Starvation and Torture in Uighur Detention Camps

A Need for International Unity Against China

By Sawyer Sourbeer

“We must be as harsh as them and show absolutely no mercy.”[i] Those were the words of China’s President Xi Jinping describing the attitude Chinese government officials must have in dealing with the Uighurs. China’s “Hard Strike Campaign,” or popularly known as “The People’s War on Terror,” began in 2014 and since then, more than 10 percent of the Uighur population have been held in detention camps.[ii]

The campaign began in response to a series of terror attacks carried out by Islamic extremists in the Xinjiang province.[iii] China has kept the details of this campaign a secret from the world, and therefore has made accurate accounts of China’s atrocities difficult. [iv]

Knowledge of the conditions inside the detention camps have been detailed by eyewitness accounts and  family members whose kin have disappeared without a trace. Victims have reported torture, sexual humiliation, and an obliteration of Uighur culture.[v] Victims have reported that their families have been separated with their children being sent to boarding schools.

Recently, Uighur exiles, with the assistance of London based lawyers, have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC).[vi] However, this is unlikely to be successful as the ICC lacks jurisdiction over China because China does not accept ICC jurisdiction.

China is a member of several treaties that impose an obligation to refrain from persecuting Uighurs, such as: The international Treaty on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism (CERD), Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment (UNCAT), Convention on the Elimination on all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, and the Slavery Commission of 1926.[vii]

The aforementioned treaty obligations are sufficient to hold China accountable to the international community, but without a concerted effort by the international community to enforce these obligations, China will continue to violate their commitments.

“The People’s War on Terror”

“The People’s War on Terror” campaign resulted from a series of terror attacks that occurred in Xinjiang province. In April 2014, a radical Islamic militant went on a stabbing spree that culminated in 150 people injured and thirty-one people dead. [viii] In the same month, two Uighur militants entered a train station and detonated explosives killing themselves in addition to injuring eighty people.[ix]  A month later, militants threw explosives into a vegetable market that killed thirty-nine people and injured ninety-four people.[x]

As the campaign accelerated, officials on the ground were ordered to “[r]ound up everyone that should be rounded up.”[xi] In other words, officials were instructed to round up everyone with “symptoms” of radicalization.[xii] The “symptoms” were common characteristics of the Muslim faith. The symptoms were exhibited by citizens who wore long beards, gave up smoking and drinking, studied Arabic, and prayed outside of mosques.[xiii]

In addition to rounding up suspected extremists, China began a “Joint Operations Platform” campaign that tasked officials with accumulating mass amounts of personal information on the Uighur population to flag certain individuals for detention and reeducation.[xiv]

Moreover, Chinese officials began setting up checkpoints in transportation hubs and equipped entrances to shopping centers with metal detectors, facial recognition scanners, and iris-scanning machines.[xv] Only Uighurs are subjected to these checkpoints, while ethnic Han Chinese can bypass all checkpoints.

Moreover, Chinese officials instituted “Home Stays,” where China hired Han Chinese to live with Uighur families.[xvi] The Han Chinese were instructed to observe Uighur enthusiasm in learning the Chinese language and singing patriotic songs. In addition, the Han Chinese were tasked to observe “suspicious activities [in Uighur families] such as using traditional Muslim greetings, hiding a Quran in their home, having friends or family in Turkey or Egypt, refusing a proffered cigarette, refusing a glass of wine, or refusing food that may not be Halal.[xvii]

Inside the detention camps, Uighurs face torture and humiliation. One account is from Omir Bekali. Bekali reported that inmates wake up before dawn and are forced to sing the Chinese national anthem and raise the Chinese flag.[xviii] Moreover, the Uighurs are taught history in a classroom setting where they learn that before the Communist Party took power in the 1960s the Uighur people were enslaved. Thus, the Chinese attempt to indoctrinate the inmates by purporting to be the saviors of the Uighur people. Along with these classes, Chinese instructors frequently conduct tests. Inmates that fail these tests are forced to stand facing the wall for several hours at a time.[xix]

Bekali also reported that failure by inmates to follow orders will result in confinement and food deprivation.

Another account is from Mihrigal Tursun, a resident of Egypt, who was detained while visiting her parents in China. Tursun reported torture and starvation within the detention camps. In addition, Tursun has witnessed the deaths of fellow inmates, and upon being detained in the detention camps, she was separated from her children.[xx]

Many detainees have a similar experience in being separated from their children. Typically, the children are not detained in the detention camps with their families but sent to boarding schools away from the Xinjiang province. Some children are not sent to boarding schools at all but are sent to orphanages ostensibly to be adopted by a Han Chinese family.[xxi]

Tursun also reported that before every meal, inmates are required to chant: “We will oppose extremism, we will oppose separatism, we will oppose terrorism.” Moreover, inmates must thank the Communist Party and Xi Jinping for their meal. Furthermore, inmates are typically served pork for their meals, which the Muslim faith forbids. The Chinese government also gives free pork to poverty-stricken Uighurs.[xxii]

General accounts reported by the Bar Committee for human rights reported that inmates are subjected to physical torture such as: electric shock, forced into stress positions, beatings, food deprivation, shackled and blindfolded, and forced to take unknown drugs that cause blackouts.[xxiii]

Women in detention camps have reported implanted contraceptive devices, disrupted menstrual cycles, rape, sexual humiliation, solitary confinement, and forced confinement in a chilled room for twenty-four hours at a time. Women have been forced to undergo abortions, long-term birth control measures, and sterilizations.[xxiv] Moreover, the Chinese government has introduced laws that incentivize Han Chinese men marrying Uighur women to stymie Uighur culture.[xxv]

Lastly, those detainees that do “graduate” from the detention camps are sent to factories in remote parts of China to either work as slaves or earn pennies for their work.[xxvi]

The ICC’s Genocide Charges Against China

Recently, a group of London lawyers representing Uighur exiles, submitted a complaint to the ICC charging thirty Chinese officials of Genocide.[xxvii] Although, China has not accepted ICC jurisdiction via the Rome statute, the complaint is based on a recent jurisdictional decision in the Pre-trial chamber.

In regard to the Prosecution’s Request for Ruling on Jurisdiction under Article 19(5) of the [Rome] statute, the ICC’s Pre-trial chamber considered whether they had jurisdiction over Myanmar, who does not accept ICC jurisdiction under the Rome statute.  Myanmar security forces are forcibly deporting ethnic Rohingya’s to Bangladesh, another nation which does accept ICC jurisdiction under the Rome statute. The ethnic Rohingya people are citizens of Myanmar and are being stripped of their property then deported.[xxviii]

The Pre-trial chamber held that the ICC does have jurisdiction of Myanmar because one or more elements of the crime of deportation and forcible transfer occurred within a country that accepted ICC jurisdiction such as Bangladesh.[xxix]

The court reasoned that it is fundamental that a judicial body, especially an international tribunal, “retains the power to and duty to determine the boundaries of its own jurisdiction and competence.”[xxx] In addition, the court reasoned that, ordinarily, a treaty may not create obligations on a third party without its consent, but the principle is not without exceptions such as where the security council refers a situation to the court, as has occurred in the present case, and where a nation is also member of the United Nations.[xxxi]Therefore, Myanmar is duty bound to cooperate with the ICC. Lastly, Myanmar is a party to various international obligations that require it to take steps to assert domestic jurisdiction over certain offenses.

In the case of the Uighurs, there are distinguishing factors that make it unlikely that the ICC will have jurisdiction over China. First, China is a permanent member of the security council and is therefore unlikely vote in favor of a UN Security Council resolution referring a case against itself to the ICC. Second, although China has arguably committed genocide and crimes against humanity within its borders, there is little evidence that China deported Uighur Muslims who are citizens of China to other countries. There are reports of China pressuring neighboring countries to deport Chinese Uighurs, who have escaped, back to China.[xxxii]

The fact that China is not deporting Uighurs but is pressuring neighboring countries to deport exiled Uighurs back to China is dispositive. The UN General Assembly issued a memorandum on the expulsion of aliens through the Secretariat in a 2006 study of current treaty law relating to the expulsion of aliens.[xxxiii]

The memorandum is based upon the premise that a state has the inherent right to expel aliens because, ultimately, aliens are contrary to the interests of the state.[xxxiv] For example, the Mixed Claims Commission, which was the arbiter in the Maal Case between the Netherlands and Venezuela, reasoned that the right to expel aliens was an attribute of sovereignty that was necessary for the proper defense of a country.[xxxv]

Furthermore, the right of a sovereign to expel aliens is “nearly unlimited.” However, there are limitations in a state’s right to expel aliens.[xxxvi] First, there is a prohibition of the abuse of the right to expel aliens, or a country may not expel aliens in an otherwise unlawful manner. Second, a state must exercise its power to expel aliens in good faith. Third, a state must not expel an alien for an arbitrary reason. Fourth, a country may not mistreat aliens.[xxxvii]

China’s pressure on other countries to deport exiled Uighurs does not fall into any of the categories in how they are defined in the memorandum. Furthermore, the question would not be whether China is in violation of these general rules on the expulsion of aliens, but whether the country that has deported Uighurs to China is in violation of these limitations.

Moreover, states enjoy relatively broad discretion when deciding to expel aliens. Therefore, it is relatively simple to overcome the limitations of expelling aliens.[xxxviii] For example, aside from specific treaty obligations, the memorandum observes that any justification that is prima facie sufficient, “to negate any presumption of arbitrariness should not be subject to further scrutiny…”[xxxix]

The purpose of the analysis on the right to expel aliens is to determine any grounds that the ICC may address jurisdiction similar to their decision in the pre-trial chamber. It is likely that the Uighur exile’s compliant will fail because no crime has occurred outside the territory of China. Therefore, the ICC cannot assert jurisdiction over China because they do not accept ICC jurisdiction, and the ICC cannot extend territorial jurisdiction over China because a crime has not occurred in a state that accepts ICC jurisdiction, which would tie China to a crime.

Other Avenues to hold China Accountable

China is a party to numerous international treaties that their alleged actions would violate. However, without a concerted effort from the international arena, there are no mechanisms within China’s treaty obligations that will punish China for their international law violations.

First and foremost, China is bound by customary international law to refrain from committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and slavery. It is an established principle of international law that every state has a duty to prevent another state from committing genocide.

Genocide requires the specific intent to destroy or prevent the life a protected group. A protected group may be an ethical or religious group such as the Uighurs. The acts reported in the background of this article is sufficient to invoke the duty of the international community to act. Some states have imposed sanctions on China, but sanctions are not enough because sanctions are largely symbolic and ineffective in bringing a state to compliance.

China is also a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).[xl] Under the CEDAW, China is prohibited, “from all forms of discrimination against women and must abstain from performing, sponsoring, or condoning any practice, policy or measure…” that violates the convention.[xli] Again, China has reportedly subjected  Uighur women to forced sterilizations, forced birth control measures, and forced abortions. Evidently, these actions that are state sponsored are contrary to the spirit of the convention.

Furthermore, China is a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).[xlii] Under the CERD, China is under a legal obligation to refrain from any state sponsored racial discrimination and China is obligated to condemn all forms of racial discrimination.[xliii] China has violated the terms of this treaty by segregating ethnic Uighurs from the Han population through detention centers. Further, China has constructed checkpoints to stop and frisk Uighurs while Han Chinese can pass through the checkpoints. Thus, China has violated its legal obligations under the CERD.

Additionally, China is a part to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).[xliv] Under the CRC, China is legally obligated to promote and preserve the rights and liberties of Children. However, China has reportedly forcefully separated families and sent children to boarding schools or orphanages.

Clearly, China has violated numerous treaty obligations if the allegations of their treatment of ethnic Uighurs is proven. A single act by a single country will not be sufficient to hold China accountable. Therefore, the international community as whole needs to act. One possible action is for the international community to forego all treaty obligations that they owe to China. China has violated their own obligations to the international community and therefore the international community should sever the treaty obligations they owe to China.

Another possible action is to expel Chinese ministers and ambassadors. The international community needs to make a statement to China and expelling their ambassadors would put China on notice.

Furthermore, the international community may take countermeasures. Countermeasures against China may take the form of increased support to Taiwan. Another possible countermeasure is increased support for the democracy movement in Hong Kong. Supporting the enemies of the Chinese Government may prove as an effective retaliation measure to slow down the detention of China’s Uighurs or to influence China in conforming to their treaty obligations.

However, a problem with a concerted international effort to hold China accountable is many countries, especially Africa and Southeast Asia, have accepted large amounts of investment from China through China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Conclusion

This article is just the tip of the iceberg of the vast allegations against China and the possible options that the international community may take to hold China accountable. Much of the reporting surrounding China’s detention centers and treatment of ethnic Uighurs needs supplemental reporting. The lack of access to China makes it difficult to know the full-scale of its atrocities. In other words, more research needs to be done. Furthermore, more action must be taken by the international community to thwart the ongoing genocide that is occurring China. The world has seen this before, and the world has stood by and watched people of different ethnicities murdered, tortured, and suffer.

 

Citations

[i] Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley, ‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims, The New York Times (November 16, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html.

[ii] Rachel Harris, Repression and Quiet Resistance in Xinjiang, Current History Vol. 118 Issue 810 (October 2019), https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2304089025/fulltext/EBB34FE4159A4A42PQ/1?accountid=13158.

[iii] Id.; Bethany Matta, China to neighbors: Send us your Uighurs, Al Jazeera (February 18 2015), https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/2/18/china-to-neighbours-send-us-your-uighurs.

[iv] David Alton and Helena Kennedy, Responsibility of States Under International Law to Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, 12 (2020), https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf.

[v] Id. at 14.

[vi] Marlise Simons, Uighur Exiles Push for Court Case Accusing China of Genocide, The New York Times (December 15, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/world/asia/china-xinjiang-uighur-court.html.

[vii] Bar committee—p. 21.

[viii] Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley, ‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims, The New York Times (November 16, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html.

[ix] Id.

[x] Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley, ‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims, The New York Times (November 16, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html.

[xi] Id.

[xii] Id.

[xiii] Id.

[xiv] Rachel Harris, Repression and Quiet Resistance in Xinjiang, Current History Vol. 118 Issue 810 (October 2019), https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2304089025/fulltext/EBB34FE4159A4A42PQ/1?accountid=13158.

[xv] Id.

[xvi] Id.

[xvii] Id.

[xviii] Id.

[xix] Id.

[xx] Id.

[xxi] Id.

[xxii] Id.

[xxiii] David Alton and Helena Kennedy, Responsibility of States Under International Law to Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, 13 (2020), https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf.

[xxiv] Id. at 18.

[xxv] Rachel Harris, Repression and Quiet Resistance in Xinjiang, Current History Vol. 118 Issue 810 (October 2019), https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/2304089025/fulltext/EBB34FE4159A4A42PQ/1?accountid=13158.

[xxvi] David Alton and Helena Kennedy, Responsibility of States Under International Law to Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, 15 (2020), https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf.

[xxvii] Marlise Simons, Uighur Exiles Push for Court Case Accusing China of Genocide, The New York Times (December 15, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/world/asia/china-xinjiang-uighur-court.html.

[xxviii] Prosecution’s Request for a Ruling on Jurisdiction under Article 19(3) of the Statute (Myanmar/Bangladesh), Judgement, 2018 ICC-Pre-Trial Chamber 1, 6 (April 9).

[xxix] Id. at 35, 36.

[xxx] Id. at 14.

[xxxi] Id. at 28.

[xxxii] Bethany Matta, China to neighbors: Send us your Uighurs, Al Jazeera (February 18 2015), https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/2/18/china-to-neighbours-send-us-your-uighurs.

[xxxiii] U.N. Secretary General, Expulsion of Aliens, Memorandum by the Secretariat, 1, (August 11, 2006).

[xxxiv] Id. at 131.

[xxxv] Id. at 132.

[xxxvi] Id.  at 136.

[xxxvii] Id. at 140.

[xxxviii] Id. at 211.

[xxxix] Id. at 211,212.

[xl] David Alton and Helena Kennedy, Responsibility of States Under International Law to Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, 21 (2020), https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf.

[xli] Id. at 24.

[xlii]Id. at 21.

[xliii] Id.  at 25.

[xliv] Id. at 25.