China’s Uyghur Crackdown – UN Stands Up to CCP As It Releases Damning Report.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet released the report just before the end of her mandate.
Until the last moment, China will have pressured the UN to bury its damning report on what Beijing is doing to the Uighurs. Finally published Wednesday evening, August 31, 2022, a few minutes before the end of the mandate of the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the 48-page document mentions possible “crimes against humanity”, mentions “credible evidence” of torture and sexual violence against the Uyghur minority and calls on the international community to act.
“Serious human rights violations have been committed” in Xinjiang as part of the Chinese government's implementation of “counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies,” it says in the document following Michelle Bachelet's visit to China in May 2022 after long months of negotiations.
“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uighur members and other predominantly Muslim groups may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” continues the long-awaited report.
The UN calls on the international community to take “urgent” action
According to the UN investigation, there is credible evidence of “violations of reproductive rights via the coercive implementation of family planning policies since 2017.” “Allegations of recurrent torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and poor detention conditions, are credible, as are individual allegations of sexual and gender-based violence,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights writes.
On the other hand, the report does not use the term “genocide”, an accusation brought against Beijing by the American government, but also by the French National Assembly or the representations of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, or Canada.
In this document, the UN calls on China to take “prompt” measures to release “all persons arbitrarily deprived of their liberty” in Xinjiang and to “immediately cease” all “intimidation and reprisals” against Uyghurs abroad. It also calls on the international community to act “urgently” in the face of accusations of torture and sexual violence.
It's time for the CCP to be held accountable
This report brings the seal of approval and legitimacy of the UN to accusations made for a long time by human rights NGOs based on direct testimony, the work of researchers, and leaks of documents from the Chinese administration revealed by several international media.
Beijing has always vigorously rejected these accusations and tried to block the publication of the report.
Michelle Bachelet, whose highly supervised visit to Xinjiang was criticized by NGOs, confirmed last week that she had received a Chinese letter signed by some 40 other states. “We all know very well that the so-called Xinjiang problem is a completely fabricated lie with political motives and is aimed at harming China's stability and obstructing China's development,” Zhang Jun, China's ambassador to the United Nations, reacted before the report was published.
This report “exposes China's massive human rights violations,” said Sophie Richardson, China director of the NGO Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International demands that the UN “establish an independent international mechanism to investigate” these crimes in Xinjiang. “This report paves the way for serious and tangible action by member states, UN agencies, and corporations,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress.
He added, “The time for accountability is now.”
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