BBC: Uyghurs – China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang – UN Political Report on Xinjiang Supported by US – analysis by SF Bay Area China Group Sept 1 2022

Click to access 22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf

Some quick observations about this new document:

1. This is clearly a political document. Consisting of incredibly thin gruel, it relies on and recycles debunked testimony (Zenz, the Karakax report, etc), removes historical and political context of China’s struggle against terrorism, and takes a minor sampling–“The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) interviewed 26 former detainees at government facilities, finding that two-thirds had been “subjected to treatment that would amount to torture and/or other forms of ill-treatment”.–to come up with an astounding conclusion–China “may have committed crimes against Humanity”.
2. To add “may” to a document of this weight and tenure, to a charge of this seriousness, by an institution with the mandate of the OHCHR shows beyond a doubt that this is a political conclusion. To give an analogy, it is like going to a mechanic, and the mechanic telling you that you may have a ruptured fuel line, or that your brakes may be failing. It is like a doctor telling you that you may be pregnant. These are potentially life-changing events, and in all of the cases, the use of “may” is not excusable. The reason why you went is because it was a possibility; the job of the doctor and the mechanic is to render a conclusion, or to examine until one is found, not to simply repeat the original possibilities–after 4 years of investigation!
3. Let’s imagine if the OHCHR investigated, say, Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians for years, and then came back with “they may have committed crimes against humanity”? Can you imagine the derision and uproar this would create?
4. The biggest tell that this is a political conclusion is borne out by the weakness of the recommendations. The weakness and tentativeness of the recommendations is out of proportion to the seriousness of the allegations. This is because you cannot have recommendations when you do not have a foundation of facts to rely on. The statement about businesses appears likewise stitched on.
5. The OHCHR could have stated “human rights violations were found in the case of 17 individuals”. To toss in a charge of crimes against humanity is hypocritical hyperbole, based on a tenuous, and stretched-paper-thin interpretations of the Rome statute. To tie a putatitive charge of “crimes against humanity” to such thin evidence is evidence of political pressure and pre-determined conclusions.
6. Note also, the original charges and allegations seem to have disappeared–but this vanishing is not commented on. At the time of Bachelet’s appointment, Western Intelligence-HR agencies were screaming genocide, mass enslavement, and millions murdered and incarcerated, “the crime of the century”, “not since WWII”–alomg with the claim that China’s refusal to allow access was proof of coverup. All that hyperbole has quietly drained away from this document, leaving two bare findings: the fact of a vocational education program that may have lasted for 2 years and 17 or 18 individuals who may have been abused (out of 26 interviewees). Note that the actual testimony of the individuals is missing, also a curious fact.

In any given year, ride-sharing companies inflict more “crimes against humanity” against their customers. In fact, on any given day, say, in any US city, worse things are inflicted on larger numbers of people by the authorities routinely.

6. The report also recycles the birth control “genocide” allegations of Zenz, giving credence to his biased and already debunked interpretations, rather than to the acknowledge the facts that 1) the drop in birth rate relates to the fact that UIghurs in the XJ region were previously exempted from the one child policy for a quarter century 2) a 2 & 3 child policy is now being uniformly applied 3) as income levels and education go up, more women and couples choose birth control.
7. Note also the report omits completely the positive declarations on China’s promotion of human rights that Bachelet made herself after visiting China.
8. This is an odious. invidious document, bringing shame on both Bachelet and the Office. The propagandists have been knocking on every door–the ICC, the GA, the Uighur “tribunal”, national legislatures–trying to find a host for their lies against China. They have been routinely rebuffed. That Bachelet succumbed while also praising China shows how schizophrenic and conflicted she was, but also demonstrates that no high-ranking Western politician can speak the truth in this politicized environment and expect to survive. The Pompeo-style last minute release is further proof of this corruption and lack of integrity.

There’s no way legally CAH could apply in this situation. This is why the recommendations never refer to it, but to HR violations.

See the Rome Statute defining Crimes against Humanity: https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/RS-Eng.pdf (see page 10)

Article 7: Crimes against humanity

1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as
   part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
   (a) Murder;
   (b) Extermination;
   (c) Enslavement;
   (d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
   (e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of
   international law;
   (f) Torture;
   (g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
   (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
   (i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
   (j) The crime of apartheid;
   (k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
2. For the purpose of paragraph 1:
   (a) “Attack directed against any civilian population” means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in
   furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack;
   (b) “Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population;
   (c) “Enslavement” means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children;
   (d) “Deportation or forcible transfer of population” means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds
   permitted under international law;
   (e) “Torture” means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;
   (f) “Forced pregnancy” means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the
   intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations
   of international law. This definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy;
   (g) “Persecution” means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity;
   (h) “The crime of apartheid” means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph
   1, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime;
   (i) “Enforced disappearance of persons” means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
3. For the purpose of this Statute, it is understood that the term “gender” refers to the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society. The term “gender” does not indicate any meaning different from the above.