Allegations of human rights violations against Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group in China, living in Xinjiang, a north-west province of China, have grown over the past few years. Evidence of systemic abuse has been documented, including practices such as mass detention, torture, cultural persecution, forced labour and sterilisation. More recently, concerns about China’s treatment of its citizens have led to sanctions by some Western countries and an escalation of tensions amongst the various governments involved.

In such a challenging context, how can non-political entities deliver transparency and justice to those whose rights have been abused? In this session, we hear from leading human rights advocates and the head of the newly created independent Uyghur Tribunal. With Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Luke de Pulford.

Speakers:

Luke de Pulford is Co-founder and Director of Arise, which confronts human trafficking and modern slavery. Having been the driving force behind the creation of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, he now coordinates it. Luke is also a fellow of Hong Kong Watch, an advisor for the World Uyghur Congress, and a Commissioner for the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission. In 2019 he co-founded the Coalition for Genocide Response to help states fulfil their treaty obligations to prevent mass atrocities.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is one of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights. She has conducted many prominent cases of terrorism, official secrets and homicide. She is the founding force behind the establishment of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford. In 1997, she was elevated to the House of Lords where she is a Labour peer. She has published two books on how the justice system is failing women, and has written and broadcasted on many issues over the years. Currently, she has taken on the role of Director to the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. She directs the Institute’s work upholding the rule of law and human rights globally.

Sir Geoffrey Nice QC is Chair of the independent Uyghur Tribunal; has been a barrister since 1971, and served as a part time judge in England between 1984 and 2018. Between 1998 and 2006 he led the prosecution of Slobodan Milošević, former President of Serbia, at the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was Gresham College Professor of law from 2012-16 and was Chair of the China Tribunal.

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