Jump to content

UN Human Rights Office report on Xinjiang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from OHCHR Report on Xinjiang)
For 2019 papers released on the Xinjiang internment camps, see Xinjiang papers.

OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China
Presented31 August 2022
Commissioned byOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
SubjectHuman rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Official website
Report website

The OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China is a report published on 31 August 2022 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concerning the treatment of Uyghurs and other largely Muslim groups in China. The report concluded that "[t]he extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity."[1][2][3] Human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet released the report shortly before leaving the office.[1][3]

Background

[edit]
Main articles: Persecution of Uyghurs in China, Xinjiang internment camps, and Xinjiang conflict

Since 2014, the Chinese government, under the administration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping, has pursued policies in its Xinjiang region that have resulted in the incarceration of more than an estimated one million Turkic Muslims in internment camps without any legal process.[4][5][6] This is the largest-scale detention of ethnic and religious minorities since World War II.[7][8] Experts estimate that, since 2017, some sixteen thousand mosques have been razed or damaged,[9] and hundreds of thousands of children have been forcibly separated from their parents and sent to boarding schools.[10][11]

Public reporting has stated that Chinese government policies have included the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in state-sponsored internment camps,[12][13] forced labor,[14][15] suppression of Uyghur religious practices,[16] political indoctrination,[17] severe ill-treatment,[18] forced sterilization,[19] forced contraception,[20][21] and forced abortion.[22][23] Chinese government statistics reported that from 2015 to 2018, birth rates in the mostly Uyghur regions of Hotan and Kashgar fell by more than 60%.[19] In the same period, the birth rate of the whole country decreased by 9.69%.[24] Chinese authorities acknowledged that birth rates dropped by almost a third in 2018 in Xinjiang, but denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide.[25] Birth rates in Xinjiang fell a further 24% in 2019, compared to a nationwide decrease of 4.2%.[19]

The Chinese government denies having committed human rights abuses in Xinjiang.[7][26] International reactions have varied. Some United Nations (UN) member states issued statements to the United Nations Human Rights Council condemning China's policies, while others supported China's policies.[27] In December 2020, a case brought to the International Criminal Court was dismissed because the crimes alleged appeared to have been "committed solely by nationals of China within the territory of China, a State which is not a party to the Statute", meaning the ICC couldn't investigate them.[28][29] The United States has declared the human rights abuses a genocide, announcing its finding on 19 January 2021.[30] Legislatures in several countries have since passed non-binding motions describing China's actions as genocide, including the House of Commons of Canada,[31] the Dutch parliament,[32] the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,[33] the Seimas of Lithuania,[34] and the French National Assembly.[35] Other parliaments, such as those in New Zealand,[36] Belgium,[37] and the Czech Republic condemned the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghurs as "severe human rights abuses" or crimes against humanity.[38]

In light of the reports of abuses, as well as the international reactions to them, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sought to investigate the reports of abuses in the region.[39] Nearly four years following the findings by a U.N. Committee that the estimates of more than one million Muslims having been arbitrarily detained were credible claims, the OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China was released on 31 August 2022.[39][40]

Report content

[edit]

Investigative methods

[edit]

The report was created by the United Nations through a thorough review of evidence documented by the OHCHR.[41] Several forms of evidence were considered in making the report, including interviews with several dozen people who lived in Xinjiang at the time that abuses had been publicly reported.[39][40] The report also focused its analysis on what the Chinese government had publicly stated contemporaneously with the reported abuses, including public Chinese government documents and laws promulgated at the time.[41][42] In May 2022, OHCHR commissioner Michelle Bachelet visited Xinjiang. Prior to her visit, she spoke with representatives of several NGOs that were concerned about the both human rights situation in Xinjiang and in China, more broadly. After arriving in the region, she talked to numerous government officials, academics, and civil society leaders.[41] However, due to opposition by China, the OHCHR was unable to conduct a more thorough investigation on-the-ground within the borders of the People's Republic.[40]

Findings

[edit]

The report's findings included that a large number of abuses had occurred within Xinjiang, corroborating academic research and public reporting on the abuses in the largely ethnic minority region.[40] The report concluded that human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang are serious and widespread.[43]

Arbitrary detention

[edit]

In the report, the OHCHR stated that reports that the Chinese government had arbitrarily detained Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims en masse in the Xinjiang internment camps were credible, specifying that the actions of the Chinese state amounted to deprivation of liberty and were undertaken in a discriminatory fashion.[39][44] Former inmates who were detained in Xinjiang stated that they had received beatings while strapped to a chair and described undergoing torture similar to waterboarding; the report also noted that there was credible evidence of torture within internment camps.[45] The report indicated that these abuses constituted widespread violations of human rights and that they may rise to the level of crimes against humanity.[44]

Forced labor

[edit]

The report found that the Chinese government's labor schemes relating to what the government of China referred to as vocational training constituted discrimination.[39][44] With respect to whether labor schemes that China describes as poverty alleviation schemes have involved the coercion of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities into forced labor, the report stated that there was evidence that these schemes did indeed involve coercion of laborers.[42][45]

Sexual violence and sterilizations

[edit]

The OHCHR described reports of sexual violence targeted at Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims within the Xinjiang internment camps as credible.[39] Women interviewed by the United Nations described being orally raped by prison guards and being forcibly subjected to examinations of their genitalia in front of large crowds.[40] The report also noted that there was an "unusually sharp rise" in the amount of intrauterine device insertions and sterilizations performed in Xinjiang and stated that the Chinese government used coercive means to sharply lower the birth rate of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.[44]

Recommendations

[edit]

The report contains recommended courses of action for governmental actors, the United Nations, and for the broad international community. Among the recommendations for the Government of China are that it ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Optional Protocols to the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.[46][47][44]

In March 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on China to implement the recommendations of the report.[48]

Editing

[edit]

According to Politico, the report was edited to "to accommodate some of Beijing’s version" in the days before it was released and one diplomat had claimed that the section on sterilization had been "watered down during the final hours."[49]

Reception

[edit]

The government said that the report was "based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces," publishing a 131-page counter-report.[1][42] The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the assessment was "invalid and illegal."[39] The government mounted pressure on UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet through diplomatic channels. North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba asked the UN chief to not publish the report.[50]

The report was criticized by some activists for not calling the crimes a genocide. Many Uyghurs outside China saw it as a formal acknowledgement of the sufferings of Uyghurs in China, hoping it will add fuel to their campaign at the international level.[51][52] Uyghur Human Rights Project executive director Omer Kanat called the report "a game-changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis", adding that "[d]espite the Chinese government's strenuous denials, the UN has now officially recognized that horrific crimes are occurring".[1]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield both welcomed the report.[53] European Union High Representative Josep Borrell and future short lived British Prime Minister Liz Truss (during her time as Foreign Secretary) also welcomed the report.[54]

Pakistani foreign ministry backs China's efforts in Xinjiang for socioeconomic development, harmony, peace, and stability in Xinjiang.[55] Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari accused the report by OHCHR were "taken out of context".[56]

Darren Byler, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, called the report "a major vindication, for former detainees and their family members, and confirmation that the work of hundreds of researchers and journalists is valid". The report, according to Byler, is a persuasive repudiation of China's "counter terrorism laws" which have been exploited to abuse China's Muslim minorities.[57]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "China's treatment of Uyghurs may be crime against humanity, says UN human rights chief". The Guardian. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Torture claims against China Uyghurs credible – UN". BBC News. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b Cumming-Bruce, Nick; Ramzy, Austin (31 August 2022). "U.N. Says China May Have Committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Xinjiang". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  4. ^ "One million Muslim Uighurs held in secret China camps: UN panel". Al Jazeera. 10 August 2018. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  5. ^ Welch, Dylan; Hui, Echo; Hutcheon, Stephen (24 November 2019). "The China Cables: Leak reveals the scale of Beijing's repressive control over Xinjiang". ABC News (Australia). Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  6. ^ "UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses". Human Rights Watch. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b Finley, Joanne (2020). "Why Scholars and Activists Increasingly Fear a Uyghur Genocide in Xinjiang". Journal of Genocide Research. 23 (3): 348–370. doi:10.1080/14623528.2020.1848109. S2CID 236962241.
  8. ^ Kirby, Jen (25 September 2020). "Concentration camps and forced labor: China's repression of the Uighurs, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2022. It is the largest mass internment of an ethnic-religious minority group since World War II.
  9. ^ Khatchadourian, Raffi (3 April 2021). "Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ Feng, Emily (9 July 2018). "Uighur children fall victim to China anti-terror drive". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  11. ^ Adrian Zenz (July 2019). "Break Their Roots: Evidence for China's Parent-Child Separation Campaign in Xinjiang". The Journal of Political Risk. 7 (7). Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  12. ^ Waller, James; Albornoz, Mariana Salazar (2021). "Crime and No Punishment? China's Abuses Against the Uyghurs". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. 22 (1): 100–111. doi:10.1353/gia.2021.0000. ISSN 2471-8831. S2CID 235855240. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  13. ^ Danilova, Maria (27 November 2018). "Woman describes torture, beatings in Chinese detention camp". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  14. ^ Turdush, Rukiye; Fiskesjö, Magnus (28 May 2021). "Dossier: Uyghur Women in China's Genocide". Genocide Studies and Prevention. 15 (1): 22–43. doi:10.5038/1911-9933.15.1.1834.
  15. ^ Sudworth, John (December 2020). "China's 'tainted' cotton". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  16. ^ Congressional Research Service (18 June 2019). "Uyghurs in China" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Muslim minority in China's Xinjiang face 'political indoctrination': Human Rights Watch". Reuters. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China" (PDF). Bar Human Rights Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  19. ^ a b c "China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization". Associated Press. 28 June 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  20. ^ "China Forces Birth Control on Uighurs to Suppress Population". Voice of America. Associated Press. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  21. ^ Samuel, Sigal (10 March 2021). "China's genocide against the Uyghurs, in 4 disturbing charts". Vox. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  22. ^ "China: Uighur women reportedly sterilized in attempt to suppress population". Deutsche Welle. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  23. ^ "China 'using birth control' to suppress Uighurs". BBC News. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  24. ^ "Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) – China". The World Bank. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  25. ^ Ivan Watson, Rebecca Wright and Ben Westcott (21 September 2020). "Xinjiang government confirms huge birth rate drop but denies forced sterilization of women". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  26. ^ Griffiths, James (17 April 2021). "From cover-up to propaganda blitz: China's attempts to control the narrative on Xinjiang". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  27. ^ Basu, Zachary (8 October 2020). "Mapped: More countries sign UN statement condemning China's mass detentions in Xinjiang". Axios. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  28. ^ Griffiths, James. "China avoids ICC prosecution over Xinjiang for now, but pressure is growing". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  29. ^ "Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2020" (PDF). The Office of the Prosecutor. International Criminal Court. 14 December 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  30. ^ Gordon, Michael R. (19 January 2021). "U.S. Says China Is Committing 'Genocide' Against Uighur Muslims". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  31. ^ Ryan Patrick Jones (22 February 2021). "MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021. A substantial majority of MPs — including most Liberals who participated — voted in favour of a Conservative motion that says China's actions in its western Xinjiang region meet the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention. ... The final tally was 266 in favour and zero opposed. Two MPs formally abstained.
  32. ^ "Dutch parliament: China's treatment of Uighurs is genocide". Reuters. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  33. ^ Hefffer, Greg (22 April 2021). "House of Commons declares Uighurs are being subjected to genocide in China". Sky News. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  34. ^ Basu, Zachary (20 May 2021). "Lithuanian parliament becomes latest to recognize Uyghur genocide". Axios. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  35. ^ "French Parliament Denounces China's Uyghur 'Genocide'". AFP News. 20 January 2022. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  36. ^ Manch, Thomas (5 May 2021). "Parliament unanimously declares 'severe human rights abuses' occurring against Uyghur in China". Stuff. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  37. ^ "Belgian MPs warn of 'risk of genocide' of China's Uyghurs". Alarabiya. AFP. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  38. ^ Gerlin, Roseanne (15 June 2021). "Belgium, Czech Republic Legislatures Pass Uyghur Genocide Declarations". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  39. ^ a b c d e f g McCarthy, Simone (1 September 2022). "China may have committed 'crimes against humanity' in Xinjiang, UN report finds". CNN. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  40. ^ a b c d e Moritsugu, Ken; Keaten, Jamey (1 September 2022). "To China's fury, UN accuses Beijing of Uyghur rights abuses". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  41. ^ a b c "China responsible for 'serious human rights violations' in Xinjiang province: UN human rights report". UN News. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  42. ^ a b c Wong, Chun Han (1 September 2022). "Xinjiang Rights Report Ratchets Up Standoff Between the U.S. and China". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  43. ^ Mistreanu, Simina (1 September 2022). "Torture, rape and forced sterilisation: China's abuse of Uyghurs 'credible', says UN". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  44. ^ a b c d e Bermingham, Finbarr (1 September 2022). "China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, UN says". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  45. ^ a b Davidson, Helen (1 September 2022). "Five key points from the UN report on Xinjiang human rights abuses". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  46. ^ Yiu, Pak (2 September 2022). "U.N.: China may be committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang". Nikkei Asia. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  47. ^ Wong, Chun Han; Arredy, James T. (1 September 2022). "U.N. Report Says China May Have Committed Crimes Against Humanity in Xinjiang". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  48. ^ "UN rights chief says China committing violations in Xinjiang, Tibet". Reuters. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  49. ^ Lao, Stuart (September 2022). "China Direct: Damning UN report — Crimes against humanity — No fan of Gorbachev". politico.eu. Politico. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  50. ^ "UN rights chief under 'tremendous pressure' over Xinjiang report". Al Jazeera. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  51. ^ Ramzy, Austin (1 September 2022). "For Uyghurs, U.N. Report on China's Abuses Is Long-Awaited Vindication". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  52. ^ "China: New UN Report Alleges Crimes Against Humanity". Human Rights Watch. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  53. ^ "U.S. welcomes, China slams UN report on Uyghur rights abuses". CBC News. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  54. ^ "UN head hopes China will 'take on board' Xinjiang recommendations". Al Jazeera. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  55. ^ Muhammad Ehsan (11 October 2022). "Pakistan supports Chinese efforts for Xinjiang". Pakistan observer.
  56. ^ "We're tired of conflict': Pakistan treads carefully on Ukraine war; hails relationship with China". CNA.
  57. ^ Cheung, Rachel (1 September 2022). "'A Major Vindication': UN Says China Committed Serious Rights Violations in Xinjiang". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=UN_Human_Rights_Office_report_on_Xinjiang&oldid=1226143254"