Editorial: Crimes against humanity
The latest United Nations report detailing the serious human rights violations by Chinese authorities and mass detention of Uyghur Muslims is a powerful indictment of the suppression of ethnic minorities in a country that has been flexing its muscles in the region and blatantly displaying territorial hegemony. The significance of the report — published after […]
The latest United Nations report detailing the serious human rights violations by Chinese authorities and mass detention of Uyghur Muslims is a powerful indictment of the suppression of ethnic minorities in a country that has been flexing its muscles in the region and blatantly displaying territorial hegemony. The significance of the report — published after repeated delays attributed to China’s pushback tactics and denial of any ground access — lies in the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights officially recognising that horrific crimes are occurring in the Xinjiang province and that they could be termed as ‘crime against humanity.’ Given its past record, Beijing is unlikely to respond to the report which recommended the release of individuals who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty on the pretext of containing terrorism and radicalism. The UN report, based on a comprehensive and prolonged assessment of the allegations of human rights violations in the region, is a long-awaited recognition of the Uyghurs’ unimaginable suffering. China has, however, summarily dismissed the findings, but can no longer deny the existence of extrajudicial camps. Many Uyghur and human rights groups have rallied around the report, calling for it to be a wake-up call to galvanise support for action within the UN – where the General Assembly and Human Rights Council both come into session later this month. The international community must speak in one voice in demanding accountability from China, instituting an independent probe into the allegations and providing justice to the Uyghurs and other ethnic groups.
Any move toward further investigation, as called for in the report, would need approval from UN member states in a body where China holds considerable clout. In the past four years, there has been a deadlock on agreeing to any formal call for a more detailed investigation into the crimes against humanity. Given the indifferent response and curious silence over the years of even Muslim nations, including Pakistan, on the targeting of Uyghurs, any credible action on that front, too, looks remote. Even if the member states in the Human Rights Council were ultimately to vote for a formal investigation on the heels of the report, it has no power to compel China to allow UN investigators to enter its borders. Complying with other recommendations in the report such as the release of the arbitrarily detained people and clarification of the whereabouts of missing individuals would be at Beijing’s discretion. The UN report also pointed to indications of coercive labour, a shift toward formal incarcerations, and invasive surveillance in Xinjiang. It cites patterns of torture, forced medical treatment and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, and adds that a substantial proportion of the Muslim population was put through so-called Vocational Education and Training Centres. Within China’s heavily censored domestic media environment, there has been total silence about the report.
