The Uyghur Transitional Justice Database (UTJD) urges the Prime Minister of Norway to address the critical situation of the Uyghurs in East Turkistan during the upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in a manner that reflects Norway’s values and commitments to international human rights.
Since 2017, the Chinese regime has implemented extensive repressive measures against Uyghurs and other Turkic population in East Turkistan under the guise of an “anti-terror” campaign. These measures include:
– The establishment of a network of concentration camps estimated to have interned around 3 million Uyghurs.
– Widespread use of arbitrary detention and ideological indoctrination.
– Mass surveillance and forced labor.
– Forced family separations, forced sterilizations, and forced abortions.
– Persecution that amounts to cultural genocide.
UTJD has documented 12,670 testimonies of missing Uyghurs and identified 841 internment facilities in the East Turkistan. According to a UN report, China has committed serious human rights violations in East Turkistan that may qualify as international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity. The Uyghur Tribunal, led by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, concluded in December 2021 that the Chinese authorities are committing crimes against humanity and found evidence that one of the five criteria for genocide is met:
specifically, “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Several countries and organizations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, and the European Parliament, have declared that China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs or crimes against humanity. Norway has expressed concern about the situation of the Uyghurs but has not yet formally declared these actions as violations of international law.
UTJD believes that the Prime Minister should use the meeting with Xi Jinping to confront the situation directly and clearly, in line with Norway’s commitments to international human rights standards, and emphasizes the importance of sending a strong signal of Norway’s support for justice for the Uyghurs.
Picture: https://flickr.com/photos/statsministerenskontor/53981081307/
