Coalition of Countries Calls for Access to Uyghur Internment Camps in Xinjiang Region
Voice of America
GENEVA - A coalition of 41 countries is calling for access to internment camps in China’s Xinjiang region to check on the situation of an estimated one million Muslim Uyghurs who allegedly are being detained under abusive conditions.
Canada issued the cross-regional joint statement at the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday. In her delivery, Ottawa’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Leslie Norton, stressed the urgency of getting to the bottom of this human rights situation. “Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other minorities and restrictions on fundamental freedoms and Uyghur culture," she said. "There are also reports of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities.” Norton urged China on behalf of the coalition to allow immediate, unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.China's Defense Minister Dong Jun speaks during the Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, June 2, 2024. FILE - A Chinese coast guard ship, left, with a Chinese militia vessel, right, blocks Philippine coast guard ship, BRP Sindangan as it tried to head towards Second Thomas Shoal at the disputed South China Sea during rotation and resupply mission on Oct. 4, 2023.
Police officers stop and search people near Victoria Park, Hong Kong's traditional venue for the annual 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown vigil, in Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. People gather near a soccer field which in previous years had been used annually for vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. This year, the venue was blocked off for a carnival by pro-government groups. (Cindy Sui/VOA) A carnival worker tells members of the public they cannot enter the restricted area until later in the day, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. (Cindy Sui/VOA) A carnival worker guards the perimeter of a closed-off soccer field which traditionally had been used for Tiananmen Square crackdown commemorations, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. (Cindy Sui/VOA)
Police officers stop and search people near Victoria Park, Hong Kong's traditional venue for the annual 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown vigil, in Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. People gather near a soccer field which in previous years had been used annually for vigils to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. This year, the venue was blocked off for a carnival by pro-government groups. (Cindy Sui/VOA) A carnival worker tells members of the public they cannot enter the restricted area until later in the day, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. (Cindy Sui/VOA) A carnival worker guards the perimeter of a closed-off soccer field which traditionally had been used for Tiananmen Square crackdown commemorations, at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2024. (Cindy Sui/VOA)