China is violating people's rights in Tibet and Xinjiang, UN rights chief says

Volker Turk, the head of the United Nations office for human rights, urged China on Monday to follow suggestions to change laws that infringe on fundamental rights, particularly those in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions.

The Uyghurs are an ethnic minority of about 10 million people living in the western region of Xinjiang. Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against them, including the widespread use of forced labor in camps. Beijing vehemently disputes any wrongdoing.

“I also call on the government to implement the recommendations made by my Office and other human rights bodies in relation to laws, policies and practises that violate fundamental rights, including in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions,” Turk told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

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China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a “peaceful liberation” from feudalistic serfdom. International human rights groups and exiles, however, have routinely condemn what they call China’s oppressive rule in Tibetan areas.

Turk, who said his office was engaged in “dialogue” with Beijing, also called for the release of human rights defenders, lawyers and other people detained for “picking quarrels and making trouble”.

A report released in August 2022 by Michelle Bachelet, then U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, hours before she ended her mandate, found that China’s detention of Uyghurs and other Muslims may constitute crimes against humanity.

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With inputs from AFP