tirsdag 20. april 2021

Campaigners call for global response to ‘unprecedented’ oppression in Xinjiang

The Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where it has escalated its oppression of Turkic Muslims to unprecedented levels, Human Rights Watch has said, as the NGO called on governments to take direct action against officials and companies that profit from labour in the region. HRW also recommended the EU delay ratifying its recent trade agreement with China until forced labour allegations were investigated, victims compensated, and there was “substantial progress toward holding perpetrators to account”.

In a report produced with Stanford Law School’s Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, HRW called for stronger UN investigations and responses, and for allied countries to impose further sanctions as well as visa and travel bans, and to use domestic laws to prosecute perpetrators. HRW said the government’s oppression of Turkic Muslims, including Uyghurs, was not a new phenomenon but had reached unprecedented levels.