Fifteen Western countries have signed a public statement calling for China to release all “arbitrarily detained” Tibetans and Uyghurs and allow human rights observers to visit the regions in which they live.
The statement was delivered in a speech on Tuesday to the U.N. Humans Rights Committee by Australia’s ambassador there, James Larsen, who drew a strong rebuke from his Chinese counterpart.
“Transparency and openness are key to allaying concerns, and we call on China to allow unfettered and meaningful access to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent observers, including from the United Nations, to evaluate the human rights situation,” Larsen said in the speech.
The statement was co-signed by Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.
Beijing must live up to the human rights obligations it has “voluntarily assumed,” the statement adds, and accept the recommendations of the global community to improve its human rights.
“This includes releasing all individuals arbitrarily detained in both Xinjiang and Tibet, and urgently clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing family members,” the Australian ambassador said.
U.N. bodies have repeatedly detailed the detention of Tibetans and Uyghurs for the peaceful expression of political and religious views, Larsen noted, as well as the separation of families, forced abortions and sterilization, forced labor, forced disappearances and torture.
The United States, meanwhile, has said that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, in particular, constitutes an ongoing “genocide”.
‘Living hell’
In response to Larsen’s speech, China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, told the human rights committee that the governments who signed the document were ignoring the “living hell” of the situation in Gaza.
“The human rights situation that should gather the most attention at the committee this year is undoubtedly that of Gaza,” Fu said. “Australia and the United States … played down this living hell, while unleashing attacks and smears against the peaceful and tranquil Xinjiang.”
However, Tibetan and Uyghur advocates welcomed the statement.
“This is a positive development and sends a strong message to China,” said Namgyal Choedup, the Dalia Lama’s representative in North America. “Like-minded countries in the world have been monitoring China’s behavior, and they must press China on rights issues.”
Maya Wang, the interim China director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the statement, which she noted came two years after a U.N. report that found China may be responsible for “crimes against humanity” for its treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.
“The Chinese government continues to deny these grave abuses,” Wang said. “Therefore, it is all the more important for governments like Australia to continue to persist in pressing the Chinese government.”
Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, the vice chairman of the World Uyghur Congress, said he was “glad” to see the statement released, but said it was time for more concrete actions to pressure change in China.
“The genocide hasn’t stopped until today. Therefore, it’s not just a matter of transparency, itis a matter of urgency in light of ongoing genocide happening today,” he said. “The world should take more meaningful action to stop the Chinese government’s atrocities.”
Edited by Alex Willemyns and Malcolm Foster.