Conclusion

Conclusion

Conclusion

The ICTR, dealing with another recent genocide, explained that “Genocide does not imply the actual extermination of a group in its entirety, but is understood as such, once any one of the acts mentioned in article II (2)(a) through II (2)(e) is committed with the specific intent to destroy ‘in whole or in part’ a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” The ICTR ⁷³ commentary also explained that: “Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group” is prohibited under the Convention’s Article 2(d) and is exemplified by the practice of sterilization, forced birth control, and separation of sexes from the targeted group.⁷⁴

It is clear that the Chinese government has violated the UN Genocide Convention by way of its state policies which include conducting mass scale sterilization, separating the genders by sending Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim males to concentration and forced labor camps, and by forcing Uyghur women to marry ethnic Han Chinese. All of these severe acts are a direct outcome of Chinese colonialism in East Turkistan and violate not only Article 2(d), by imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, but also Article 2(b), “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;” Article 2(c) “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

As symbols of the land and the dignity and continuation of their people, Uyghur women have become the symbolic and direct target of domination under China’s colonialism. The ancient barbaric philosophy expressed in Legalism has also underpinned Chinese colonial ideology and reinforced the genocide. Consequently, preventing the continuation of and ultimately stopping the genocide in East Turkistan may require the decolonization of East Turkistan—as the genocide of its people stems directly from China’s colonization of the region.

Conclusion

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