Voice of America
11 Jul 2019, 11:35 GMT+10
More than 20 U.N. ambassadors have sent a letter to the human rights council in Geneva condemning China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
U.N. diplomats from 22 mostly European nations along with Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand signed the letter. The United States has not yet signed on.
The ambassadors express concern about "credible reports of arbitrary detention ... as well as widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly targeting Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang."
They urge China to stop detaining minorities and grant them "freedom of movement" within their communities.
The ambassadors chose to raise their concerns in a letter instead of a resolution, which China would have undoubtedly squelched.
"The joint statement is important not only for Xinjing's population but for people around the world who depend on the U.N.'s leading rights body to hold even the most powerful countries to account," the Geneva director of Human Rights Watch, John Fisher, said Wednesday.
China denies holding Uighurs and others in what rights groups and former inmates call "concentration camps" aimed at forcibly integrating them into Chinese society and culture and suppressing their own culture and religion.
China calls the camps "vocational educational centers" set up to train people for jobs and steer them away from alleged extremism and the threat of terrorism.
Human Rights Watch's U.N. director, Lou Charbonnau, told VOA he was disappointed when Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent top counterterrorism officials to visit the camps instead of his human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet.
Charbonnau said that was a confirmation of China's claim that it is fighting terrorism instead of violating Muslim rights.
"What we have here is human rights abuses and that's why Michelle Bachelet needs to be able to go there with her team of experts on terms that she considers acceptable so that they can make a credible and independent evaluation of what's going on," he said.
Charbonnau also said he hoped the United States, which has been very outspoken about alleged Chinese human rights violations, would "swallow its pride" and sign the letter.
He said the Trump administration's withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council over the panel's criticism of Israel was a "very shortsighted decision."
Get a daily dose of Israel Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Israel Herald.
More InformationMADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Paramount has agreed to pay US$16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump over...
LONDON, U.K.: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer won a vote in Parliament this week to move ahead with changes to the country's welfare...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. President...
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...
SANTA CLARA, California: Nvidia came within a whisker of making financial history on July 3, briefly surpassing Apple's all-time market...
SACRAMENTO, California: California's multibillion-dollar farms are facing a growing crisis—not from drought or pests, but from a sudden...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump says the United States could soon reach a trade deal with India. He believes this deal would...