Human rights experts: China breaching UN Genocide Convention with treatment of Uyghurs

China’s government has violated every provision of the U.N. Convention on Genocide Prevention, a report from a D.C.-based think tank argued Tuesday.

A report from the Newlines Institute, part of the Fairfax University of America, said that China “bears State responsibility for committing genocide against the Uyghurs,” including engaging in mass forced sterilizations of Uyghur women, eradication of Uyghur culture and even engaging in mass killings.

The Hill has reached out to China’s embassy in Washington, D.C., for a comment on the report.

The report was compiled with the help of dozens of independent experts, including World Bank senior counsel Adejoké Babington-Ashaye and Canada’s former ambassador to the U.N., Allan Rock.

“What makes this genocide so uniquely dangerous is its technological sophistication, allowing for efficiency in its destruction and concealment from global attention. The Uighurs have been suffering under the most advanced police state, with extensive controls and restrictions on every aspect of life—religious, familial, cultural, and social,” one of the study’s co-authors, human rights attorney Yonah Diamond, argued in a Foreign Policy op-ed.

“It is therefore incumbent on us to appreciate the nature, depth, and speed of the genocide and act now before it’s too late,” he continued.

China has long denied claims of genocide or mistreatment of the Uyghur people, and most recently the country’s foreign minister addressed those accusations in a press conference Sunday.

“The so-called existence of genocide in Xinjiang is absurd. It is a complete lie fabricated with ulterior motives,” Wang Yi said, adding that supposed “anti-China forces” were attempting to “undermine the security and stability of Xinjiang and hinder China’s development and growth.”

The U.S. declared the situation in Xinjiang a genocide in January, one of outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s last moves before leaving office. The move is under review by the Biden administration.

Canada’s government also declared the situation to be a genocide in February, a move that was opposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.