London: The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile tonight said it has made a formal request to London Police to arrest Erkin Tuniyaz, the “puppet” Chairman (Governor) of the “so-called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”, who is on an official visit here.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile also urged the UK Government to cancel its planned meetings with Tuniyaz and immediately arrest him and bring him to justice for his “ongoing direct role in China’s ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan (Xinjiang).”
The “urgent request” to the Metropolitan Police SO15 Counter-terrorism unit to arrest Tuniyaz, who is also the ‘Chair of the Standing Committee of the CCP Xinjiang Regional Committee’, was made for his “direct role” in the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang (or East Turkistan), it said in a statement and tweet.
This request has been submitted by UK barrister Rodney Dixon KC and his legal team on behalf of the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE), the East Turkistan National Movement (ETNM) and other East Turkistan / Uyghur victims, it said.
Tuniyaz has been invited for a meeting in London with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and it is believed that he arrived on Sunday, February 12, the statement said.
The request filed today is made directly to the Metropolitan Police under section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, asking that they investigate and arrest Tuniyaz while he is in the UK.
“In June 2020, a submission was filed by the same legal team on behalf of the ETGE and ETNM with the ICC Prosecutor in The Hague asking for an investigation into the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by Chinese state authorities against Uyghur and other Turkic peoples both inside and outside of Chinese Occupied East Turkistan.
“Mr Tuniyaz is a key suspect in this submission as he has played a direct role in the implementation of China’s ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan,” it said.
“There is extensive evidence of the torture, genocide, and crimes against humanity that East Turkistan people have been subjected to by Chinese officials particularly in detention camps.
“There is compelling evidence that in his current role Mr. Tuniyaz is criminally responsible for the commission of these crimes,” it said.
The ETGE said Tuniyaz “does not hold any position for which immunity may apply as a public official and can therefore be arrested and investigated by SO15 once he is on British soil.”
The request to SO15 cites “extensive evidence of Mr Tuniyaz’s role in the torture of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples including his own public statements made in defense of the Chinese state’s policy of forcibly rounding up Uyghur and other Turkic people and putting them in internment concentration camps.
“Once in the camps, it is well documented that torture takes place including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, the unlawful use of restraints (including being locked in a tiger chair), sleep deprivation, being hung from a wall, being subjected to extremely cold temperatures, solitary confinement and enforced sterilization.”
A private prosecution request has also been made in the UK to arrest Tuniyaz.
“Our clients are urging the police to exercise their powers to investigate and arrest Mr Tuniyaz.
“We have laws in our country that prohibit torture wherever it is committed in the world and suspects who travel here are subject to those laws,” British lawyer Rodney Dixon KC was quoted as saying.
“We are therefore asking that the law should be applied properly and fairly so that those who are alleged to have committed torture are not free to come and go from our country,” he added.
Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, said, “It is disgraceful that a known perpetrator of torture, genocide and other crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples has even been invited for a meeting in London and other European capitals.
“I don’t know how much more evidence is needed to get any kind of justice for what he and the Chinese government have done to our people.
“This is a rare opportunity to actually do something concrete to prevent the further torture and genocide of our people and I hope the British police are brave enough to act.”
