HRC51: Oral statement during General Debate under Item 4

Item 4: General Debate

Organisation:Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Speaker: Claire Denman

Thank you, Mr President,

Less than a month ago, the OHCHR published a long overdue report on the situation of human rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) which found that the widespread arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the region may amount to crimes against humanity.

We welcome and fully concur with these findings, however the publication of this report will be of little support to the Uyghur community if it is not met with swift and concrete action.

We therefore call on the Council to establish an independent international investigative mechanism with regular reporting to the Human Rights Council (HRC) and UN General Assembly (UNGA).

We also continue to call on China to end the use of so-called ‘re-education camps’, to release those detained, including retired Uyghur medical doctor Gulshan Abbas, to amend legislation relating to counterterrorism, to ensure that it safeguards the rights of all citizens, and to dismantle the extensive and intrusive surveillance system with which it routinely violates human rights in the XUAR.

We also remind the Council that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s severe human rights violations are not limited to the XUAR.

The right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is routinely curtailed across the country, with recently introduced restrictions on sharing religious information online one of the latest examples of the CCP’s sweeping attempts to silence anyone offering a view which contradicts the supreme authority of the Party.

Religious leaders and those who defend the right to FoRB and other fundamental human rights are also regularly targeted with harassment, intimidation, detention, enforced disappearance, disbarment, imprisonment and even torture.

We call on China to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained or imprisoned in connection with their religion or belief, or for the exercise or defence of fundamental human rights.

Thank you