The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday refused to launch an investigation into allegations of genocide against Uighur Muslims in China, but left the file open.
Why it’s important: This meant that more evidence could be presented on genocide claims by Chinese authorities against Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang, and that the ICC could still open an investigation.
Driving News: “The preconditions for the court’s territorial jurisdiction exercise do not appear to have been met because there is evidence related to alleged crimes and suspects in China, which is not signed in the global court,” ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office said in a report.
- But Rodney Dixon, the chief barrister in the case against China, told the Guardian he hoped the ICC would conduct an investigation.
- Dixon added, “We will provide very relevant evidence that will allow this to happen in the coming months.”
Note: In 2019, the ICC approved an investigation into crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
- Myanmar is not a member of the ICC. However, the Hague-based court said it had the right to investigate because some of the crimes were alleged to have taken place in Bangladesh, which ratified the ICC Rome Statute in 2010.
Big picture: Chinese authorities have detained two million Uighurs in “re-education camps” since 2001. They deny any wrongdoing, claiming that they have used extremism to their advantage. But evidence has emerged to support allegations of torture, forced sterilization and other abuses.
- China’s treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities has been increasingly criticized. At the United Nations in October, the U.S. 39 countries, including Beijing, condemned Xinjiang for human rights abuses.
U.S. In, The Trump administration has imposed measures, including the approval of Chinese Communist Party officials, while President-elect Biden has called the repression a “genocide.”
Document Read the ICC report via Cloud:
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