Transnational Repression of Uyghurs and Enforced Disappearance: Joint Submission to the CED and WGEID
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On 31 January 2026, Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi), together with leading Uyghur civil society organisations, including the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), the Uyghur Center for Democracy and Human Rights (UZDM), and allied Uyghur-led advocacy and research initiatives, formally submitted a comprehensive joint contribution to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in response to their Call for Inputs on enforced disappearances in the context of transnational repression.
The submission presents a detailed legal and victim-centred analysis addressing the transnational dimensions of enforced disappearance affecting Uyghurs. It responds directly to the guiding questions formulated by the CED and the WGEID and is intended to assist in the preparation of their forthcoming joint statement.
The full text of the joint submission is available here:
The joint submission examines how enforced disappearance may operate beyond national borders, including through cross-border transfers, deportations, and extraditions that expose individuals to a real risk of incommunicado detention or concealment of fate and whereabouts. It further analyses the increasingly documented practice of using the enforced disappearance or prolonged incommunicado detention of relatives within the country of origin as a means of coercing individuals residing abroad. In this configuration, enforced disappearance becomes an instrument of transnational repression, suppressing lawful advocacy, cultural expression, and cooperation with international mechanisms outside the territorial jurisdiction of the alleged repressing State.
Drawing upon documented patterns, United Nations standards, and applicable international legal frameworks, the submission identifies multiple pathways through which transnational enforced disappearance may occur. These include direct cross-border deprivation of liberty; administrative or immigration procedures that fail to apply non-refoulement safeguards effectively; the misuse of international cooperation mechanisms; and the creation of enabling environments characterised by surveillance, intimidation, and digital harassment. Particular attention is devoted to the due diligence obligations of host States to ensure that their territory and legal systems are not used to facilitate enforced disappearances, whether through action, acquiescence, or failure to protect.
The submission also addresses gaps in existing investigative and cooperative mechanisms. It highlights the structural challenges faced by families seeking truth regarding the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives, particularly where information is systematically withheld or denied. In this context, JPTi and its partners emphasise the need for strengthened safeguards within asylum, extradition, and immigration procedures; improved oversight of international police cooperation; enhanced protection against reprisals for those engaging with United Nations mechanisms; and the development of victim-safe documentation and evidence-preservation frameworks.
The experience of the Uyghur diaspora is presented as paradigmatic of contemporary patterns of transnational repression. The submission situates these patterns within the broader context of documented arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and prolonged incommunicado detention in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It argues that the transnational dimension of these practices requires an interpretation of the absolute prohibition of enforced disappearance that fully reflects contemporary cross-border realities and the obligation of all States to cooperate in prevention and accountability.
Justice pour Tous Internationale reaffirms its commitment to supporting the mandates of the CED and the WGEID and stands ready to provide further documentation, including victim testimonies prepared in a manner that safeguards against reprisals. Through this joint contribution, JPTi seeks to reinforce the principle that enforced disappearance, in all its manifestations, remains absolutely prohibited under international law and that no State may allow its territory or legal system to be used to commit, enable, or facilitate such violations.