Canadians Demand Action on UN Uighur Human Rights Report
September 1st, 2022
On Wednesday, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its long-delayed investigative report assessing human rights concerns regarding Uighur Muslims in East Turkestan (Xinjiang).
Released minutes before Michele Bachelet’s resignation as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, the report ratifies what human rights groups have been documenting for years.
Unfortunately, it failed to recognize China’s atrocities against Uighurs and Turkic- speaking nations in East Turkestan as genocide. This demonstrates that China’s government may be influencing the OHCHR to avoid explicit terminologies that correctly reflect the scope and scale of China's Uighur abuses.
Instead, the UN report stated that “China’s arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uighurs “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
This UN report falls seriously short of a complete determination of the ongoing Uighur genocide, despite acknowledging some major ongoing atrocity crimes in the region;
“After the UN report’s long-awaited release, Canadians demand the UN and Canada’s government take concrete action to bring an end to the Uighur genocide. While it does highlight abuses against Uighurs, we’re dissapinted that the truth has not been told,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada. “ That these atrocities constitute genocide,” concluded Ghayyur.
Justice For All Canada, a non-profit genocide prevention organization, urges Canada and UN member states to immediately respond to documented “serious human rights violations”;
Take Action Against the Uighur Genocide
On Wednesday, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its long-delayed investigative report assessing human rights concerns regarding Uighur Muslims in East Turkestan (Xinjiang).
Released minutes before Michele Bachelet’s resignation as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, the report ratifies what human rights groups have been documenting for years.
Unfortunately, it failed to recognize China’s atrocities against Uighurs and Turkic- speaking nations in East Turkestan as genocide. This demonstrates that China’s government may be influencing the OHCHR to avoid explicit terminologies that correctly reflect the scope and scale of China's Uighur abuses.
Instead, the UN report stated that “China’s arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uighurs “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
This UN report falls seriously short of a complete determination of the ongoing Uighur genocide, despite acknowledging some major ongoing atrocity crimes in the region;
- It labels China’s crackdown on Uighurs as “crimes against humanity,” and confirms that China has been committing “serious human rights violations” under the guise of fighting terrorism and extremism;
- It confirms that the mass internment of Uighurs and Turkic peoples is “marked by patterns of torture”;
- It states detainees are being subjected to forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including violations such as sexual violence, political indoctrination;
- It concludes that “serious indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive and discriminatory enforcement of family planning and birth control policies.”
- It calls on the Chinese government to release all detainees “arbitrarily deprived of their liberty,” demanding that it provide information to Uighur families seeking information about their missing loved ones.
“After the UN report’s long-awaited release, Canadians demand the UN and Canada’s government take concrete action to bring an end to the Uighur genocide. While it does highlight abuses against Uighurs, we’re dissapinted that the truth has not been told,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada. “ That these atrocities constitute genocide,” concluded Ghayyur.
Justice For All Canada, a non-profit genocide prevention organization, urges Canada and UN member states to immediately respond to documented “serious human rights violations”;
- Use the report’s conclusions to find relief and justice for Uighur Muslims suffering through this genocide;
- Canada’s International Trade Ministry must implement a blanket forced labour ban similar to the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act;
- Global Affairs Canada is urged to target perpetrators of mass forced labour and detention by enacting immediate sanctions against Chinese officials and entities.
Take Action Against the Uighur Genocide