New UN rights chief vows to engage Beijing on Xinjiang findings

Volker Turk’s predecessor printed a report on China’s therapy of the Uighurs within the remaining minutes of her tenure.

Volker turk
United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk attends a information convention in Geneva, Switzerland [Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk says he's decided to interact with China on a damning report printed by his predecessor that alleged authorities mistreatment of the Uighurs and different principally Muslim teams that will quantity to crimes towards humanity.

Turk made the feedback throughout a media briefing in Geneva on Friday, referring to the report launched by Michelle Bachelet simply minutes earlier than her tenure ended earlier this yr.

“The report that was issued on 31 August is an important one and has highlighted very severe human rights issues,” mentioned Turk, who took over the function in October.

“I'll personally proceed partaking with the authorities. I’m very decided to take action,” he mentioned, including that “hope springs everlasting”.

The remarks had been Turk’s first public feedback on the matter.

Earlier than the long-delayed report’s launch, Bachelet had mentioned she confronted “large strain to publish or to not publish”, together with “substantial enter” from Beijing on the report within the waning days of her tenure, in addition to a letter signed by nations together with North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba that known as for publication to be halted.

The findings introduced UN endorsement to long-running allegations from advocates, campaigners and survivors who've accused Beijing of detaining a couple of million Uighurs and different Muslims in camps and forcibly sterilising girls, amongst different expenses.

The report highlighted “credible” allegations of widespread torture, arbitrary detention and violations of spiritual and reproductive rights. It known as for the world to present “pressing consideration” to the human rights state of affairs within the Xinjiang area in western China.

For its half, Beijing broadly rejected the findings and accused the UN of turning into a “thug and confederate of the US and the West”.

China, one of many 5 veto-wielding everlasting members of the UN Safety Council, additionally indicated it will stop cooperation with the UN human rights workplace within the wake of the report’s launch.

Past China, Turk referenced a number of different human rights challenges dealing with his workplace throughout Friday’s information convention.

He decried “the continued systematic exclusion of ladies and women from nearly all points of life” by the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, which took management of the nation in August 2021 amid the withdrawal of US-led international troops.

He known as the Iranian authorities’s announcement of the first publicly identified execution associated to persevering with protests within the nation “very troubling”.

Anti-government unrest has continued in Iran following the demise in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the nation’s morality police in capital Tehran for allegedly not adhering to the federal government’s gown code for ladies.

The rights chief additionally mentioned he was “appalled” by a bloodbath final month through which the UN mentioned no less than 131 civilians had been killed by M23 rebels within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He mentioned the DRC was on his checklist of nations to go to subsequent yr.

The DRC authorities has put the demise toll of the November assault at about 300.

In the meantime, Turk known as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from the place he just lately returned after an official go to, an ongoing “human rights emergency”.

The battle entered its 289th day on Friday.

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