50 countries urge China to fully release Uyghurs

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK — On Monday (10/31/2022), a total of 50 countries urged China to fully release Uyghurs and other ethnic groups detained in Xinjiang. They also called on China to implement all the recommendations contained in the UN report.

Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, read the joint statement at a meeting of the human rights committee. Rae expressed deep concern over the human rights situation in China and Beijing’s failure to respond to the report’s findings on ongoing abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim groups.

“Report UN It is an independent and authoritative assessment that draws heavily on China’s own records and makes an important contribution to the evidence of serious and systematic human rights violations in China,” the statement said. joint of the 50 nations.

Human rights groups accuse China of holding more than a million minority groups in detention camps. In the camps, detainees were tortured, sexually abused and forced to renounce their language and religion. The camps are just part of a vicious campaign against extremism in Xinjiang. Other campaigns also include birth control policies and comprehensive restrictions on the movement of people.

The assessment of the Geneva-based UN human rights office was released ahead of the end of the term of High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on August 31. This report largely corroborates previous reports by researchers, advocacy groups and the news media.

The report concludes that China has committed serious human rights violations in its policies against terrorism and extremism. The report calls for “urgent attention” from the United Nations, the global community and China to address it.

The 50 countries urged China to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the missing family members, as well as to arrange safe contacts and meetings.

In response to the statement, the Uyghur Human Rights Project said a growing number of UN member states were pushing to criticize China’s treatment of people. ethnic uyghur in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also said the same.

“This statement is supported by 50 countries on 6 continents. It shows the growing scale of international attention (against China’s arbitrary actions against Uyghurs),” Cleverly said.

The 50 countries that have signed the declaration are Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Eswatini, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy., Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Marshall Islands. Other countries that signed the declaration were Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden , Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine. , UK and USA.

China’s mission to the United Nations has sent a letter to all UN member states expressing strong opposition to the joint statement. Beijing urges him to boycott the anti-China measure.

“This is a politically motivated event. The sponsors use human rights issues as a political tool to interfere in the internal affairs of China such as Xinjiang, to create divisions and turbulence and disrupt China’s development,” the letter said. obtained by the Associated Press.

China’s mission to the United Nations called the propaganda statement disinformation. The letter accused the authors of violating the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the norms of international relations.