Companies accused of facilitating human rights violations through racial profiling technologies
May 5, 2025 | A legal case has been filed against Chinese tech giants Huawei, Hikvision, and Dahua over their alleged complicity in human rights abuses targeting the Uyghur people in East Turkistan (referred to by China as Xinjiang). The lawsuit, reported by BiometricUpdate's Ayang Macdonald, was initiated by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), an international organization advocating for the rights of Uyghurs worldwide.
Human rights lawyer William Bourdon filed the petition in France, targeting the local branches of these companies for aiding the Chinese regime with surveillance technologies used to persecute Uyghurs.
According to a WUC press release, the companies are accused of enabling the Chinese government to commit crimes against humanity, including genocide, human trafficking, forced labor, and the concealment of these crimes.
The technologies in question include advanced biometric systems, notably AI-powered live facial recognition tools, that are used to identify Uyghurs based on ethnic features. Once identified, individuals are often subjected to systemic repression by Chinese security forces.
“This submission is an important reminder to all companies complicit in the government’s genocide that they bear legal responsibility,” said WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun. “We are confident that the French judiciary will take this matter seriously.”
The legal case is backed by the NGO “Don’t Fund Russian Army,” which has previously criticized these companies for deploying rights-abusive surveillance systems in conflict zones such as Ukraine. Concerns have also been raised about whether vulnerabilities in these systems contributed to facilitating Russia’s invasion.
Before this Paris filing, the WUC had already pursued legal action to investigate allegations that cotton imported into the UK from East Turkistan was produced using forced Uyghur labor.
Both Hikvision and Dahua have come under intense international scrutiny for their role in the systemic surveillance and repression of Uyghurs. The pressure has led to the cancellation of certain biometric surveillance contracts and their addition to the U.S. government blacklist, barring them from major industry events such as ISC West.
Chinese Surveillance Systems Raise Alarms in Ecuador and Serbia
Beyond East Turkistan, concerns about the global export of surveillance systems from Hikvision and Dahua persist. In Ecuador, for example, their dominance in state and residential surveillance infrastructure has raised alarms. A report by Dialogo Americas notes that their expansion risks compromising the country’s digital sovereignty and human rights protections. It also highlights the opacity of government contracts awarded to these companies.
In Serbia, the government has been criticized for enabling an unregulated surveillance market. Balkan Insight reports that both Hikvision and Dahua have supplied the Serbian authorities with surveillance equipment, including facial recognition and license plate reading features. Experts warn that the weak legal framework in Serbia and similar regions makes such systems a danger to both national security and civil liberties.
by Dilshat Sultan
May 06 2025
