GENEVA—Nearly two dozen countries have called on China to halt its mass detention of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the first such joint move on the issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council, according to diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.
U.N. experts and activists say at least 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslims are held in detention centers in the remote western region. China describes them as training centers helping to stamp out extremism and give people new skills.
The unprecedented letter to the president of the forum, dated July 8, was signed by the ambassadors of 22 countries. Australia, Canada and Japan were among them, along with European countries including Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland.
It fell short of a formal statement being read out at the Council or a resolution submitted for a vote, as sought by activists. This was due to governments’ fears of a potential political and economic backlash from China, diplomats said.
“It is a first collective response on Xinjiang,” a Western diplomat told Reuters on July 10. “The idea of a resolution was never on the cards.”
Another envoy said: “It’s a formal step because it will be published as an official document of the Council … It is a signal.”
“Large-Scale Places of Detention”
The letter voices concern at reports of unlawful detention in “large-scale places of detention, as well as widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly targeting Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.”
It pointedly cites China’s obligations as a member of the 47-member state forum to maintain the highest standards.
“We call on China to uphold its national laws and international obligations and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion or belief in Xinjiang and across China,” the letter said.
“We call also on China to refrain from the arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedom of movement of Uyghurs, and other Muslim and minority communities in Xinjiang.”
The letter urges China to allow international independent experts, including U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, “meaningful access” to Xinjiang.
Bachelet, a former president of Chile, has pushed China to grant the United Nations access to investigate reports of disappearances and arbitrary detentions, particularly of Muslims in Xinjiang. China’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said last month that he hoped she would take up its invitation. A U.N. spokeswoman said at the time that the trip, including “full access to Xinjiang,” was under discussion.
No Western delegation was willing to take the lead and expose itself as a “ringleader” through a joint statement or resolution, diplomats said. China’s delegation is “hopping mad” at the move and is preparing its own letter, a diplomat said.
At the start of the three-week session, which ends on July 12, the Xinjiang vice-governor responded to international condemnation of state-run detention camps by saying that they were vocational centers which had helped “save” people from extremist influences.
However, inside the region’s network of internment camps dubbed “vocational training centers,” Uyghurs and other Muslim minority detainees are forced to undergo political indoctrination and denounce their faith. Former detainees have reported cases of torture, forced medication, and rape.
Under the pretext of combating “extremism,” the Chinese regime has launched an expansive crackdown on the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region.
U.S. lawmakers renewed calls for the administration to sanction officials overseeing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region of Xinjiang in China.
Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on July 5 issued a statement urging the U.S. government to “urgently address what is one of the world’s worst human rights situations.”
The statement was issued on the 10 year anniversary of a police crackdown of protests in the region that led to at least 197 deaths and more than 1,700 injuries.
By Stephanie Nebehay. Epoch Times reporter Eva Fu contributed to this report.
