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China committed genocide in Xinjiang, says UK independent body
- Forced birth control and sterilisation policies targeting Uygurs would lead to ‘partial destruction’ of the ethnic group, the inquiry chief says
- The Uygur Tribunal also concluded that crimes against humanity were committed, including the torture and rape of some held in detention centres
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An independent panel set up in Britain to examine China’s crackdown against Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups ruled on Thursday that the Chinese government’s actions in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region constituted genocide.
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In a judgement released after months of hearings, the Uygur Tribunal pointed specifically to alleged actions by the Chinese government to lower the Uygur population in Xinjiang through forced sterilisations and abortions.
The tribunal also determined that an orchestrated effort to boost populations of Han Chinese, the country’s largest ethnic group, in the region and a forced out-migration of Uygurs for labour purposes contributed to a genocidal campaign.
Such acts would lead to a “partial destruction of the Uygurs”, the tribunal found, though it left unresolved whether there was specific intent to do so by the Chinese government.
Article II(d) of the United Nations Genocide Convention offers one example of genocide as the imposition of “measures intended to prevent births within a group”.
The ruling by the non-governmental group adds to a growing chorus of criticism of Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang, where the government is accused of detaining Uygurs en masse and subjecting them to forced labour and political indoctrination.
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China denies all allegations of human rights abuses, and has framed its actions in Xinjiang as steps to counter extremism and fight poverty.
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