The U.S. Congress has issued a scathing report openly condemning China for committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and other Muslim minorities in the country.
The report released Thursday by the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) accuses the communist Chinese government of "crimes against humanity - and possibly genocide." It also assails China for harassing and harming Uyghurs living in the United States.
"Disturbing new evidence has also emerged of a systematic and widespread policy of forced sterilization and birth suppression of the Uyghur and other minority populations," according to the report.
In addition, elementary and middle-school-age children Xinjiang were involuntarily separated from their families.
Taken together, these trends "suggest that the Chinese government is intentionally working to destroy Uyghur and other minority families, culture, and religious adherence, all of which should be considered when determining whether the Chinese government is responsible for perpetrating atrocity crimes—including genocide—against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic and predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in China."
Under international law, crimes against humanity are defined as widespread and systematic. The burden of proof for genocide, which is the intent to destroy part of a population, is more difficult to prove.
The United Nations confirms some one million Uyghurs and other Muslims are imprisoned at so-called "educational and vocational institutes" and prison camps throughout Xinjiang.
A genocide declaration by the U.S. will mean other countries will have to think hard about allowing companies to do business with Xinjiang, which produces 20% of the world’s supply of cotton. It also makes further U.S. sanctions against China highly likely.
The U.S. has already levied economic sanctions against China for its oppression of Uyghurs. On Wednesday, it banned the importation of all cotton and tomatoes produced in Xinjiang over China's use of forced labor to make these products.
The move is the harshest to date to block the importation of goods made in Xinjiang. The ban was announced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some $9 billion worth of cotton products and $10 million worth of tomato products were imported into the United States from Xinjiang in 2020.
Major fashion brands such as Nike, Adidas and Gap have come under fire from human rights groups for using cotton sourced from China.
CECC co-chair Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called China's actions to destroy human rights in Xinjiang "shocking and unprecedented." He urged Congress and the incoming Biden administration to hold China accountable for its crimes against the country's minorities.
"The United States must continue to stand with the people of China in their struggle and lead the world in a united and coordinated response to the human rights abuses of the Chinese government," he said.
The CECC report recommends a formal U.S. "determination on whether atrocities are being committed" in Xinjiang. A determination is required within 90 days of U.S. legislation passed on Dec. 27.
CECC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that monitors human rights and rule of law developments in China. It was given this mandate by the U.S. Congress and focuses on China's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Jan. 15, 2021)
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