Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign Calls Out United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for Weak Response to China’s Genocidal Policies

Washington, D.C. — Sept 11, 2024

For Immediate Release

Contact: Hena Zuberi

hena@justiceforall.org

(202) 922-5878

In a pointed response to the statement delivered by Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, Justice For All‘s Save Uyghur Campaign strongly criticizes his failure to address the egregious human rights abuses committed against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Chinese-occupied East Turkistan.

On August 31, 2022, after a multi-year assessment, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in East Turkistan. Justice For All is outraged that, after two years, the Chinese government not only defies the OHCHR assessment’s findings but also steadfastly refuses to implement the High Commissioner’s urgent recommendations. These include the immediate release of all individuals arbitrarily detained, an end to all forms of intimidation and reprisals against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in East Turkistan and abroad, and a thorough investigation into allegations of horrific human rights abuses, including torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and forced medical treatment. This blatant disregard for human dignity and international norms is absolutely unacceptable.

Mr. Türk’s remarks included only two fleeting references to China’s oppressive policies, failing to capture the systemic and targeted atrocities that the Uyghur community has faced. Türk stated, “Despite some important advancements, 30 years after the universal commitments on women’s rights in Beijing, the shadow of patriarchy still looms large,” and “In China, undue restrictions on civic space continue to be imposed in the name of national security and social stability.” These statements are grossly inadequate when addressing the severity of the situation, which includes gender-based violence against Uyghur women such as forced sterilizations, abortions, sexual abuse, and forced marriages to Han-Chinese individuals, as well as the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in concentration camps, prisons, and forced labor camps across East Turkistan.

“To call the situation ‘patriarchal’ or to broadly cite restrictions in civic space is to overlook the genocidal reality. We are witnessing systematic, state-sponsored genocide and crimes against humanity,” remarked Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, President of Justice For All. “These remarks from the UN High Commissioner fall egregiously short of the necessity to confront China on its brutal campaign to destroy Uyghur identity and existence.”

In alignment, Arslan Hidayat, Team Lead of the Save Uyghur Campaign, emphasized, “General criticisms with no direct demand for accountability are insufficient. A global human rights platform must do more than cast overbroad dispersions; it must hold China accountable for forced sterilizations, abortions, gender-based violence, and culturally destructive policies. We’re talking about the forced erasure of a people.”

Justice For All demands with urgency:

– That the Chinese government adopts an immediate and clear roadmap with concrete deadlines for implementing the recommendations from the OHCHR report and other UN human rights mechanisms. It must fully reengage with UN bodies, including by granting unrestricted access to the entire territory for UN independent experts to conduct thorough investigations. Furthermore, all acts of reprisals as reported by the UN must cease at once.

Justice For All also calls on:

– The Human Rights Council to establish a robust monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in China, aiming to uphold the sanctity of its mandate and to decisively end China’s exceptionalism.

– The High Commissioner to persistently monitor the human rights practices in China, publicly report on the current situation, including the implementation status of the OHCHR report and any constraints on accessing crucial information, and to staunchly advocate for individual cases with uncompromising transparency.

Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign urges the United Nations to adopt a stronger, more courageous and principled stance and create pathways for concrete actions against the blatant human rights violations happening in East Turkistan. It is imperative that the international community recognizes the gravity of China’s policies and takes immediate and decisive action to end these atrocities.

Please read our full statement.