China decides to block the publication of the UN report on the violation of the rights of Uyghurs
China is preparing to appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, not to publish a report on human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This came in a letter that Beijing invites other countries to sign. Reuters has seen the document.
It is noteworthy that a group of human rights experts has been preparing a report on the situation of the Uyghur minority in China for more than three years, and it is due to be published at the end of August 2022. Reuters wrote that since the end of June, the Chinese authorities have been preparing an appeal to the United Nations with a request not to do so .
“An analysis of the situation in Xinjiang, if released, will further politicize and confront the bloc in the field of human rights, undermine the credibility of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and damage the cooperation between the Commission and member states,” the Chinese said in a letter to foreign diplomats asking them to sign.
According to the agency’s sources, it is difficult for a number of countries to refuse such requests to China due to the close economic relations with it. The number of signatures collected is still unknown.
Bachelet visited Xinjiang in May 2022, avoiding harsh accusations of human rights abuses in the region.
More than 10 million Uyghur Muslims of Turkish origin live in Xinjiang. Western media claim that since 2017, representatives of this ethnic group are forcibly detained by the authorities in state camps and forced to work.
In addition, Muslims living there were allegedly forbidden to call the children by their traditional names, and in some cases were forced to eat pork and drink alcohol.
