Activist calls for international arrest warrant against Xi Jinping

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In mid-March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin (70) and the representative of his children. They are accused of kidnapping children from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. In Russia, the little ones would then be re-educated and adopted by Russian families. Similar accusations are now being made against the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping (69).

In the Chinese province of Xinjiang, the Uyghur minority is oppressed with extremely harsh methods. Uyghur children are taken from their families and sent to re-education camps. “The authorities are targeting children in kindergarten,” said US-based Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas, 55, of “Bild”. Children are separated from their families when they are four, five or six years old.

After the abduction, the parents were not informed of the whereabouts of their children. In the camps, the children learn Standard Chinese. Purpose of the re-education: The children must forget their own language. They would also be forced to wear traditional Chinese clothing, Abbas said.

Putin learned a lot from Xi

The re-education camps are closely guarded. Contacts with the outside world are almost impossible. The children are only allowed to leave the camps for forced labour. “They are mainly used in agriculture as cheap slave labor,” reports Abbas. Some children are trafficked to other parts of China after re-education and are adopted there. A practice that the Russians also use in the war in Ukraine.

The UN Human Rights Commission is aware of the situation in Xinjiang. A report partially confirms what Abbas said. The repression of the Uighurs amounts to “crimes against humanity”. There are testimonies of “patterns of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”. It is estimated that about one million Uyghurs – children and adults – are detained in camps.

China claims that visiting the camps is voluntary and speaks of training centers. An argument that Kremlin boss Putin also uses. The Kremlin is always talking about rescue and evacuation operations.

The parallels between Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children and China’s Uyghur oppression are hard to ignore. “These crimes against Uyghur children have been perpetrated on an even larger scale for several years now,” emphasizes Rushan Abbas. She demands: if an arrest warrant can be issued against Putin, then Xi must also be held responsible for his crimes.” (nad)

Source: Blick