Holocaust Museum finds evidence of increasing Chinese repression of Uyghurs

The Holocaust Museum released a report on Tuesday outlining “damning” evidence that China is increasingly oppressing millions of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

The museum titled the report “To Make Us Slowly Disappear”: The Chinese Government’s Assault on the Uyghurs.

The museum found one to three million people in the Uyghur community have been subjected to forced sterilization, torture, sexual violence and forced labor, said Naomi Kikoler, director of the museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide.

The evidence was gathered from interviews with witnesses, accounts from human rights groups and publicly available information. 

The 59-page report highlights the crimes under international law China has committed in oppressing the Uyghur Muslims, and a way forward for the international community.

“The Chinese government has done its best to keep information about crimes against the Uyghurs from seeing the light of day. The information that has come out so far, including documentation from courageous Uyghur activists, has been damning,” Tom Bernstein, chair of the museum’s Committee on Conscience, said.

“The Chinese government must halt its attacks on the Uyghur people and allow independent international monitors to investigate and ensure that the crimes have stopped,” he added. 

Many countries, including the U.S., have already labeled the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide.

China has denied any accusations of crimes against humanity and condemned any statements suggesting they have abused the Uyghur population.

Human rights groups and others have called for countries to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over the country’s treatment of the minority Muslim population.