Uyghur people deserve justice and accountability for what is being done to them by the Chinese authorities.

What is happening to Uyghurs?

The British Parliament has now voted to declare that what is being done to Uyghur people by Chinese officials amounts to Genocide. Other countries including the United States have made similar declarations.

Uyghurs are suffering appalling crimes ranging from forced sterilisation; rapes; mass internment in concentration camps where they are faced with torture and starvation; family separation; slave-like labour conditions; as well as cultural persecution including being forced to give up their religious beliefs, which includes reports of Uyghurs being forced to eat pork during the holy month of Ramadan.

Why we're going to the International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the only international court which can investigate and prosecute the genocide and crimes against humanity being committed against Uyghurs. In July 2020, lawyers acting for Uyghur groups and victims submitted a complaint to the ICC Prosecutor asking her office to open an investigation into the matter. In December 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that more evidence of specific crimes would have to be submitted in order for the Prosecutor to consider opening an ICC investigation. 

We are therefore raising funds to cover the investigation, evidence-gathering, and legal costs in order to submit a new dossier of evidence to the Prosecutor as soon as possible.

Who is the case on behalf of?

The complaint at the ICC is for all Uyghurs. It has been submitted on behalf of Uyghur groups and victims, both in China and throughout the world by a team of lawyers led by Rodney Dixon QC. Opening an investigation at the ICC is currently the only way of investigating and prosecuting at the international level those responsible for the crimes being committed against the Uyghurs.

Next Steps at the ICC

Once more evidence has been gathered, it will be assembled and submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office for its consideration.

The Prosecutor’s Office will then need to decide whether or not to open an ICC investigation. If the Prosecutor’s Office decides to open an investigation, they will first apply to the ICC Judges to proceed, and if such permission is granted, then collect evidence from victims and witnesses throughout the world. Once the Prosecutor considers that she has sufficient evidence that individuals are responsible for crimes in the Court's jurisdiction, the Office can request the Judges to issue warrants of arrest so that prosecutions can commence.

Legal Basis at the ICC

This is the first complaint concerning the Uyghurs at the ICC. It is the only way that Chinese officials can be criminally investigated and prosecuted at the international level for the widespread and systematic abuses committed against Uyghur people. Although China is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the decisions of ICC Pre-Trial Chambers I and III of 6 September 2018 and 14 November 2019 respectively (decisions related to Bangladesh and Myanmar in respect of the Rohingya people), confirmed that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over international crimes under Article 12(2)(a) of the Statute when part of the criminal conduct takes place on the territory of a States Party to the Rome Statute. Continuing crimes that take place in part on the territory of an ICC States Party can come within the jurisdiction of the Court and can be investigated. 

The ICC has jurisdiction in the Uyghur case because Uyghurs have been targeted and arrested in ICC States Parties and forcibly taken into China and persecuted or have disappeared, or have been coerced out of China into ICC States Parties. Evidence of this criminal conduct has been submitted to the ICC Prosecutor and further evidence of such conduct is being gathered to give to the Prosecutor.