![Protesters near the Chinese consulate in Istanbul in 2021. [Ozan Kose/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/03/08/41097-94j69u-highres-739_416.webp)
GENEVA, Switzerland -- United Nations (UN) rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday (March 7) demanded action from Beijing to address "grave concerns" over the human rights situation in Xinjiang province, China.
Türk has been under pressure from Western nations and rights organisations to take a firm stand on Xinjiang following a bombshell report by his predecessor that cited possible crimes against humanity in the far-western region.
The report detailed a string of violations of the rights of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking minorities in Xinjiang, urging the world to pay "urgent attention" to the human rights situation in the far-western region.
It highlighted "credible" allegations of widespread torture, arbitrary detention and violations of religious and reproductive rights.
![UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk arrives at a session of the 52nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 6. [Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/03/08/41098-33am8g3-highres-739_416.webp)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk arrives at a session of the 52nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 6. [Fabrice Coffrini/AFP]
It also brought UN endorsement to long-running allegations by campaigners and others, who accuse Beijing of detaining more than one million Uighurs and other Muslims in "re-education camps" and forcibly sterilising women.
Accusations include mass incarceration, forced labour, compulsory sterilisation, systematic rape and the destruction of Uighur cultural and Islamic sites.
Uighur rights campaigners, the United States and other Western countries have said China is committing "genocide" of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
Last October, 50 countries signed a statement calling for ''urgent attention'' from the UN regarding China's "ongoing human rights violations of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang".
Beijing vehemently rejects the charges and insists it is running vocational training centres in the region to counter extremism.
'Grave concerns'
The UN is concerned about the protection of minorities such as the Uighurs in Xinjiang and Tibetans, Türk said in his speech to the first UN Human Rights Council session of the year.
"Regarding China, we have opened up channels of communication with a range of actors to follow up on a variety of human rights issues," he said.
"In the Xinjiang region, my office has documented grave concerns -- notably large-scale arbitrary detentions and ongoing family separations -- and has made important recommendations that require concrete follow-up."
Türk also voiced unease over restrictions of civic discourse in China and the far-reaching national security law in Hong Kong imposed in 2020 to stamp out dissent following the city's huge and often violent pro-democracy demonstrations.
"We also have concerns about the severe restriction of civic space more generally, including the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and lawyers, and the impact of the National Security Law in Hong Kong."
It was Türk's first speech to the council in Geneva since taking office as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in October.
'Stop denying the facts'
Responding to the speech, Chinese ambassador Chen Xu said that with Beijing's efforts to combat terrorism and radicalisation, human rights in Xinjiang were "well protected".
US ambassador Michele Taylor urged the council Tuesday to "take action to address the egregious and ongoing violation of human rights in Xinjiang".
Last month she said Washington was intent on continuing "to shine a spotlight on documented abuses of Uighurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang".
"I'm especially grateful to High Commissioner Türk, who has made a commitment to me and others that he will stand behind his office's report."
British ambassador Simon Manley meanwhile called on Beijing "to stop denying the facts and engage seriously and constructively" with the recommendations from Türk's office.
Hilary Power, Geneva office director of Human Rights Watch, urged the council to investigate "sweeping rights abuses in China, including in Xinjiang," pointing out that this call had "been made by hundreds of other NGOs from all regions and numerous UN experts".
Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard called on Türk to publicly put his weight behind the Xinjiang report.
Türk "will be assessed on the basis of his work and commitment to the Xinjiang people and to his courage in tackling China", she told reporters ahead of his speech.
In fact, human rights are being observed by Islamic countries on their own, as in no Islamic country the non-Muslims are sexually assaulted, and no one has oppressed non-Muslims in their own country nor did they deprive anyone of their worship. Muslims are always oppressed in non-Islamic countries where the population of Muslims is small. Israel is one of the countries where Muslims are humiliated, the second is India, the third is China, where the rights of Muslims are always violated. Muslims in their own countries have not used weapons against non-Muslims and have always treated them with human respect; however, many of the countries that fight for human rights are the same countries that have violated human rights. America, Israel, China, India and the Soviet Union have always attacked Islamic countries. The human rights organization has never raised its voice against Muslims. This organization was created only to protect the rights of non-Muslims, not that of Muslims.
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Both China and Pakistan are flies of the same dog. To suppress and torture China, it is necessary to suppress China's representative (Pakistan). Pakistan has the status of cancer. Since its establishment, Pakistan has been running on money from America and the West. Still, the history of the past 21 years has made it clear that Pakistan is playing a double game with the West, especially with the United States. The United States spent nearly USD 100 billion on overthrowing the authoritarian regime of the Taliban and establishing democracy in Afghanistan. Still, Pakistan trained terrorists with China and Russia's financial and military assistance and overthrew the Afghan republic. One way to take revenge on Pakistan is that the IMF does not give loans to this demonic country. If the IMF does not provide a loan, neither China, Saudi Arabia, nor any other country will offer a loan. As a result, this so-called country, which has given a bad name to Islam and has always done things against humanity, will be divided into its ethnic components, Pashtunistan, Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab, and the world will always be freed from its evil. At the same time, China's demand for expansion in the region will also be stopped.
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