PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile
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17 June 2021
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, British barrister Karim Khan QC was sworn in as the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor in The Hague. Khan pledged to reach out to nations that are not members of the court and try to hold trials in countries where crimes are committed.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) welcomes Karim Khan as the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
“We urge him to act swiftly to investigate and prosecute China’s officials responsible for the ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs,” said President Ghulam Osman Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
Last week, on July 10, lawyers for the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement submitted a dossier of further evidence proving how China continues to capture and persecute Uyghurs who fled to other countries in an attempt to escape genocide and persecution. The new evidence showed that 85% to 90% of the Uyghur population in Tajikistan, a state party to the Rome Statute, were targeted by the Chinese government and forcibly taken back to China-Occupied East Turkistan (Xinjiang).
On behalf of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, the East Turkistan Government in Exile and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement originally submitted a formal complaint last year on July 6, 2020 urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute Chinese officials responsible for genocide and other crimes against humanity.
In November 2020, the ICC complaint was backed by over 60 Parliamentarians from 16 countries yet the ICC’s former Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced there wasn’t sufficient evidence to establish jurisdiction at the time and had requested further evidence in December of 2020.
“Based on this new dossier of evidence presented to the ICC Prosecutor, showing the actions of Chinese authorities directly in Tajikistan – an ICC State Party – it is clear that the ICC does have jurisdiction to open an investigation,” said British Barrister Rodney Dixon, QC who is representing the East Turkistan Government in Exile at the ICC. “The evidence shows a highly organized and systematic plan by the Chinese authorities to round up Uyghurs living in an ICC State Party and deport them back into China where they are never heard from again,” Mr. Dixon added.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile and Uyghurs across the globe call on Karim Khan, the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to act quickly and open an investigation against China’s officials, including President Xi Jinping, for their role in the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.
“The world needs to act to end China’s genocide of Uyghurs. We have great hope that the ICC’s new prosecutor, Karim Khan, will agree that they have jurisdiction and can investigate and prosecute these crimes. It is now more critical than ever, given that numerous governments and parliaments have already recognized this ongoing genocide,” said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.