Thread by @UyghurCongress

Second set of hearings of the @TribunalUyghur are about to start!

We will be live-tweeting the hearings in this thread ⬇️

Geoffrey Nice Qc opens the tribunal:

“For a right to be universal, it is a right that has to be enjoyed anywhere in the world. And a right always has a duty.”

First fact witness is Australian-Uyghur @Mehray_T testifying on behalf of her husband who was arrested and detained in 2017.

““[My husband] was in shock, to be frank. Even though he was released—they said he had graduated—he never felt safe.”

2nd fact witness, Helmet Rozahun, Uyghur man in Japan testifies about his conversation with Chinese state agents.

“They took my brother as hostage to try and force me to [spy for the governement] against my will.”

Next expert witness is @AndersonEliseM from @UyghurProject testifying about the #QaraqashList and the widespread criminalisation of everyday activity.

‘in my opinion, Uyghurs who are “free” are not in fact free’.

Next expert witness, Dr. @tengbiao highlights China’s persecution of #Uyghurs.

“The CCP see the Uyghurs and other Turkic people as a threat to their own ability”.

.@AHakimIdris presents evidence on China’s global investments and how it’s using its diplomatic and economic ties with countries to further repress #Uyghurs.

“China is using vaccine and mask diplomacy to silence Muslim countries on Uyghur issue”.

China researcher at @hrw @wang_maya testifies on the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP).

“They collect data on everyone without any law specifying what kind of behavior triggers this surveillance… everyone that ought to be detained should be detained.”
#UyghurTribunal

Last witness of the day, Jessica Batke testifies on the CCP structure in relation to reported crimes in #EastTurkistan.

“It’s hard to imagine that the entire [camp] system was executed without the involvement of high-level officials.”

#UyghurTribunal

Day 2 of #UyghurTribunal

First expert today is Christian Tyler testifying about China’s racist policies.

“According to the evidence we’ve heard, the families are threatened if [Uyghur women] don’t [marry Chinese].”

Dr. Nena Tromp testifies about the structure of the Chinese Communist Party.

“are these atrocities being planned towards a goal,[…] & who is responsible for that? […] Could they give this criminal intent? Well…this would be Xi Jinping, obviously.”

Mr. Abdusalam Muhammad, an exiled Uyghur in Turkey testifies about his time in a camp and the torture he endured.

“I could see people dragged because the inmates did not have the ability to walk. The faces were swollen. Eyes, faces bruised.”

Rahima Mohammed Nuri, a former health professional in a maternity unit in #EastTurkistan testifies about forced abortions of #Uyghur women.

“Some were born alive, but a little after they all had died.”

.@yonahdiamond and Professor John Packer present the Newlines Institute report “The Uyghur Genocide”.

“China has thus far blocked any independent access to the region […]
Over the years, the Chinese government has destroyed evidence, including […] birth rates, public data”.

Next expert to testify is @Bsintash on the destruction of #Uyghur mosques in East Turkistan:

“80% of Muslim mosques had been affected across all Uyghur regions, meaning a total of 15,000.”

.@JulieM615 from @CUyghurs testifies on the educational policies of CCP against #Uyghurs.

“What we can see through [children’s educational materials] is a marked intent of forced homogeny”.

Last witness of the day @dtbyler testifies on the persecution & destruction of #Uyghur identity.

“The total assimilation is a violent process, separating children from their parents is part of that process, incarcerating people […]”

.@MuetterIliqud from @UyghurJustice presents an annual report on human rights violations in #EastTurkistan, including a satellite image analysis.

She points out that the overall capacity of “re-education camps” are between 1 680 000- 2 016 000 based on the detainees per cell.

.@healy_conor from @ipvideo presents evidence on surveillance technology used to repress and monitor #Uyghurs.

He explains that the face attribute recognition system only differentiates between Uyghur and non-Uyghur.

.@Nrg8000 from @ASPI_org is called to testify again on policy making and planning documents vis-à-vis the Chinese government.

‘It’s safe to say the peak occupancy is close to “maximum capacity” at these detention centers’

Kazakh witness, Baqitali Nur testifies on his detention in a “re-education” camp in 2017 for traveling to Kazakhstan.

“They asked why I went to Kazakhstan […] They beat me, tortured me, and coerced me.”

#UyghurTribunal

Second Kazakh witness, Erkabit Otarbay was detained in 2017 and subjected to various forms of ill-treatment and later was subjected to forced labour in a clothing factory.

“The policemen inside the camp could do whatever they wanted.”

A panel member asks : “When you were working at the factory, were you given a salary?”

“No, no”.

Third #Kazakh witness, Orynbek Kolsebek shares about his time in a camp.

“It was December 17, 2017 that I was told [3 Han Chinese men] would bring me to the border... They took me to a place surrounded by barbed wire…They did not feed me. I fainted.”

Dr. @MayaMitalipova presents evidence on collection of biometric data, including DNA sequencing imposed on the #Uyghur and Turkic population.

“The entire Turkic population was used for DNA sequencing”

Ruqiya Turdush testifies on the Chinese government’s intent:

“They directly selected the national group of Uyghurs, not randomly selected citizens. We can see in their intent that they want to destroy Uyghurs […]”

Professor @JimMillward explains the history of Uyghur-Han relations and the current discriminatory policies and its implications.

“The overall goal is to make the inconvenient difference of Uyghurs […] go away…to get rid of that inconvenient colonial appearance.”

.@geoffrey_cain presents his book ''The Perfect Police State'', stressing on how intrusive the surveillance technology is in the region.

''[...]there was an informal policy or a clear understanding that the goal would be to target everyone in a massive dreaded campaign''

LAST DAY (DAY 4) 🚨

"One must look […] at how that policy is implemented and whether or not it involves targeting key leaders and holders of social traditions and practices'' says expert witness, Andrew Khoo.

#UyghurTribunal

Ethan Gutmann testifies about organ harvesting practices in China against political prisoners and #Uyghurs.

“The Chinese transplant industry is killing two birds with one stone, they’re calling an undesirable population for Beijing and they’re turning a local profit …”