China: Rights group urges global community to strengthen accountability measures to stop genocide in Xinjiang, demands import bans on goods produced with forced labour

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17493228

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The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) observes the fourth annual Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day, calling on governments, businesses, and civil society to strengthen accountability measures and deliver justice for the Uyghur people.

“Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day is a reminder of what is at stake—Uyghurs continue to face cultural erasure,” said Omer Kanat, UHRP Executive Director. “Words of recognition must be backed by concrete, enforceable policies to end complicity in these atrocities.”

The Chinese government’s ongoing repression includes mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, family separation, religious persecution, and the erasure of Uyghur identity and culture. Uyghur forced labor remains embedded in global supply chains, implicating major industries and corporations. Despite growing consumer awareness, transparency and enforcement efforts remain insufficient.

Global recognition of the Uyghur genocide has grown since the Uyghur Tribunal’s findings. Similar determinations have been made by the U.S. government and legislative bodies in Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Czechia, and Ireland.

The United Nations has also raised alarms. An assessment by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) found China may be committing crimes against humanity, while the UN Special Rapporteur on modern slavery found that some instances of forced labor may amount to enslavement as a crime against humanity. In 2021, UHRP led 50 genocide prevention organizations and experts in who said the treatment of Uyghurs “meet[s] the threshold of acts constitutive of genocide, core international crimes under the Genocide Convention.”

UHRP urges governments to enforce import bans on goods produced with forced Uyghur labor, and strengthen sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses. UHRP also calls on companies to conduct robust due diligence on supply chains and to end business relationships with entities linked to forced labor.

UHRP calls on governments to acknowledge their responsibilities under the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, and take all necessary steps to end the ongoing Uyghur genocide.