WASHINGTON: October 21, 2020 – The Canadian Parliament’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights and International Development has designated the Chinese Government’s atrocities against Uyghur and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide as defined under the UN Genocide Convention.
Canada’s action followed US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brian’s statement last week describing China’s atrocities in East Turkistan as “something close to a genocide.”
The Canadian Parliament’s Subcommittee issued a statement earlier today condemning the Chinese Government’s persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan. The Subcommittee determined that “the Chinese Communist Party’s actions constitute genocide as laid out in the Genocide Convention” following evidence put forward during the Subcommittee hearings in 2018 and 2020.
The Subcommittee’s determination was based on evidence and witness testimony of mass detention and inhuman treatment, forced labor, pervasive state surveillance, population control, and control through repression.
Since 2017, more than 3 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others have been forced into concentration camps, prisons, and slave labor camps as part of China’s brutal colonization campaign, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan.
Hundreds of thousands of Uyghur and Turkic women have been forcibly sterilized, while some 500,000 Uyghur and Turkic children have been forcibly separated from their families. The concentration camps’ victims testified of facing psychological and physical torture, forced medication, sexual abuse, and forced starvation.
The Subcommittee urged the Government of Canada to condemn and recognize China’s actions against Uyghurs and Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as a genocide, impose sanctions on Chinese officials, and work with allies and multilateral organizations to gain unfettered access to East Turkistan. It also urged the Government of Canada to support civil society organizations who are raising awareness about the persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.
While the US has been seriously considering recognizing the genocide, the Canadian Parliament is the first government body in the international community to publicly acknowledge China’s atrocities in East Turkistan as genocide while bringing much-needed attention to its severity and the urgent need resolve this humanitarian crisis.
Recognizing the genocide would put a moral and humanitarian responsibility on governments to uphold the UN Genocide Convention and take urgent and substantial action to bring an end to the genocide in East Turkistan.
“We thank the Canadian Parliament and all those who worked tirelessly to get this much-needed recognition of China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples as a genocide,” said Salih Hudayar, the Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “This is a crucial step towards obtaining justice and bringing an end to China’s prolonged campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan.”
“We urge Prime Minister Trudeau and the Canadian government to enforce the Canadian Parliament’s proposals to ensure that Canada will not stand silent to a Holocaust like Genocide taking place in the 21st century,” Mr. Hudayar Continued
There is no doubt about what China is doing in East Turkistan against Uyghur and other Turkic peoples is a genocide as defined under the UN Genocide Convention.
For years, the East Turkistan Government in Exile has been striving to seek international recognition of China’s atrocities as genocide while also recognizing the fact that East Turkistan is an Occupied Country. For 71 years, China and its Communist Party have been waging a systematic campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation to eradicate East Turkistan and its people.
To more effectively seek justice using international law, the East Turkistan Government in Exile filed a formal complaint this past summer, urging the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute Chinese officials for genocide and other crimes against humanity in East Turkistan. We urge the Canadian Government and all Governments worldwide, especially those who are signatories to the Rome Statute, to support our case at the International Criminal Court.
To effectively bring an end to this 21st Century Holocaust-like Genocide, the international community must acknowledge and address the underlying root of the problem: East Turkistan was invaded and occupied by China since 1949. Thus, we urge all governments worldwide to formally recognize China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples while also recognizing East Turkistan as an Occupied Country and take more decisive and urgent actions to end China’s prolonged campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan. See the full article here.
ETGE 2020 ©