ICC asks for more evidence on claims of Uighur genocide
Atrocities against Uighurs
The international criminal court (ICC) has asked for more evidence in order to open an investigation into claims of genocide against Uighur Muslims by China
China notably is not a signatory to the ICC.
People who have been bringing to the ICC the claim of genocide have pointed to the alleged forcing of Uighur people from Tajikistan and Cambodia into China as evidence.
But the ICC has said there is still insufficient evidence to warrant opening a full-scale investigation. Both countries are signatories to the Rome statute setting up the ICC.
The complaint was submitted in July on behalf of the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement.
The decisions of ICC pre-trial chambers in two previous cases in 2018 and 2019 concerning crimes against Rohingya people in Bangladesh and Myanmar decided that the court may exercise jurisdiction over international crimes when part of the criminal conduct takes place on the territory of a state that is a signatory to the ICC.
The latest complaint states that the alleged crimes committed against the Uighur Muslims in north-west China have been widespread and systematic. The crimes include people being subjected to imprisonment and torture as well as forced birth control, sterilisations and marriages.
The ICC is expected to make its ruling known in the next few days ahead of the assembly of state parties taking place in The Hague from December 14-16.