UN members call for ‘immediate, meaningful and unfettered access’ to Xinjiang for rights inquiry
- Delegations from US, Britain, Germany and other nations seek an investigation by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet
- ‘If you have nothing to hide, why do you not finally grant unimpeded access?’ one ambassador asks
A group of United Nations members has demanded that China grant “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access” to Xinjiang for the group‘s human rights chief to inspect alleged abuses of Uygurs and other Muslim minorities there.
In a virtual hearing called by Britain, Germany and the United States and backed by 15 other mostly Western UN member states, China was accused by a procession of ambassadors, rights groups and academics of “systematic” persecution of minorities in the far western region.
China was also accused of using its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council – as well as its growing economic heft – of blocking efforts to investigate events in Xinjiang.
“We appeal to China to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we ask China to tear down the detention camps. If you have nothing to hide, why do you not finally grant unimpeded access to the commissioner for human rights?” Christoph Heusgen, the German ambassador to the UN, asked.
The UN‘s special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said the UN had itself been “timid” in its failure to criticise the situation in Xinjiang more insistently.