Nineteen #Uyghurs have filed a criminal complaint with a Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday against Chinese officials, accusing them of committing genocide, torture, rape and crimes against humanity. news.yahoo.com/uyghurs-turkey…
Lawyer Gulden Sonmez said it was necessary because international bodies had not acted against Chinese authorities, who have been accused of facilitating forced labour by detaining around a million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in camps since 2016.
"The international criminal court should have already started this trial, but China is a member of the (United Nations) Security Council and it does not seem possible within this dynamic," Sonmez said outside the city's main courthouse.
Surrounding the lawyer were more than 50 people holding photos of missing family members and signs calling for the prosecution of Chinese officials.
Some waved the blue-and-white flags of the independence movement of East Turkestan, a group Beijing says threatens the stability of its far western region of Xinjiang
The complaint relates to 116 people who the complainants say are still detained in China and was filed against 112 people, including members of the Chinese Communist Party, directors and officers at labour camps.
"Turkish legislation recognises universal jurisdiction. Torture, genocide, rape (and) crimes against humanity can be prosecuted in Turkish courts and criminals can be tried," Sonmez said.
Medine Nazimi, one of those who filed the criminal complaint, said her sister had been taken away in 2017 and she had not been heard from since.
"My sister and I are Turkish citizens so I want my government to rescue my sister," Nazimi said.
"My sister and I are Turkish citizens so I want my government to rescue my sister," Nazimi said.
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