Over 120 Canadian Human Rights & Interfaith Groups Sign a Joint Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Demanding Concrete Action on Uyghur Genocide
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Otario K1A 0A2, Canada
Dear Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
Recently, more than 22 Genocide and Atrocity Prevention Organizations from 5 different countries, including 16 senior experts, have expressed their grave concerns for the crimes and Genocide taking place against Uyghurs in East Turkistan by China.
During a recent Parliamentary hearing on July 20th and 21st, prominent Canadian legal experts were joined by survivors of concentration camps to testify on the horrific details and crimes of genocide perpetrated by China’s authorities against Uyghurs. These experts and witnesses urged the Government of Canada to take action on stopping and preventing these actions from further continuation.
The recently leaked Karakash List—an Operating Manual of Internment Camps, was exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism. The secret internal memos containing more than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents have provided an unprecedented inside look at the implementation of Chinese genocidal measures against Uyghurs in East Turkestan (a region that China has called “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” since 1955).
Possibly, more than 2 million Uyghurs are being held in Nazi-style concentration camps by the Chinese government. These detained people are being subject to physical and psychological torture. According to experts, Chinese officials have enforced the mass sterilization of Uyghur women in the region and shattered families through concentration camps. The slave labour facilities, including various Uyghur prisons, have resulted in the birth rate dropping to nearly zero among Uyghurs in 2019.
In addition, enforced separation of Uyghur children from their parents has reached an unprecedented level. The Chinese government has not disclosed the whereabouts of abducted children to their parents for 3 years. The number of disappeared Uyghur children is estimated at more than half a million.
According to witness accounts and testimonies, frequent deaths, physical and mental torture, enforced disappearances, mass rape, enforced marriage of Uyghur girls to Han Chinese, have become widespread in the region.
China has met all of the criteria under the UN Genocide Convention, confirming that they are committing genocide of the Uyghur people. China has also been accused of organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience, committing crimes against humanity on an industrial scale.
We, the undersigned representatives of multi-faith groups and prominent advocates, are asking our government to uphold its legal obligation as a signatory of the Genocide Convention, and act alongside our international allies, to take concrete action through diplomatic, humanitarian and other effective ways. We should not shy away to call it as it is, irrespective of what label might be applied.
We are urging the Canadian Government to unequivocally condemn the Uyghur Genocide, and the above described crimes against humanity, and take action as listed below:
The Chinese genocide against the Uyghur people must end. Canada as a recognized global leader defending human rights and international law cannot remain silent as these atrocities are being committed.
Signed,
Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director, Justice For All Canada
Mehmet Tohti, Executive Director, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Otario K1A 0A2, Canada
Dear Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
Recently, more than 22 Genocide and Atrocity Prevention Organizations from 5 different countries, including 16 senior experts, have expressed their grave concerns for the crimes and Genocide taking place against Uyghurs in East Turkistan by China.
During a recent Parliamentary hearing on July 20th and 21st, prominent Canadian legal experts were joined by survivors of concentration camps to testify on the horrific details and crimes of genocide perpetrated by China’s authorities against Uyghurs. These experts and witnesses urged the Government of Canada to take action on stopping and preventing these actions from further continuation.
The recently leaked Karakash List—an Operating Manual of Internment Camps, was exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism. The secret internal memos containing more than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents have provided an unprecedented inside look at the implementation of Chinese genocidal measures against Uyghurs in East Turkestan (a region that China has called “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” since 1955).
Possibly, more than 2 million Uyghurs are being held in Nazi-style concentration camps by the Chinese government. These detained people are being subject to physical and psychological torture. According to experts, Chinese officials have enforced the mass sterilization of Uyghur women in the region and shattered families through concentration camps. The slave labour facilities, including various Uyghur prisons, have resulted in the birth rate dropping to nearly zero among Uyghurs in 2019.
In addition, enforced separation of Uyghur children from their parents has reached an unprecedented level. The Chinese government has not disclosed the whereabouts of abducted children to their parents for 3 years. The number of disappeared Uyghur children is estimated at more than half a million.
According to witness accounts and testimonies, frequent deaths, physical and mental torture, enforced disappearances, mass rape, enforced marriage of Uyghur girls to Han Chinese, have become widespread in the region.
China has met all of the criteria under the UN Genocide Convention, confirming that they are committing genocide of the Uyghur people. China has also been accused of organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience, committing crimes against humanity on an industrial scale.
We, the undersigned representatives of multi-faith groups and prominent advocates, are asking our government to uphold its legal obligation as a signatory of the Genocide Convention, and act alongside our international allies, to take concrete action through diplomatic, humanitarian and other effective ways. We should not shy away to call it as it is, irrespective of what label might be applied.
We are urging the Canadian Government to unequivocally condemn the Uyghur Genocide, and the above described crimes against humanity, and take action as listed below:
- Partner with the 5 Eyes countries (Canada, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand) and demand the closure of the modern-day concentration camps holding millions of Uyghur people and for all children to be reunited with their parents
- Acknowledge and label Crimes Against Humanity against the Uyghur people a Genocide with a motion in the Parliament and at the UN Security Council
- Invoke the Magnitsky Act. Hold the perpetrators of violence responsible for the crimes being committed
- Sanction any corporation with supply chains linked with factories in the Xinjiang province to ensure no products enter Canada that are made with forced labour of Uyghurs
- Protect the safety and security of Canadian citizens of Uyghur origin. Advocate on their behalf, for the release of their family members being held as hostages in concentration camps by the Chinese government
- Pass Bill S-240, which criminalizes organ trafficking. Amend the Criminal Code, making it a punishable offence for Canadians to partake in transplant tourism
The Chinese genocide against the Uyghur people must end. Canada as a recognized global leader defending human rights and international law cannot remain silent as these atrocities are being committed.
Signed,
Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director, Justice For All Canada
Mehmet Tohti, Executive Director, Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
1. https://uhrp.org/press-release/genocide-prevention-experts-call-un-commission-inquiry-crimes-against-humanity-and
2. https://www.jpolrisk.com/karakax/
3. https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/
4. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html
5. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/120418_Busby_Testimony.pdf
2. https://www.jpolrisk.com/karakax/
3. https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/
4. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html
5. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/120418_Busby_Testimony.pdf
| Over 120 Canadian Human Rights & Interfaith Groups Sign a Joint Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Demanding Concrete Action on Uyghur Genocide |