Hong Kong: Chinese government has breached every single article of the United Nations genocide convention in its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and bears responsibility for committing genocide, according to a report by a US-based think tank further exposing Beijing’s intent to destroy the Uyghurs as a group.
The report published by a non-partisan US-based thinktank, the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy said that the Chinese Communist Party “bears State responsibility for committing genocide against the Uyghurs in breach of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) based on an extensive review of the available evidence and application of international law to the evidence of the facts on the ground.”
“This report concludes, based on a clear and convincing standard of proof, that China is responsible for breaches of each provision of Article II of the Convention,” the report said
According to CNN, it is the first time a non-governmental organization has undertaken an independent legal analysis of the accusations of genocide in Xinjiang, including what responsibility Beijing may bear for the alleged crimes.
Up to two million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are believed to have been placed in a sprawling network of detention centers across the region, according to the US State Department, where former detainees allege they were subjected to indoctrination, sexually abused and even forcibly sterilized.
“China’s policies and practices targeting Uyghurs in the region must be viewed in their totality, which amounts to an intent to destroy the Uyghurs as a group, in whole or in substantial part, as such,” the report read.
Azeem Ibrahim, director of special initiatives at Newlines and a co-author of the report, said that the evidence supporting allegations of genocide is “overwhelming,” describing China’s leadership as “architects of genocide.”
Notably, the Genocide Convention was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It was signed by 151 countries including China.