Genocide in Xinjiang

There is no doubt that Uygurs are now experiencing the most systematic and cruel ethnic persecution of any discriminated against nations in the world . There is also no doubt that the Uyghur issue has acquired such international significance as a result of the spectacular increase in China's international position - the renewed, this time winter, Olympics in Beijing in February 2022 is just another proof of this. (...) There is also no doubt that this rise in position led China to a dramatic rivalry with the US (...) - and that this rivalry is directly related to the American and international condemnation of Chinese actions against the Uighurs (...).

The Uighurs today experience the most systematic and cruel ethnic persecution of any discriminated against nations in the world.

Finally, there is no doubt what the authorities in Beijing emphasize at every step that whatever happens to the Uighurs in Xinjiang, nobody will massacre them there and the individual murders that occur may not reflect any official or secret political line of the authorities. Therefore, Beijing indignantly dismisses the accusation of genocide as particularly slanderous and completely unfounded. That is why many countries, even very critical of China's actions, avoid this term. Even State Department legal experts warned when the US first described Chinese proceedings that there was insufficient legal basis to do so.

What is genocide?

And yet the matter is not so clear-cut. The UN Convention "on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" (...) recognizes in Art. II for genocide "any of the following acts with the intention of destroying all or part of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such" and then lists not only the kills (point a), but also

b) causing serious harm to the body or mental health of members of the group,

c) the deliberate creation of living conditions for the members of the group, designed to cause them to be physically destroyed or partially destroyed,

(d) measures aimed at preventing births within the group,

e) forcible transfer of children of group members to another group.

Crime against the Uighurs

Meanwhile, China's repressive policy against the Uighurs, as a result of which over a million, or about a tenth of the nation's members, were imprisoned in "re-education camps" , in fact, prisons which they cannot leave until their Chinese overseers have ruled that prisoners have been sufficiently cured of "religious extremism" and "separatism", most certainly meets the conditions of paragraphs b) and c) of Art. II of the Convention.

The text is an excerpt from Konstanty Gebert's book “Final solutions. Genocides and their work ”, which has just been released by the Agora publishing house.

Religious extremism is the refusal to eat pork, men wearing long beards and women wearing long skirts or giving children names like Muhammad or Jihad. For separatism - insufficient knowledge of the Chinese language or lack of enthusiasm for the politics of the communist party and its chairman. Those who do not make sufficient progress in re-education are beaten and sometimes tortured. Moreover, China has taken deliberate action to reduce the fertility of Uyghur women . Official Chinese data show that births in southern Xinjiang decreased by 48.7% between 2017 and 2019. This, in turn, exhausts the features of point d). Finally, the death sentences against Uyghur activists may fall under a) in this context; There are also reports, difficult to verify, about the acts described in point e).

Most importantly, however, the Convention does not require that all the crimes mentioned in points a) to e) be committed to be considered genocide.; it is enough for "any" of them to be committed (...). The accusations against China are therefore probable, and the concerns of the lawyers from the State Department were probably related to the fact that in the practice of international justice genocide has so far been judged only on the basis of the findings of a).

Restrictions on "New Territories"

But why has Beijing taken any action that could be considered genocidal at all? The Uyghurs, a Sunni Islamic nation of the Turkish ethnic group, inhabit the country's northwestern province of Xinjiang, the "New Territories" that came under Beijing in the 19th century, around the same time Russia conquered the rest of Central Asia. Post-Soviet "states", from Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan, gained independence when the USSR collapsed. In China, however, communism has not collapsed so far and the Chinese colonial empire continues to hold firm; next to Tibet, Xinjiang is its most important part. But the Uyghurs are only 45 percent there. population, and in the provincial capital of Urumqi it is only 13%, and they are systematically denominated.

These restrictions primarily focus on restrictions and prohibitions on Muslim practices, even those that are tolerated elsewhere in China. Thus in Xinjiang it was forbidden to run nurseries at mosques and other private Islamic schools although in the rest of China they function without major obstacles. Likewise, Uyghur government workers are not allowed to fast on Ramadan although such fasting is allowed for Hui state employees, i.e. ethnic Chinese of the Muslim faith.

Even at the beginning of this century (...) the policy towards the Uighurs did not differ significantly from the policy towards other nations conquered by Beijing. The Uygurs reacted to it, similarly to other nations, trying to circumvent the restrictions or submit to it only in appearance. (...) Some Uygurs, however, occasionally resorted to terrorism as well , especially in Urumqi, where the demographic scale of confrontation with ethnic Han Chinese is greatest. In 1997, nine people were killed there in three bomb attacks on buses. The unknown Islamic Party of Turkestan (TIP) admitted to the attack, but Beijing officially rejected terrorism as the cause of the first attack.

Acts of terror

In a particularly bloody year of 2012 in three separate attacks , committed by attackers armed with knives in three Xinjiang cities, killed a total of 68 people, including the attackers . A year later five people were killed in Beijing's Heavenly Peace Square in a terrorist attack that the authorities attributed to the Uighurs without providing convincing evidence. In April 2014, three people were killed in Urumqi in an attack on a train station, and in May of this year, in the bloodiest attack, 43 in the capital when unknown perpetrators bombarded the crowded downtown streets. There were also other attacks, in Xinjiang and the rest of China, as well as abroad, the last one took place in 2016.

It is not clear who was behind these attacks. (...) But the Chinese authorities willingly attribute acts of disobedience to their increasingly repressive measures to "ETIM terrorists" - is an abbreviation of the English name of the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan. (...) Before the attacks in Xinjiang intensified at the beginning of the second decade of the century, the existence of ETIM was supposed to be evidenced by the capture of its alleged militants by the Americans in Afghanistan.

The Uighurs were accused, inter alia, of for the attack on Tian'anmen Square with a car-trap in October 2013

Only one thing was for sure on this point - Tirana was unexpectedly more courageous than twenty-odd other governments combined. Agreed when other American allies refused, granting asylum in May 2006 to five Chinese Uighurs released by Americans from Guantanamo prison Albania, once the only Chinese ally in the European socialist camp, has not bowed to the threats of Beijing, which the Uighurs regard as terrorists and would like to try them at home. Although the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha was not known for exaggerated concern for human rights, and his decision was more likely to maintain good relations with the USA, the five wrongly arrested his decision opened the way to freedom (...).

Five from Tirana

The Uighurs were arrested by the Americans probably in 2003, probably in Afghanistan. (...) It took Washington a year for Washington to establish that these men were not "enemy fighters" . Another year passed before Tirana finally agreed to take them. The Uighurs arrived in Albania in mid-May 2006 and were placed in a four-room flat in a refugee center outside Tirana. Their lawyers, however, asked the American authorities to find them another refuge. They argued, with some certain reason, that it would be difficult for Uighurs in Albania to start a new life.

But their previous life in Chinese Xinjiang was not easy either. At that time, Beijing was already ruthlessly suppressing all separateness of Muslim Uighurs in this gas and oil-rich province. (…) Under the conditions of such oppression, it is not difficult to find violent resistance. Some Uyghur groups have sought contacts with al-Qaeda. This is what the fired five were suspected of. Others collaborated with the Dalai Lama, who for years has been unsuccessful in seeking to ease Chinese repression against national minorities.

In this climate of widespread confusion, it was not difficult for Beijing to portray the Tirana five as terrorists, the Americans to portray themselves as the victim of a mistake, and Berisha to dress up in the feathers of a human rights defender. It does not seem that anyone, including the fired themselves, is really interested in explaining all the circumstances surrounding their tragic fate (...).

Hell of the "re-education" camps

As established by the United Nations, approx. a million out of a dozen or so million Uighurs are imprisoned in "re-education camps" in which they are to renounce "extremism" . You can get there for practicing Islam or for persuading others to quit alcohol or cigarettes, which proves increased piety, or for the fact that the watch shows the time two hours earlier than the official Beijing - because in this symbolic way the Uighurs want to express their individuality .

According to the accounts of people who passed through these camps, routine beatings, sometimes torture are used there. but the simplest methods remain the most effective. Oh, you won't get to eat until you sing all the verses of the song If it weren't for the Communist Party, there wouldn't be China to the full satisfaction of the guards. It is also up to them how many months or years you will spend in the camp before they consider you re-educated (...).

As established by the United Nations, about a million of the dozen or so million Uighurs are imprisoned in "re-education camps"

Kazakh Omir Bekali spent several months in the Chinese camp, after which he was expelled to Kazakhstan. There, he spoke publicly about his experience and soon decided that it would be safer to move to Istanbul. His wife and son were supposed to join him in September 2018, but they were detained after landing, threatened with deportation back to Kazakhstan, where Chinese services are on the prowl. The official reason was suspicion of forging passports. The real, it seems, were the ever closer economic ties between Beijing and Ankara (...).

Turkey fell silent about the Uighurs - as before, after its rapprochement with Moscow, about the Crimean Tatars. Not only she - the whole Muslim world is silent. Egypt and Malaysia also receive Chinese loans - and have deported Uyghur refugees (...).

Raising "younger siblings"

Meanwhile, in Xinjiang by the end of 2018, almost 1.5 million Chinese volunteers had visited Uyghur homes. They arrive laden with modern appliances, from electric kettles to pressure cookers, which you would not expect in the primitive households of "younger siblings" - as ethnic minorities are referred to in Chinese propaganda literature. When they see them, Uighur children nervously shout that they love China and its leader Xi Jinping. And "older brothers and sisters" move into Uighur homes and organize their lives . In the morning patriotic songs while raising the Chinese flag to the mast, in the evening Xi Jinping's thoughts lessons, Chinese courses during the breaks. No slack, because you can end up in a vocational training center.

AFP published an order for educational equipment in the fall of 2018 , which was deposited at the headquarters by the department supervising the work of centers in only one Sinkian district of Hotan: 2768 truncheons, 550 electric cattle prods, 1367 pairs of handcuffs and 2792 cans of pepper spray . Other centers also ordered electric stun guns and special torture chairs. And older brothers and sisters, Chinese volunteers, come to Xinjiang to save their Uyghur younger siblings from such a fate. Of course, if it's innocent.

All pedestrians can, and everyone entering public buildings or means of communication must be electronically photographed and identified.

The American anthropologist Darren Byler, who worked for two years with the Uighurs and older brothers, lists the oversight responsibilities of his older siblings. Check if there is a copy of the Koran at home or if you are not greeted with the words Salam alejkum . If, God forbid, someone is praying on Friday and fasting on Ramadan? Is a little sister wearing a long dress or a brother with a beard that is not regulated? All comments are recorded in the appropriate observation notebooks which will then be forwarded to the authorities; in the case of the wrong dress or beard, immediate shortening is recommended. In general, as stated in the instructions for older siblings published by AFP, the idea is to "shatter their legacy, shatter their roots, shake off their connections, shatter their origins" (…).

Big Brother is watching

The authorities, of course, do not limit themselves to fraternal help. All passersby can, and everyone entering public buildings or means of communication must be photographed electronically and identified. (...) According to the United Nations, Chinese centers educate up to a million of the 11 million Uyghurs from Xinjiang. The authorities, on the other hand, continue their efforts to protect the others from the pernicious observance of national traditions and religions.

According to Radio Free Asia in just three months in 2016, 5,000 out of 24,000 Sinkian mosques were demolished . At a session of the UN Human Rights Council, Western states finally condemned Beijing, though the Uyghur mayor he brought in assured that the vocational training centers that China until recently denied existed actually make ex-extremists joyfully indulge in culture and sport. And it is worth remembering that in many offices, and even schools, you are still allowed to speak Uighur.

News of the persecution in Xinjiang was growing steadily. In July 2020, six months after the State Department's statement, "the government in exile of East Turkestan" filed a request with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague to initiate proceedings against China for the crimes of genocide and against humanity committed against the Uighurs in Xinjiang (…).

Uighurs protesting with the flag of East Turkestan in front of the UN building in New York in 2014

The ICC can only intervene in the case of the most serious crimes if there are grounds for doing so. And if the justice of the country where they were to be committed cannot or does not want to do so. In the case of China, both conditions were met - hundreds of government documents and witness accounts documented Beijing's campaign against the Uighurs for manifesting its national and religious identity. And "political, religious and racial" persecution is a crime against humanity (...).

A new way to genocide

But to accept a proposal on the Uighurs, even for preliminary examination, would mean a war with China - in which the ICC would be left alone. His prosecutor Fatou Bensouda could not even count on seemingly natural allies, i.e. the US and Muslim countries. (...) In addition to business dependencies, the solidarity of dictatorships was probably stronger than the religious one. When the "government in exile" submitted its motion, the UN Human Rights Council, by an overwhelming majority of votes, including Muslim states, supported the new Chinese law abolishing the rule of law in Hong Kong. This is undoubtedly a binding expression of the preferences of the international community (…).

The text is an excerpt from Konstanty Gebert's book “Final solutions. Genocides and their work ”, which has just been released by the Agora publishing house.

So what can you do? Few. American customs officers confiscated 13 tons of human hair worth $ 800,000, imported into the US for insertions by the company, and yes, Innocence, or innocence, which also advertised their "antibacterial effect." The full name of Innocence EZ BRAID Professional I&I Hair Corporation is worth remembering; after all, her product could not only go to the USA, but also came from Chinese camps . Witnesses report that Uyghur women were cut to their skin there . And so it is better than the collection of organs sentenced to death in China for transplantation, sometimes after execution, sometimes before it (...).

The aim of genocide has so far been to remove an "ethnic, national, racial or religious group" whose continued existence is an obstacle to the happiness of mankind or even some other "group". It was carried out by the method of mass murder, which was costly and laborious. It is quite possible that, before our eyes, China is inventing a bloodless and much simpler method:instead of murdering bodies, it is enough to rewrite identity. After years in a "re-education camp", his former Uyghur prisoners will avoid the risk of being returned there like fire, thus avoiding being Uighurs. Their example, supported by state pedagogy, has a chance to convince also those who did not end up in the camps themselves. It will be possible to deal with the non-reformers in a more traditional way, but - if the whole project is successful - it will be only a margin.

Source:

The text is an excerpt from Konstanty Gebert's book “Final solutions. Genocides and their work ”, which has just been released by the Agora publishing house.