{"id":16171,"date":"2021-06-04T11:10:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T11:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utjd.org\/uyghurtribunal\/?p=16171"},"modified":"2021-06-11T10:46:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T10:46:02","slug":"al-jazeera-uyghur-tribunal-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens are giving their accounts to a people\u2019s tribunal in London, which China has dismissed as a \u2018clumsy public opinion show\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A London-based people\u2019s tribunal is investigating whether China\u2019s alleged persecution of its Uighur minority amounts to genocide, with witness testimony detailing mass torture, rape and a range of other abuses.<\/p>\n

The \u201cUyghur Tribunal\u201d has no state backing and any judgement would not be binding on any government, but it has drawn a furious response from Beijing, which dismissed the hearings as a \u201cmachine producing lies\u201d.<\/p>\n

The first hearings take place over four days, from Friday to Monday, and are expected to draw dozens of witnesses. A second session is expected in September.<\/p>\n

The nine United Kingdom-based jurors of the tribunal, including lawyers and human rights experts, intend to publish a report in December on whether China is guilty of genocide.<\/p>\n

The first witness to testify on Friday, Qelbinur Sidik \u2013 an ethnic Uzbek teacher from Xinjiang\u2019s capital Urumqi, said she was ordered by the Chinese Communist Party bosses to take Mandarin-language classes in two fetid and crowded \u201cre-education\u201d camps, one male and one female, for Uighurs.<\/p>\n

The so-called students were made to wear shackles during hours-long classes, she told the tribunal.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuards in the camp did not treat the prisoners as human beings. They were treated less than dogs,\u201d Sidik said through an interpreter. \u201cThey enjoyed watching them being humiliated and their suffering was for them their joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Female prisoners were allegedly abused when they were taken for interrogation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were not only tortured but also raped, sometimes gang-raped,\u201d Sidik said. \u201cThe things that I have witnessed and experienced, I can\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sidik said she was also subjected to forced sterilisation.<\/p>\n

\"Al

Organisers hope the process of publicly laying out the evidence of an alleged state-orchestrated campaign of repression against the Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group, in China\u2019s northwest Xinjiang province will compel international action against the country\u2019s authorities [Alberto Pezzali\/AP Photo]<\/em><\/p><\/div>Organisers hope the process of publicly laying out the evidence of alleged state-orchestrated repression against the Uighurs will compel international action against the country\u2019s authorities.<\/p>\n

According to the United Nations, at least one million Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group, have been detained in the internment camps in China\u2019s northwest Xinjiang province, which borders eight countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.<\/p>\n

\u2018I want my son to be freed\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tribunal is chaired by prominent human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice, who led the prosecution of ex-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and has worked on several cases brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).<\/p>\n

It was set up at the request of the World Uyghur Congress, an international organisation of exiled Uighurs.<\/p>\n

The tribunal\u2019s organisers said Chinese authorities had ignored requests to participate in the hearings.<\/p>\n

But counsel for the tribunal said the United States and Australia had offered to provide relevant material, to add to thousands of pages of documentary evidence already compiled.<\/p>\n

Critics, including the UK and the US, say Uighurs have been subjected to human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, forced labour, torture, forced sterilisation and family separation.<\/p>\n

\"Al

The tribunal is chaired by prominent human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice, who led the prosecution of ex-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and has worked on several cases brought before the ICC [Alberto Pezzali\/AP Photo]<\/p><\/div>Before giving testimony to the tribunal via video link, three Uighurs who fled from China to Turkey described their experiences.<\/p>\n

One, named Rozi, said she was forced into an abortion when six and a half months pregnant. Her youngest son was detained in 2015, when he was just 13, and she hopes the tribunal\u2019s work will help lead to his freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my son to be freed as soon as possible,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to see him be set free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another, a former doctor, spoke of draconian birth control policies.<\/p>\n

And a third, a former detainee, alleged he was \u201ctortured day and night\u201d by Chinese soldiers while imprisoned in the remote border region.<\/p>\n

Beijing denounces hearings<\/strong><\/p>\n

China denies the allegations of abuse and claims the camps are \u201cre-education\u201d centres.<\/p>\n

Officials insist that mass \u201ceducation and training\u201d is necessary in Xinjiang to fight what they call the \u201cthree evil forces of extremism, separatism and terrorism\u201d, and boost economic development there.<\/p>\n

In March, the tribunal was among four UK entities and nine individuals sanctioned by Beijing for raising concerns about the treatment of the Uighurs.<\/p>\n

China has also publicly condemned the tribunal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not even a real tribunal or special court, but only a special machine producing lies,\u201d foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said last week. \u201cIt was founded by people with ulterior motives and carries no weight or authority. It is just a clumsy public opinion show under the guise of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Original article published here<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dozens are giving their accounts to a people\u2019s tribunal in London, which China has dismissed as a \u2018clumsy public opinion show\u2019. A London-based people\u2019s tribunal is investigating whether China\u2019s alleged persecution of its Uighur minority amounts to genocide, with witness testimony detailing mass torture, rape…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uyghur Tribunal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-10-at-12.09.08.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"benjamin32@fastmail.fm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"benjamin32@fastmail.fm\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"benjamin32@fastmail.fm\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e37875e8ae4467d8c25362491ecd3f82\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\"},\"wordCount\":825,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Press Coverage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\",\"name\":\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/\",\"name\":\"Uyghur Tribunal\",\"description\":\"UK Tribunal to investigate China’s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Uyghur Tribunal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.utjd.org\/uyghurtribunal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-ut.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.utjd.org\/uyghurtribunal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-ut.png\",\"width\":329,\"height\":198,\"caption\":\"Uyghur Tribunal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e37875e8ae4467d8c25362491ecd3f82\",\"name\":\"benjamin32@fastmail.fm\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5660c531f72928b852b4685cccd07e8f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5660c531f72928b852b4685cccd07e8f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"benjamin32@fastmail.fm\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/benjamint12.sg-host.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal","description":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal","og_description":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171","og_site_name":"Uyghur Tribunal","article_published_time":"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":506,"url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-10-at-12.09.08.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"benjamin32@fastmail.fm","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"benjamin32@fastmail.fm","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171"},"author":{"name":"benjamin32@fastmail.fm","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e37875e8ae4467d8c25362491ecd3f82"},"headline":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture","datePublished":"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171"},"wordCount":825,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Press Coverage"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171","url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171","name":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture - Uyghur Tribunal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-06-04T11:10:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-11T10:46:02+00:00","description":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture Uyghur Tribunal UK Press Coverage Tribunal to investigate China\u2019s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?p=16171#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Uyghur Tribunal\u2019 opens with testimony of alleged rape, torture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/","name":"Uyghur Tribunal","description":"UK Tribunal to investigate China’s alleged Genocide and crimes against Humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#organization","name":"Uyghur Tribunal","url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.utjd.org\/uyghurtribunal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-ut.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.utjd.org\/uyghurtribunal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-ut.png","width":329,"height":198,"caption":"Uyghur Tribunal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e37875e8ae4467d8c25362491ecd3f82","name":"benjamin32@fastmail.fm","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5660c531f72928b852b4685cccd07e8f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5660c531f72928b852b4685cccd07e8f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"benjamin32@fastmail.fm"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/benjamint12.sg-host.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16171"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16212,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16171\/revisions\/16212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurtribunal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}