July 14, 2021—The U.S. State Department and six other Cabinet departments warned Americans against doing business with any person or entity connected to China’s Xinjiang Province. It comes a day after the State Department formally accused China along with four other countries and a terrorist network of committing genocide.
In China, the reputed human rights abuse is taking place against the primarily Muslim Uyghur population as well as other minorities.
A Warning On Business Relations
The departments of State, Commerce, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, Treasury, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warned Americans of the risks of breaking U.S. law for doing business with anyone connected to abuses in Xinjiang.
The reported abuses include “state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance, forced population control measures and separation of children from families, mass detention, and other human rights abuses amidst ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity,” according to the document.
This warning also came one day after State released the third-annual Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Report. That listed China, Myanmar (Burma), Ethiopia, Daesh, Syria, and South Sudan as states and actors committing vast human rights abuses and, in some cases, crimes against humanity.
No More Business in Xinjiang
The Updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory said Americans should not do business with any person or entity linked even to the Xinjiang supply chain or its laborers. Doing so could violate U.S. law, the government said. In addition to Uyghurs, the report said ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, and other ethnic and Muslim minorities are imprisoned there. Detainees reported they experienced sleep deprivation, extreme overcrowding, forced sterilizations and abortions, and sexual abuse, according to the report.
This report updates the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory issued by U.S. agencies July 1, 2020. The issuance includes:
- Information related to widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance in and related to Xinjiang;
- Information related to the various kinds of risks and potential exposure to state-sponsored forced labor and human rights abuses related to Xinjiang;
- The U.S. Department of State Guidance on Implementing the “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” for Transactions Linked to Foreign Government End-Users for Products or Services with Surveillance Capabilities; and
- Information on due diligence related to banking, financial institutions and other investors.
The Elie Wiesel Report
The annual report to Congress under the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 came on the 26th anniversary of genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1995, a Bosnian Serb army and Serbian paramilitary units massacred thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys. A UN tribunal court convicted Ratko Mladi?, a Bosnian military leader, for genocide and crimes against humanity in 2017 for his role in the killings. And last month, he lost his final chance for appeal in a UN court ruling.
Lesson Not Lost
The lesson of the Bosnian genocide may still stand, but is today’s world indifferent to atrocities? The top U.S. diplomat is taking actions to try to ensure lessons of past acts against humanity are not lost.
“The report that we released today represents a stand against indifference and a commitment to do more to prevent and respond to atrocities, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “This year, for the first time, the report provides direct, detailed accounts of atrocities taking place in specific countries, including Burma, Ethiopia, China, and Syria. These places represent some of the toughest foreign policy challenges on our agenda, and we’ll keep working toward resolutions that reflect our commitment to human rights democratic values.”
This year’s report continues the department’s 2020 recommendations, which are to,
- Integrate the Global Fragility Act framework into preventing atrocities;
- Support US Women, Peace, and Security agenda through gender-sensitive atrocity prevention; and
- Use an atrocity assessment in formulating strategies implemented by US embassies.
Additional reporting for this story by Steve Berlin
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