East Turkistan urges UK police to arrest "Xinjiang Governor" Erkin Tuniyaz

London [UK], February 17 : East- Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and countless Uyghur victims urged United Kingdom police to arrest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Governor and Chair of the Standing Committee of the CCP Xinjiang Regional Committee Erkin Tuniyaz, East- Turkistan reported.
Describing Tuniyaz as the "puppet," East Turkistanis said that UK barrister Rodney Dixon KC and his legal team have submitted the request on their behalf to the Metropolitan Police SO15 Counter-terrorism unit.
"We act for the East Turkistan Government in Exile and countless Uyghur victims. We have submitted a request on behalf of our clients at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into the alleged genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Chinese officials against Uyghur victims over which the Court has jurisdiction. We have included witness statements and other evidence in support of our submission. Our request is currently being reviewed and considered by the ICC Prosecutor," the letter, which was sent to UK police, read.
A private prosecution request has also been made in the UK to arrest Tuniyaz. The request is made directly to the Metropolitan Police under section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, asking that they investigate and arrest Tuniyaz while he is in the UK.
As Tuniyaz arrived in the UK on Sunday, the letter further added, "We write to you now on an urgent basis, as we understand that one of the key suspects, Erkin Tuniyaz, arrived in the UK on Sunday on a planned trip to meet FCDO officials this week. Tuniyaz is the current Chairman (governor) of Xinjiang, and Chair of the Standing Committee of the CCP Xinjiang Regional Committee."
In June 2020, a submission was filed by the same legal team on behalf of the ETGE and ETNM with the ICC Prosecutor in The Hague asking for an investigation into the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by Chinese state authorities against Uyghur and other Turkic peoples both inside and outside of Chinese Occupied East Turkistan.
The letter highlights the widespread and systematic detention and torture of millions of Uyghurs in internment camps and prisons in East Turkistan ('Xinjiang'), planned and controlled by officials at the highest levels of the CCP, reported East- Turkistan.
It also added that the UN and several other bodies have found that there is credible evidence of torture being committed in detention camps in East Turkistan.
"Our clients are urging the police to exercise their powers to investigate and arrest Tuniyaz. We have laws in our country that prohibit torture wherever it is committed in the world and suspects who travel here are subject to those laws," said British lawyer Rodney Dixon KC. "We are therefore asking that the law should be applied properly and fairly so that those who are alleged to have committed torture are not free to come and go from our country," he added.
"It is disgraceful that a known perpetrator of torture, genocide and other crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples has even been invited for a meeting in London and other European capitals. I don't know how much more evidence is needed to get any kind of justice for what he and the Chinese government have done to our people," said Salih Hudayar, Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
"This is a rare opportunity to actually do something concrete to prevent the further torture and genocide of our people and I hope the British police are brave enough to act," he added.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile again calls on the UK Government to cancel its planned meetings with Tuniyaz and immediately arrest and bring him to justice for his ongoing direct role in China's ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan, according to East- Turkistan.