Uyghur group demands action on anniversary of UN report on China abuses
World Uyghur Congress urges UN and governments to confront crimes against Uyghurs four years after a landmark UN report documented widespread abuses
BEIJING, China (MNTV) — A leading Uyghur advocacy group has called on the United Nations and governments worldwide to step up pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghurs, saying four years of international inaction have allowed Beijing to continue widespread repression without accountability.
The World Uyghur Congress issued the appeal Monday on the fourth anniversary of a landmark 2022 assessment by the U.N. human rights office that found serious violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in East Turkistan, which China officially calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The WUC called on the U.N. to keep the findings at the center of its engagement with China and strengthen efforts to document and preserve evidence of potential international crimes.
It also urged the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, to update its assessment to account for subsequent evidence involving forced labor, China’s prison system and alleged transnational repression targeting Uyghurs overseas.
Governments should use diplomatic, legal and economic measures to pressure Beijing to implement the U.N. recommendations, the group said, while ensuring that Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims living abroad are not forcibly returned to China.
The WUC also called on international companies to conduct stronger due diligence to ensure their supply chains are not connected to forced labor or other abuses in East Turkistan.
“Four years of inaction has enabled the Chinese government to further avoid international accountability and strengthen its repression in East Turkistan,” WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun said.
The demands stem from an OHCHR assessment released on Aug. 31, 2022, after years of reports of mass detention, disappearances, torture, forced labor and other abuses against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities.
The assessment concluded that the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other Muslims could constitute international crimes, “in particular crimes against humanity.” It also found credible allegations of torture or other ill-treatment, including sexual violence.
OHCHR recommended that China release people arbitrarily detained, clarify the whereabouts of missing detainees, investigate allegations of abuses and provide remedies to victims. It also urged other countries not to return Uyghurs to China when they faced a risk of persecution.
An attempt to have the U.N. Human Rights Council formally debate the findings failed weeks after the assessment was released, with 19 countries opposing the proposal, 17 supporting it and 11 abstaining.
Subsequent U.N. reviews have continued raising concerns. A U.N. committee in 2023 urged China to end rights violations in the region and implement the recommendations contained in the 2022 assessment.
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
