beginning, she said, and the struggle continued while there were still Uyghurs enduring unimaginable horrors at the hands of the CCP. “We urge the international community to take today as a call to action. Nations around the world can and must do everything in their power to protect my people from some of the worst crimes humanity knows.”
UK MPs Nusrat Ghani and Sir Iain Duncan Smith addressing the floor after the judgement vowed to continue putting pressure on the UK government to come off the fence and declare CCP actions against the Uyghurs a genocide. Ms. Ghani issued an ultimatum to the UK government and implored it to act on the basis of the judgement by imposing sanctions on the architects of the atrocities, setting import controls on products from Xinjiang, and taking its legal duties seriously in response to the findings.
Sir David Alton, stalwart supporter of the Uyghur cause, asked for action in the face of the overwhelming evidence. He was damning in his criticism of international bodies that ignored their responsibilities to judge the CCP’s actions in Xinjiang. “Why was it left up to a people’s tribunal to adjudicate on these matters?” he asked.
Sir Geoffrey summed up the proceedings by urging, “If rights are truly universal then they are matched by universal duties,” he said, adding that every citizen has a right to expect support from neighbors and that it is “a neighbor’s duty, even on the other side of the planet” to uphold their responsibilities, if ever possible.
Helena Kennedy QC concluded, “the evidence is clear. I urge everyone who is concerned, to call on the government to act now.”
Ruth Ingram is a researcher who has written extensively for the Central Asia-Caucasus publication, Institute of War and Peace Reporting, the Guardian Weekly newspaper, The Diplomat, and other publications.
