In the News
updates.
China and Genocide
An increasing number of world leaders are beginning to call China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims genocide. It has been documented that over 1million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities are being detained in reeducation camps. These camps are cited to have egregious acts of abuse happening against these religious minorities:
Sexual abuse and systemic rape
Systemic torture
Indoctrination
Longterm imprisonment of elders
mass death and mass labor transfer schemes
The UN 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as the following:
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
According to many legal experts, China has already violated all five, and the governments of the U.S and Canada have also agreed. In mid-March, Canada, the U.S, Britain, and the E.U imposed travel bans and asset freezes on senior Chinese officials. China’s response was to ban specific certain politicians, lawyers, academics, and think tanks from travel and trade in China.
A common response to the U.S after these accusations from China has continually been the same. China retaliates by calling out our own human rights violations happening within our own borders. Some people are in agreement with China’s “clap back”, especially considering this past year and the treatment of Black people put on a global stage after the horrific murder of George Floyd.
Unfortunately, that’s not how human rights or the genocide convention works.
Human rights are not myopic. States are not only obligated to protect the human rights of the citizens within their borders but are also obligated to uphold human rights standards as members of an international community. If all countries had to stay quiet in monitoring human rights violations around the world based on their actions towards their own citizens, many of us would be suffering in silence. So yes, we should welcome China calling the U.S out on the injustices happening within our borders. But the fact that they only do so to retaliate against fair criticism, isn’t authentic. I hope the international community at large and the U.N can encourage States to broaden the lens of human rights obligations.
There is still a lot of fear around calling what China is doing genocide. I remember reading a comment under an Instagram post from the Guardian where someone wrote something along the lines of:
The main criticism of a story such as this one is, why is there so much doubt? The question being asked here is akin to asking “is water wet?". Is it fear of reprisals from China that prevents us from boldly naming what is being presented as a fact, as it is proven to be? How many more must die, or disappear, or be detained for lifelong 're-education' before we stop tiptoeing around it?
Keep Reading:
The Tricky Business Of Defining Genocide (NPR)
Turning a Blind Eye (The New York Times)
Who are the Uighurs and what’s happening to them in China? (Seattle Times)
France
Early March, Swiss voters approved a proposition banning the burqa from being worn outside of religious institutions, citing reasons of being hard to integrate into society and that it is a symbol of oppression. Not even a month later, France voted for something more extreme: “The French Senate has passed a measure that would ban anyone under the age of 18 from wearing a hijab in public. This is an amendment to a law that the government introduced to address religious extremism. Another amendment would ban the body-covering swimsuit known as the burqini at public pools and beaches” (NPR).
This is blatant Islamophobia and a complete obsession and control with what women choose to wear. So often we hear how the West continues to condemn Mulism countries that enforce the hijab, but these same countries that are forcing women to take it off is a different side of the same coin: control.
Keep Reading:
French Senate Votes to Ban the Hijab for Muslim Women Under the Age of 18 (Arabia Vogue)
‘Law against Islam’: French vote in favour of hijab ban condemned (Aljazeera)
French Senate Voted To Ban The Hijab For Minors In A Plea By The Conservative Right (NPR)
Switzerland to ban wearing of burqa and niqab in public places (The Guardian)
Swiss narrowly pass Muslim 'burqa ban' (DW)
Where Face Masks Are Required but Burqas Are Banned (Foreign Policy)
Northern Ireland
In complete transparency, following the story in Northern Ireland has been complicated given the diverse history behind the tension and unrest unfolding across multiple cities. Rather than trying to explain and butcher up details, I’ll compile a reading list:
What are the riots happening in Northern Ireland right now? Everything you need to know (The Tab)
What's behind the recent violence in Northern Ireland? (CNN)
NI riots: What is behind the violence in Northern Ireland? (BBC)
Fresh Unrest In Northern Ireland Sparks Comparisons To 'The Troubles' (NPR)
Timeline of a week of chaos on our streets (Belfast Telegraph)
Turkey
In Mid-March President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulled his country out of the 2011 Istanbul Convention, which is an international accord to protect women, in the midst of rising femicide in Turkey. The convention obligates signatories to criminalize actions such as forced abortion and sterilization, sexual, physical, and psychological violence, FGM, and forced marriage to name a few.
Femicide is defined as the killing of a woman by a man. In Turkey, the number of women dying by femicide has been increasing at scarily high rates. The reason for pulling out of the convention has remained unclear, but the women of Turkey have been out in the streets protesting and making their voices heard.
Keep Reading:
Statement by President Biden on Turkey’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention (The White House)
Turkey: Erdoğan’s decision to pull out of Istanbul Convention has put him in opposition to women (The Conversation)
Turkey Pulls Out Of Treaty Which Combats Violence Against Women (NPR)
Bizarre reasoning aside, Erdogan’s exit from Istanbul Convention is unconstitutional (DW)
Turkey’s announced withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention endangers women’s rights (Council of Europe Portal)
Protests as Turkey pulls out of treaty to protect women (The Guardian)
Turkey Erdogan: Women rise up over withdrawal from Istanbul Convention (BBC)
New Zealand
In March, New Zealand got worldwide praise for its approval of paid leave after miscarriage. We should be excited about New Zealand’s stance, as this is a win.
So what’s the issue?
The way the Western media has been portraying this news has been a little problematic. The reporting of this has made it seem as though New Zealand is the first country to pass such a law and further perpetuates the idea that Western countries lead progressive women’s rights issues. Check out this post below for further info.
cover image by https://unsplash.com/@marjan_blan