International Criminal Court: China Cannot Be Investigated On Allegations Of Uighur Genocide

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has refused to investigate allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity against Uighur Muslims. According to the ICC, an investigation into China could not be carried out because China is not a member of the ICC.

Launching CNA, Tuesday, December 15, the Uighurs submitted a number of evidence documents to the ICC last July. The document attaches to allegations against China that it has locked up one million Uighurs and most other Muslim minorities in detention camps.

A representative from the prosecutor's office, Fatou Bensouda, explained that the institution which is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands has territorial jurisdiction requirements. In this case, the jurisdiction's requirements were not met.

Even so, the Uighurs think the ICC can actually act because many detention camps are located in the Tajik and Cambodian regions, which incidentally are members of the ICC. Uighur lawyers have now asked the court to reconsider the investigation into the emergence of new evidence of the Chinese government's crimes.

China responded by saying the Uighurs' accusations were baseless. China says the facilities built in the northwestern region of Xinjiang are job training centers aimed at keeping people away from terrorism, not detention camps.