Lawyers have submitted a complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC [12]), demanding that an investigation be opened into senior Chinese leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed against the Uighurs and other Turkic peoples. The complaint was filed on behalf of the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE [13]) and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM [14]).
China is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, but the lawyers argue that the ICC can exercise jurisdiction over these crimes because part of the criminal conduct occurred within the territory of two signatory states—Tajikistan and Cambodia. The complaint asserts that Uighur victims have been unlawfully deported [16] to the People's Republic of China from Tajikistan and Cambodia. Upon return to China they have been subjected to crimes together with many other detained Uighurs, including murder, unlawful imprisonment, torture, forced sterilization [17], and forced marriages. (ETGE press release [18], July 6)
