But the office of prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said it was unable to act because the alleged acts happened on the territory of China, which is not a signatory to The Hague-based ICC. There was also "no basis to proceed at this time" on separate claims of forced deportations of Uighurs back to China from Tajikistan and Cambodia, the ICC report said. The Uighurs had argued that even though the alleged deportations did not happen on Chinese soil, the ICC could act because they happened on Tajik and Cambodian territory, and both of them are ICC members. Lawyers for the Uighurs had now asked the court to reconsider "on the basis of new facts or evidence," the ICC prosecutor's report said. China has called the accusations baseless and says the facilities in the north-western Xinjiang region are job training centres aimed at steering people away from terrorism.

Source: Dhaka Tribune December 14, 2020 19:41 UTC