“We remain very concerned about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” says the report. The Netherlands’ ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva informed the Uyghurs UN Human Rights Council.
It voices concerns about allegations of forced labor, torture, forced sterilization, and other issues in the treatment of Uyghurs and other minorities.
Paul Bekkers Speaking on behalf of 47 nations, he cited a number of “reliable allegations” claiming that over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities had been jailed unlawfully. Beijing has acknowledged the existence of camps but claims that they are “vocational skills training centers” that are vital to combat “extremism.”
“There have been claims of extensive monitoring and discrimination against Uyghurs and other members of minority groups,” he added.
“Reports of torture and other cruel, humiliating, or degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based abuse, forced labor, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities” were also included in the joint statement.
“We reiterate our demand on China to promptly address these issues,” according to Bekkers, and to “stop the arbitrary arrest of Muslim Uyghurs and those belonging to other minorities.”
According to Al Jazeera, the group also demanded that Beijing grant UN investigators and experts “meaningful and unhindered access” to examine the situation on the ground in Xinjiang.
However, she was chastised for not speaking out more firmly against China’s alleged human rights violations prior to and during the trip, which was thought to be carefully supervised by Chinese authorities.
The nations requested “further comprehensive observations, especially on the limits imposed by the Chinese authorities on Bachelet’s visit” in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been under increasing pressure to deliver her long-awaited report on Xinjiang, which diplomats claim has been ready for months.
Michelle Bachelet The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights claims she was accompanied by Chinese officials for the duration of her six-day tour, which some have dubbed a propaganda victory for Beijing because it was the first visit by a UN rights official to the country in 17 years.
Bachelet, who announced her decision not to seek re-election on Monday, pledged that the report would be released before she leaves office on August 31.
The joint statement on Tuesday called for the study to be released “as soon as possible” and for Bachelet to offer “additional details on the schedule.”
The united statement enraged China’s envoy, Chen Xu, who slammed the Netherlands and the other signatories for spreading “lies and misinformation to undermine China.”
He slammed the countries behind the declaration for their “hypocrisy” and “attempts to engage in political manipulation,” saying, “We unequivocally deny these charges.”
Chen, meanwhile, decried the “hyped-up so-called report on Xinjiang”, pointing out that it had not been ordered by the rights council, alleging it violated Bachelet’s mandate and “should not be published at all”.
While a long line of countries that took the floor individually on Tuesday echoed the sentiments in the joint statement, a number also came to China’s defense, with Belarus, Cuba, and North Korea also insisting the report should not be published.
Venezuela’s ambassador, Hector Constant, said the same, slamming “a sustained campaign of fake news against Xinjiang and China.”
