22 No. 69 JUSTICE interpretation of the former has repercussions on the interpretation of the latter.24 Thus, although the codification and criminalization of cultural genocide do not seem foreseen developments in the near future, the fact that cultural genocide has not disappeared from the legal and the socio-political discussion points to its potential resurgence in international law and beyond. This is especially, but not exclusively, relevant to the right of Indigenous Peoples to culture and language. It seems that the infringement of this right is not only a violation of international human rights law but also amounts to cultural genocide under certain circumstances; it should also be recognized as such by the international community.25 Crucially, arguments against expanding the definition of genocide to include ethnocide (or cultural genocide) should be considered. Conceptually, it could be argued that expanding the definition will dilute the force of the core meaning of genocide. Practically, a narrow definition is more administrable and serves as a better basis for enforcing criminal liability. This may thus justify not changing the definition of genocide in the Genocide Convention. It does not, however, rule out the possibility of expanding the definition in other and broader contexts. To conclude this section, an implication of cultural genocide for the present should be addressed: the physical and cultural genocide of the Uyghur minority in northwest China, which has been taking place since 2017. The Uyghurs are an ethno-religious Turkic minority group, who are predominantly Muslim. Most of them (approximately twelve million people) reside in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwest China, and they comprise about half of the total population of the region.26 The meaning of their name is “unity” or “alliance,” distinguishing their ethnic identity.27 China has acted to repress the Uyghur minority almost since the beginning of its establishment as the People's Republic of China in 1949. The Chinese regime’s response to the struggle for self-determination of the Uyghurs ‒ a struggle that began in the 1940s ‒ has intensified over the years. Beginning with attempts to forcibly assimilate the Uyghur community, the regime then placed sanctions on the Uyghurs’ religious and cultural expression. In May 2014, in response to an act of terrorism committed by Uyghur extremists in Urumqi, the Capital of Xinjiang,28 the Chinese government launched “The Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism” (Strike Hard Campaign), that expanded into an aggressive assault on the Uyghurs’ culture and heritage.29 Since 2014, evidence has been collected to prove allegations that the gross violations of human rights that China has committed against the Uyghur population in northwest China amount to crimes against humanity30 and genocide.31 Among them are acts that can be referred to as cultural genocide. These include the incarceration of people belonging to the Uyghur community in hundreds of camps, where according to human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), people are held in appalling conditions, forced to work, and face sanctions on their freedoms of religion, culture and faith, including prohibitions on using the Uyghur language and practicing Islam, the Uyghur religion.32 24. To further elaborate on cultural genocide and its connection to physical genocide, see Hilly Moodrick-Even Khen, “The Uyghurs: A Case for Making the Prohibition on Cultural Genocide a Soft Law Norm in International Law,” 30 INT’L J. ON MINORITY AND GROUP RIGHTS 76-109 (2023). 25. Note, for example, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report on the abduction of 150,000 First Nations’ children committed by the government between 1867 and 1996 and their forced assimilation in residential schools as a form of cultural genocide. See “Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada” (2015), available at: https://ehprnh2mwo3. exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_ Summary_English_Web.pdf 26. “To Make Us Slowly Disappear,” The Chinese Government Assault on the Uyghurs, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Report, Nov. 2021, at 5 (USHMM report). 27. Sumaya S. Bamakhrama, “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism; Re- Education Camps,” 55 U.S.F.L. REV. 399, 404 (2020-2021). 28. The extremists set off explosives that killed 31 people and injured more than 90. 29. Brennan Davis, “Being Uighur… With ‘Chinese Characteristics’: Analyzing China’s Legal Crusade Against Uighur Identity,” 44 AM. INDIAN L. REV. 81, 98 (2019-2020). 30. Such as killings, torture, mass incarceration, rape, arbitrary deprivation of life, forced disappearances, and forced labor. 31. Committed through transferring Uyghur children from their group (putting them in state-run institutions when their parents are detained or in exile) and applying measures of forced sterilization or birth control. 32. China describes these camps as “re-education” centers set up in response to “terrorist activities” committed by Uyghur organizations and objects to the allegations it faces, as described above.
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