BEIJING: An unofficial court of lawyers and campaigners said on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping was guilty of what they called “genocide, crimes against humanity” commonly known as “Uighur Genocide” and harassment of Uighurs and Kazakhs in Xinjiang.
“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has committed genocide, crimes against humanity and harassment of Uyghur, Kazakh and a number of other civilians in northwestern China known as Xinjiang,” the Uighur Tribunal said.
“The Tribunal is satisfied that President Xi Jinping … and other senior officials in the PRC and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) are primarily responsible for the actions that took place in Xinjiang.”
The court, led by British lawyer Geoffrey Nice, has no jurisdiction to punish or enforce.
UN experts and human rights groups estimate that more than a million people, mostly Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a major camp operation in China’s western Xinjiang region.
China initially denied the existence of the camps, but has since claimed that they are craft centers designed to combat extremism. At the end of 2019, China declared all camps “successful.”
In June 2020, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) asked Nice to set up an independent tribunal to investigate the allegations.
The Munich-based WUC, which represents Uighurs interests in Xinjiang and around the world, on Thursday welcomed the court ruling.
In a statement issued Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the WUC as a divisive body under the control and funding of anti-Chinese forces in the United States and the West.
“The so-called ‘court’ has no official documents and no credentials,” said a spokesman for the department, describing the evidence given as false and the final decision as “a political fraud committed by a few clowns.”
China strongly denies allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
“Lies cannot hide the truth, they cannot mislead the international community or tarnish Xinjiang’s stability, development and prosperity,” a spokesman for the Uighur court said.