On July 22, 2020, the Bar Human Rights Committee, international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales, published a briefing paper “Responsibility of States under International Law to Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China” mapping the avenues for legal recourse for states to undertake to bring those responsible to justice.
This photo taken on May 31, 2019, shows a watchtower on a high-security facility near what is ... [+]
The alleged atrocities again the Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, include “the mass surveillance and arbitrary detention of over 1 million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, torture and inhuman treatment of detainees, the forced separation of children from their parents, the denial of the right to practice their religion or speak their language, forced sterilization, forced labor, forced organ harvesting, enforced disappearances and killings in detention” and new more and egregious news continues to surface on a regular basis.
Despite concerning reports of atrocities that may be classified as crimes against humanity or even genocide, states continue to shy away from enforcing accountability, putting their economic interest first. However, as the new report makes it clear, “it is the responsibility of all States to take all available measures to prevent any violations of international law from occurring, to seek to bring any ongoing violations to an end, and to call upon China to immediately cease any and all alleged practices and policies - violating its obligations and responsibilities - towards Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims.” Economic interests must be put on the side to ensure that China does not get away with such genocide.
The report makes several recommendations which are not exclusive to the U.K. Among others, it recommends that states engage in dialogue with China calling upon it to “cease and desist all and any violations of its obligations and responsibilities under the relevant treaties”, “make effective in domestic law the provisions of the relevant treaties in order to honor obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the obligations and responsibilities thereof”, “investigate – and permit, support, and strengthen independent and impartial investigation by others - all allegations of genocide, murder, extermination, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and enslavement and prosecute alleged offenders; and “provide ‘just satisfaction’ to survivors/victims in the form of individual and/or general measures which may, inter alia, include: remedial actions, reparations, and commitments for non-repetition.” Considering that China continues to deny any wrongdoing, it is unlikely that these steps will be successful.
The report further recommends that we “maintain and utilize international bodies to carry out investigations and due diligence in respect of China’s alleged violations of its obligations and responsibilities concerning its Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim populations” for example, by ways of “supporting and assisting independent, impartial and international mechanisms (whether state or non-state) to carry out investigations to determine comprehensively any violation by China of its jus cogens obligations and responsibilities.” Indeed, a proposal of this sort has been advocated by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of senior legislators from several countries. It called upon the United Nations to act. Among others, IPAC called for “a resolution to be tabled at the United Nations General Assembly establishing an investigation into the situation in the Xinjiang Region.” A similar call was initiated by UN independent experts.
There is a growing understanding that such a UN independent mechanism should be established with some urgency and that states must act together to ensure that the atrocities are investigated and addressed. We should not wait more months or years before we act. The evidence that is in the public domain is enough. If the evidence proves to be wrong, unlikely as it is, at least we will not be looking back thinking that we could have prevented yet another unfolding genocide.
