The International Criminal Court has decided not to investigate the mass detention of Muslims, shocking activists seeking to hold Beijing responsible for the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.
Hague’s lawyers said Monday they would not, for a moment, investigate allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, because the alleged crimes took place in China, which is not one. Party in court.
The court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensuda of Gambia, said in a report that the abuses described were carried out only by Chinese nationals in Chinese territory.
For months, the deported Uyghurs had asked the court to investigate China’s repressive policies against Muslim minorities, in the wake of the proceedings to use the force of international law to hold Chinese officials accountable for the sabotage. They accused the Chinese government of waging a campaign of other abuses against Muslims, including torture, forced sterilization and mass surveillance.
China has faced growing international condemnation for its harsh treatment of Muslims, including the construction of large indoctrination camps in the western region of Xinjiang. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign described China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide, a position taken by other Western leaders.
China has denied that the camps are abusive, citing conflicting evidence, scattering them as employment training centers aimed at countering religious extremism and terrorism.
Many Uighurs said Tuesday they were disappointed with the court’s decision not to investigate. They vowed to continue lobbying to punish global leaders for abuse.
“The ICC was formed for one reason only: to deal with the most heinous international crimes,” said Fatimah Abdulkhafar, a Uighur poet and activist living in Australia. “The Chinese regime’s atrocities against Uighurs are numerous.”
The complaint against China was made by two Uighur deportation groups, the exiled Turkestan government and the East Turkestan National Awareness Movement.
Lawyers representing Uighur groups said they were still hopeful the court would launch an investigation after considering the new evidence.
“We will provide very relevant evidence that will allow this to happen in the coming months,” Rodney Dixon, a lawyer, said in a statement.
In addition to abusing Muslims inside China’s borders, the groups also sued Beijing for an investigation into illegal arrests or deportations of thousands of Uighurs in other countries, including Cambodia and Tajikistan.
In its report on Monday, the court said “there is no basis to proceed at this time” because there was not enough evidence to show that Chinese authorities had committed the crime.
“All conduct that involves forcible removal of people from a place does not necessarily constitute an offense of forcible transfer or deportation,” the court said.
Rights officials said they would continue to fight to hold China accountable for its actions in Xinjiang. Sophie Richards, China director of Human Rights Watch, said the decision was not a decision on whether it was being abused.
“The facts remain: the Chinese government is committing massive serious violations in Xinjiang, and those responsible should be held accountable.”
