This week, a group of 22 countries issued a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council expressing concern over the arbitrary detention, surveillance and other violations against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The statement calls on China to provide “meaningful access to Xinjiang for independent international observers, including for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights”.
The record number of states standing up to China at the Council on their human rights record shows the mounting international concern over the mass detention of Uyghurs and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang.
The countries that signed the statement include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
In the face of China’s continued failure to engage credibly with the allegations, Amnesty International and others have been calling on the Council to launch an investigation into the situation in Xinjiang. By issuing this statement, these 22 countries have made clear that they will not continue to look the other way.
Amnesty International welcomes this statement and reiterates its own call for China to provide independent human rights monitors immediate and unfettered access to Xinjiang. If China fails to respond positively to this request, the Council should take more robust action at future sessions.
