The Uighur tribunal finds genocide committed against minorities

An independent, unofficial body set up by a prominent British lawyer to assess evidence of China’s alleged rights violations against the Uighurs has concluded that Chinese government committed genocide and crimes against humanity.

That Uighur Court, composed of lawyers, academics and businessmen, has no government support or powers to sanction or punish China.

But organizers hope the process of publicly presenting evidence will force international action to tackle Beijing’s policies against the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group.

The Uighur tribunal, made up of lawyers, academics and businessmen, has found that the Chinese state has committed genocide against the minority group. (AP)

Tribunal President Geoffrey Nice said today that the genocide decision was based on evidence that the Chinese government’s forced contraception and sterilization policy targeting Uighurs in the far western Xinjiang province was “intended to destroy a significant portion” of the group’s population.

The abuse was part of comprehensive policies directly linked to President Xi Jinping and the highest levels of the Chinese government, he said.

Nice, a senior lawyer, has previously led the prosecution of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and has worked with the International Criminal Court.

“There must be an intention to destroy a group by intervening in the birth,” he said.

“The proof was that a significant portion of the Uighurs who would have been born will not be born.”

The Chinese embassy in London condemned the court as a “political tool used by a few anti-China and separatist elements to deceive and mislead the public”.

The embassy also said in a statement that Xinjiang’s policies were aimed at fighting terrorism and preventing radicalization.

“The ‘Tribunal’ and its so-called ‘conclusions’ are just clumsy shows staged by anti-Chinese elements for their self-entertainment. Anyone with conscience and common sense will not be deceived or fooled,” the embassy said.

British lawyer and tribunal president Geoffrey Nice said the Chinese government set out to destroy the Uighurs. (AP)

China’s treatment of the Uighur minority group sparked protests around the world. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Around 30 witnesses and experts testified at a series of public hearings in central London earlier this year alleging torture, forced abortions, rape and beatings by authorities while in state detention centers.

The hearings also reviewed large volumes of documents describing other policies, including the separation of young children from their families and the extensive destruction of mosques.

The court concluded that it was beyond any doubt that crimes against humanity were committed.

Nice said Xi and other senior officials “bear primary responsibility” for what happened in Xinjiang.

“This huge apparatus of state repression could not exist if a plan was not approved at the highest level,” he said.

Chinese authorities have detained Uighurs in detention centers in the western Xinjiang region. (AP)

It is estimated that 1 million people or more – most of them Uighurs – have been detained in rehabilitation camps in Xinjiang in recent years, according to researchers.

The US government has declared that Beijing’s policy against the Uighurs was genocide and crimes against humanity. Legislative assemblies in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada have done the same.

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