Dozens giving accounts to people’s tribunal in London, which China has dismissed as a ‘clumsy public opinion show’.
In London, a peoples’ tribunal has gathered to determine whether the Chinese persecution of Uighurs constitutes a genocide. The tribunal commenced today with witness testimony detailing horrid abuses. One woman, Qelbinur Sidik, described how authorities forced her and others into crowded detention camps to take Mandarin language courses in shackles and spoke about her experiences both with forced sterilization and sexual abuse at the hands of guards.
Though this London peoples’ tribunal is in no way shape or form an authority over the Chinese government, the general consensus from Beijing is sharp anger at the tribunal that they have deemed a “machine producing lies.” Chinese authorities have refused to participate in any aspect of the tribunal and have claimed that the detention camps are “re-education centres,” in stark opposition to both the evidence and the international perspective on these events. Their insistence on denouncing a tribunal which has no actual authority and will only produce what amounts to an opinion piece based on the decisions of jurors exposes a sense of fear at what public hearings like this may lead to. These hearings are a type of sentimental education in themselves, and we can only hope that hearing directly from victims in such a setting will inspire a shift in how nations are dealing with China.













