The Uyghur genocide was discussed in the British Parliament

The UK House of Lords hosted an important event on Wednesday focusing on the ongoing genocide and human rights violations against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim Turkic peoples in East Turkistan, which China refers to as the "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."
The event was organized by the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC.
The event aimed to raise global awareness about systematic persecutions, including mass detentions, forced sterilizations, torture, forced labor, and cultural destruction faced by these communities under Chinese rule. Although these violations are widely recognized as genocide, speakers emphasized that the international community has not taken significant action to hold China accountable.
House of Lords Labour Party member Helena Kennedy, pointing out that the persecution fits the legal definition of genocide, emphasized: "As a human rights lawyer, I have been working on this issue for many years and have heard sad stories of women placed in concentration camps being forced to abandon their beliefs and subjected to torture and sexual violence. This evidence is supported by satellite imagery revealing the alarming scale of these camps."
LEGAL ACTION SHOULD BE INITIATED IMMEDIATELY
Rodney Dixon, legal counsel for East Turkistan's complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), called on the UK and other states to initiate legal action immediately, stating: "There are legal avenues that require UK government support. As seen in Argentina, universal jurisdiction is a powerful tool to ensure perpetrators are held accountable. Additionally, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is relevant, particularly considering the precedent in the Myanmar case that allows the ICC to have jurisdiction over cross-border crimes."
Sayragul Sauytbay, a whistleblower and witness of China's concentration camps, provided disturbing details about the atrocities she witnessed in the camps, particularly noting how children are forcibly separated from their families.
"China is forcibly separating approximately one million Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic children from their families and placing them in state-run boarding schools. These so-called boarding schools aim to erase their cultural identity and transform them into loyal Chinese citizens." She also called on the international community, including the UK, to fulfill their "Never Again" promise.
Lara Strangways, GRC Head of Human Rights Business and Human Rights, highlighted the economic dimension of the issue, noting that private companies could be complicit in the forced labor of Uyghurs in their supply chains.
During the event, Members of Parliament, including Iain Duncan Smith, criticized the UK's inadequate response to the ongoing persecutions. They particularly condemned the failure to prevent goods produced through forced labor in China from entering the UK market. They called on the UK to take stronger steps to protect the rights of the Uyghur people and hold China accountable.