PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile
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31 January 2022

The East Turkistan Government in Exile welcomes a resolution by the Japanese Parliament expressing concern over China’s ongoing atrocities in East Turkistan.

The Lower House of Japan’s National Diet adopted a resolution on Tuesday expressing concern on the “serious human rights” situation, precisely the issues of mass internment and violation of religious freedom in East Turkistan, Tibet, South Mongolia, and Hong Kong.

“We praise Japan’s National Diet for passing this important resolution ahead of the opening of the Genocide Games, officially known as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” said President Ghulam Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.

The resolution stopped short of condemning China’s atrocities against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tatars, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide and crimes against humanity.

Since January 2021, the U.S. Government and the Parliaments of Canada, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the UK, and recently France have officially designated China’s atrocities in East Turkistan as genocide.

“While this is a positive first step, it’s not enough, and it’s comparably weak compared to the resolutions put forward by other nations in the Free World,” said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “We urge Japan’s Government and the Japanese Parliament to recognize China’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan officially,” he added.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile is also urging the Japanese Government —a signatory of the Rome Statute and one of the main funders of the International Criminal Court — to support East Turkistan’s case against Chinese officials at the ICC.

The ETGE also urges other countries in the free world to support its case at the ICC and is also calling on governments to file a similar complaint at the International Court of Justice.