GENEVA: According to the newly appointed UN human rights chief, his office has set up "channels of communication" to help follow-up on concerns regarding the rights of minorities, including Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans in China. But activists had hoped for a more forceful message to Beijing, which fell short.
Volker Turk, the new high commissioner for human rights, failed to provide any details on how his office intends to respond to Michelle Bachelet's damning report on China's western Xinjiang region, which was released in August. That report referred to possible "crimes against humanity" against Uyghurs and other peoples in Xinjiang.
Turkey called for "concrete follow-up action", noting that the UN rights office had "documented serious concerns" about such things as arbitrary detention and family separations in China. He also expressed concern about the effects of Hong Kong's national security law, which has suppressed the pro-democracy movement there.
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Turk said at the most recent Human Rights Council session, "With regard to China, we have opened channels of communication with a number of actors to follow up on various human rights issues, including the protection of minorities, such as Tibetans, Uyghurs and other groups."
It was his first time to present the annual report of the office since taking charge in October. It covered a wide range of issues, including pressure on women's rights, discrimination, conflict and climate change in countries from Afghanistan to Zambia.
The rights chief highlighted the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the ongoing violence in Syria and the unrest in Mali and Burkina Faso. They also expressed concern about the repression of dissent, free speech and political activists in some regions of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
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Turk cited reports of "police misconduct, most recently in Australia, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, including excessive use of force, racial profiling and discriminatory practices".
He said a number of trends in Russia "deeply concerned" him, including the "persistent" pro-war messages broadcast by independent media and activist group offices as well as state media, which "feed stereotypes and hate". incite further violence." The advocates were eager to hear Turki's perspective on the human rights situation in China.
Last month, Agnes Calamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, urged Turks to "publicly pour their weight" behind Bachelet's report and the UN rights office's "an important brief on Xinjiang that reflects the seriousness of the findings". was included in the council session.
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She told the ACANU Press Association that the message would be important in several ways. "I believe the High Commissioner will be judged in large part on his courage and willingness to stand up to China and the other superpowers." Ken Roth, a former HRW executive, claimed that Turk had "not even a word of criticism of China Didn't speak ,
“We have opened channels of communication,” they say, as if it gives them any advantage beyond the public reporting/condemnation they forego, Roth tweeted.