Here is the study: Uyghur Race as the Enemy: China’s Legalized Authoritarian Oppression and Mass Imprisonment
The U.N. and the foreign ministers of concerned democracies should prepare to mark the second anniversary of the OHCHR report by recommitting to the pursuit of justice for millions of Uyghurs.
[...] fresh information about ongoing, systematic, and widespread Chinese government atrocity crimes in the Uyghur region – where millions of people have been arbitrarily detained, tortured, separated from family members, and subjected to cultural persecution, simply because of their distinct identity – demonstrates strong support for the real trend of international accountability.
In a newly published analysis of patterns of incarceration and legal manipulation, scholars Rayhan Asat and Min Kim tallied the number of years of wrongful detention inflicted on Uyghurs: “a cumulative total of 4.4 million years of imprisonment.” Beijing’s genocide and crimes against humanity, the authors argue, also reflect a disturbing attempt at “authoritarian lawfare” – in effect, that the Chinese authorities have continued to try to justify their patently illegal conduct by calling it the opposite. The tactic is designed to minimize international scrutiny and discourage the pursuit of accountability.
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Academics, journalists, and human rights organizations have compiled considerable evidence; the Xinjiang Victims Database is a grim trove of information for a prosecutor’s brief. But democracies continue to prioritize other perceived interests in their relationships with Beijing, refraining from deploying an approach that could have a transformative and deterrent effect.
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Uyghurs and others inside and outside China need strong, coordinated steps toward investigations and prosecutions of Xi and others complicit in atrocity crimes. Those guilty of these heinous abuses should know they will not only face hard questions in the court of public opinion, but also in a court of law.