Taken to the UN by Germany, these countries asked China in a joint declaration to “respect the human rights” of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Thirty-nine countries led to the UN by Germany, called on Tuesday in a joint statement to China to “respect the human rights” of Uighurs in Xinjiang, also expressing concern about developments in Hong Kong.
“We call on China to respect human rights, especially the rights of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet,” German UN Ambassador Christoph Heusgen told a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee on Human Rights.
Among the signatories are the United States, most European countries including Albania and Bosnia, Canada, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
A request to authorize independent observers
“We are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and recent developments in Hong Kong,” their statement added. “We call on China to allow immediate and unimpeded access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,” the statement said.
Immediately after its intervention, Pakistan read a declaration signed by 55 countries, including China, denouncing the use of the situation in Hong Kong to interfere in Chinese internal affairs. Quoting Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun criticized a “hypocritical” attitude, asking these countries to “put aside (their) arrogance and prejudices”.
In a statement, the Human Rights Watch organization welcomed the fact that more countries signed the declaration against China this year “despite persistent threats and Chinese tactics of intimidation”. In 2019, a similar text on the human rights situation in the same forum, drafted at the initiative of the United Kingdom, had collected 23 signatures.
According to Western diplomats, Beijing multiplies pressure every year to dissuade UN members from signing, threatening not to renew a peace mission in one country or prevent the construction of a new embassy in China for another.
On Monday, 26 countries, at the initiative of Beijing, had demanded in the same forum and in a joint declaration the end of sanctions by the United States and other Western countries which, according to them, violate human rights in the fight against the pandemic.
Source: 20minutes
