Dramatic developments on the Uyghur genocide

Some dramatic new developments around the genocide in China, over the last few days:

  1. This morning, the London-based privately organized Uyghur Tribunal, issued its final verdict on the mass atrocities in China.  As of this morning, the tribunal’s main website now has a link to the preliminary text of the full judgment concluding what’s happening is both genocide and crimes against humanity (this will be completed with appendices, and then published, for the world to consider. )

  2. Yesterday, the US Congress passed a resolution condemning the Chinese government’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim peoples in China (H.Res. 317). See: “U.S. Congress Condemns Uyghur Genocide, Gives Hope to Uyghurs Around the World,” Uyghur Human Rights Project, December 8, 2021.

  3. The US House of Representatives also passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, to block imports from the Uyghur region where forced labor is used. A version of this law had already been passed by the Senate, and there has been a lot of speculation as to whether US corporate lobbying caused the serious delay in the House. Now, the House and Senate versions must be reconciled before it can become US law. See: “House votes to ban imports from Xinjiang over forced labor concerns.” Axios, [8 dec 2021].

  4. Olympic boycott: All this comes on top of House of Representatives Resolution 837, concluding that the International Olympic Committee failed to adhere to its own human rights commitments — just days after President Biden declared the US government will boycott the Olympics ceremonies, because of the genocide. (See: “White House announces US diplomatic boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing,” CNN, December 6, 2021). One other country, Lithuania, had already announced a similar diplomatic boycott; and after the US announcement, several other countries have followed suit, incl. Australia and the UK: “These countries have announced diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Olympics,” Axios, Dec. 8, 2021.

  5. The Uyghur Human Rights Project yesterday issued an updated report on the mass forced disappearances of members of the Uyghur cultural and intellectual elites, counting 312 such victims: “The Disappearance of Uyghur Intellectual and Cultural Elites: A New Form of Eliticide.” Uyghur Human Rights Project, December 8, 2021.

yrs, Magnus Fiskesjö <nf42@cornell.edu>

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