Uighurs: U.S. senators accuse China of "genocide

A group of U.S. senators proposes to find China guilty of "genocide" of Uighurs and other Turkish-speaking Muslim communities who are victims of massive repression in western China. 

The resolution was tabled by elected officials from both parties, but it is unlikely to be approved quickly because the U.S. Senate is in recess until the November 3 presidential election

The text states that China's campaign of repression "against Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region constitutes genocide.

"This resolution recognizes these crimes for what they are and is the first step in holding China accountable for its monstrous acts," said Senator John Cornyn in introducing the resoluti

Democrat Jeff Merkley noted that the text would show that the United States "cannot remain silent.

"China's attacks on the Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups - surveillance, imprisonment, torture and forced reeducation camps - are genocide pure and simple," he said.

Human rights groups claim that more than one million Uighurs are being held in camps in Xinjiang.

Beijing denies this figure and speaks of vocational training centers, intended to help the population find employment and thus keep them away from the temptation of Islamism and terroris

Several American administrations have hesitated in recent years to use the term "genocide" which has legal consequences, notably because the UN convention on genocide obliges member states to prevent and punish it.

Referring recently to the situation in Xinjiang, White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said that "if it is not genocide, it is close".

Democratic White House nominee Joe Biden, the favorite in the polls against Donald Trump, speaks of genocide and promised a firm response if elected.

The UN defines genocide as a crime committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group", including by measures "aimed at preventing births within the group.

Beijing is accused of mass sterilizations in the camps and of forcing minority women to have abortions.