Uyghur exiles describe forced abortions, torture in Xinjiang
Source: AP
By AYSE WIETING
ISTANBUL (AP) — Three Uyghurs who fled from China to Turkey have described forced abortions and torture by Chinese authorities in China’s far western Xinjiang region, ahead of giving testimony to a people’s tribunal in London that is investigating if Beijing’s actions against ethnic Uyghurs amount to genocide.
The three witnesses include a woman who said she was forced into an abortion at 6 1/2 months pregnant, a former doctor who spoke of draconian birth control policies, and a former detainee who alleged he was “tortured day and night” by Chinese soldiers while he was imprisoned in the remote border region.
They spoke to The Associated Press of their experiences before testifying by video link to the independent U.K. tribunal, which is expected to draw dozens of witnesses when it opens four days of hearings on Friday.
The tribunal, which does not have U.K. government backing, will be chaired by prominent human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice, who led the prosecution of ex-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and worked with the International Criminal Court.
Bumeryem Rozi, 55, an ethnic Uyghur who fled from China to Turkey, cries as she talks to The Associated Press, at her home, in Istanbul, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Rozi, a mother of four, is one of three Uyghurs who described forced abortions and torture by Chinese authorities in China's far western Xinjiang region, ahead of giving testimony to a people's tribunal in London, which is investigating if Beijing's actions against the Uyghur ethnic group amount to genocide. Rozi, said authorities in Xinjiang rounded her up along with other pregnant women to abort her fifth child in 2007. "I was 6.5 months pregnant. (AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/only-on-ap-middle-east-europe-government-and-politics-76acafd6547fb7cc9ef03c0dd0156eab
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