IPAC releases report on sterilisation of Muslim minorities in China; commits to political action
Wed. July 1st, 12 AM: Press conference at Italian Senate
New evidence suggesting that the Chinese Government is pursuing a birth-prevention program targeted at Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, was released today by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and in its Italian version by the Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella” (GCRL).
The research, conducted by Professor Adrian Zenz – one of the world’s leading experts on the situation facing minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region – finds that:
- Population growth rates fell by 84 percent in the two largest Uyghur prefectures between 2015 and 2018, and declined further in 2019.
- CCP Government documents bluntly mandate that anyone violating the government’s Uyghur-targeted birth control plans could be punished by internment in “training” camps and describe campaign of mass female sterilisation in Xinjiang’s rural areas.
According to the author of the report, the findings provide the strongest evidence yet that Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang may meet one of the genocide criteria cited in the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, namely that of Section D of Article II: “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”
In response to these revelations, IPAC members released a statement promising political action in each of the 15 legislatures represented by IPAC, among which Italy with Co-Chairs Lucio Malan (Forza Italia) and Roberto Rampi (Partito Democratico), and members Enrico Borghi (Partito Democratico), Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove (Fratelli d’Italia), Paolo Formentini (Lega) and Roberto Giachetti (Italia Viva).
To this end, Italy’s Co-Chairs, in cooperation with the GCRL, announce a press conference on Wednesday, July 1st, at 12 AM at the Sala Nassirya of the Italian Senate, with the participation of Amb. Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, GCRL President and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, Elisabetta Zamparutti, Treasurer of Hands Off Cain, and Laura Harth, Representative to the United Nations for the Nonviolent Radical Party and Coordinator of the GCRL Scientific Council.
The IPAC international group of lawmakers will mount a coordinated push for an urgent United Nations investigation into the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in China, and for the appropriate courts to decide whether or not crimes against humanity or genocide have taken place.
The statement, produced by IPAC’s 30 co-chairs, (a full version of which follows) says:
The world cannot remain silent in the face of unfolding atrocities. Our countries are bound by solemn obligations to prevent and punish any effort to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group “in whole or in part”.
Therefore we commit to urgent political action in each of our countries. Our governments must now support a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to establish an international, impartial, independent investigation into the situation in the Xinjiang region; must act to ensure that the appropriate legal determinations regarding the nature of alleged atrocities can be made; and must spare no effort in pursuing rapid and decisive political action to prevent the further suffering of the Uyghur people and other minorities in China.
Statement by Giulio Terzi and Laura Harth, GCRL:
The existence of a group of legislators also in Italy engaged in the myriad of issues that today concern our relations with the People’s Republic of China is of fundamental importance, and we invite all conscientious Senators and MPs to participate in the press conference to be held this Wednesday. The ongoing atrocities against the Uyghur population described in this report cannot leave anyone indifferent and require strong and decisive action. The mass sterilisation campaign of women revealed by Professor Zenz on the basis of official Chinese government documents adds to previous reports of forced separation of children from their parents imprisoned in the camps and forced inter-ethnic marriages; strong indications of the presence of elements constituting the crime of genocide according to the UN Convention of 1948. The Italian Republic, which for so long has been a promoter for the affirmation and protection of human rights at the international level – we recall in particular its role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court – cannot and must not ignore this new additional evidence of the atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party. Nearly three years have passed since Dolkun Isa was unable to enter the Italian Senate as he was held by the Italian DIGOS, and prevented from denouncing the start of the internment campaign in Xinjiang. We hope that this on this occasion he will have the possibility to denounce the violations of human rights in his homeland, without any impediment. Reciprocity and respect of international human rights conventions to which both States are party must form the basis also in our bilateral relations, especially following the bilateral Memorandum on the Belt and Road Initiative. We therefore hope that this call for decisive action at the international level to ascertain what is really happening in Xinjiang – as well as in Tibet, Hong Kong, and in the whole of China – will be heard also by the government majority, especially given China’s continuous refusal – as pointed out last week by over 50 independent UN experts – to open up to independent investigations on its territory, a question that has arisen clearly also with regard to the COVID19 pandemic.
Notes:
- Professor Zenz’s full report in English is available on www.ipac.global, and in Italian in the translation by the Global Committee at: ZENZ ITA 28 GIUGNO 2020
- IPAC’s full statement on the situation in Xinjiang is below
- For international media enquiries, please contact Sam Armstrong of the central secretariat at press@ipac.global or on 0044 7974 638 966
- For Italian media enquiries, please contact Laura Harth of the GCRL at harthlaura@gmail.com
IPAC STATEMENT ON THE TREATMENT OF ETHNORELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION
The Uyghur people and other predominantly Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, are enduring intolerable, state sponsored persecution.
A body of mounting evidence now exists, alleging mass incarceration, indoctrination, extrajudicial detention, invasive surveillance, forced labor, and the destruction of Uyghur cultural sites, including cemeteries, together with other forms of abuse. Estimates of the numbers of people interned range from the high hundreds of thousands to a staggering three million.
Despite repeated requests, Xi Jinping and the Government of the People’s Republic of China have not permitted an independent investigation into these alleged atrocities.
A new report published today presents compelling and alarming evidence of a dramatic decline in birth-rates among ethnic minority communities in the Xinjiang region, and a related state policy of intrusive birth prevention, including female sterilization. This may indicate that the Chinese government is pursuing and enforcing a coordinated policy to reduce the population of minority groups.
The world cannot remain silent in the face of unfolding atrocities. Our countries are bound by solemn obligations to prevent and punish any effort to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group “in whole or in part”.
Therefore we commit to urgent political action in each of our countries. Our governments must now support a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to establish an international, impartial, independent investigation into the situation in the Xinjiang region; must act to ensure that the appropriate legal determinations regarding the nature of alleged atrocities can be made; and must spare no effort in pursuing rapid and decisive political action to prevent the further suffering of the Uyghur people and other minorities in China.
Co-Chairs:
Commonwealth of Australia
Andrew Hastie MP
Sen. Kimberly Kitching
Canada
Hon. Irwin Cotler
Garnett Genuis MP
John McKay MP
Czechia / Česká Republika
Pavel Fischer MP
Jan Lipavský MP
The French Republic / République française
Isabelle Florennes MP
Sen. André Gattolin
The Federal Republic of Germany / Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Margarete Bause MdB
Michael Brand MdB
The Italian Republic / Repubblica Italiana
Sen. Lucio Malan
Sen. Roberto Rampi
Japan / 日本国
Rep. Gen Nakatani
Rep. Shiori Yamao
The Republic of Lithuania / Lietuvos Respublika
Mantas Adomėnas MP
Dovilė Šakalienė MP
The Netherlands / Nederland
Henk Krol MP
Martijn van Helvert MP
New Zealand / Aotearoa
Simon O’Connor MP
Louisa Wall MP
The Kingdom of Norway / Kongeriket Norge
Trine Skei Grande
Michael Tetzschner
The Kingdom of Sweden / Konungariket Sverige
Elisabet Lann
Fredrik Malm MP
The Swiss Confederation / Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft / Confédération suisse / Confederazione Svizzera / Confederaziun svizra / Confoederatio Helvetica
Fabian Molina MP
Yves Nidegger MP
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP
Baroness Helena Kennedy
The United States of America
Sen. Bob Menendez
Sen. Marco Rubio
The European Parliament
Reinhard Bütikofer MEP
Miriam Lexmann MEP