CFU Press Release
For Immediate Release
March 21, 2022 4:00PM
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
www.campaignforuyghurs.org
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that China is not committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in East Turkistan.
When the reporter asked Gang “will you give them unlimited access?” he replied “I totally reject that”. It is quite clear from the ambassador’s response that the UN high commissioner Michelle Bachelet and her team will not be given ‘unfettered access’ in East Turkistan to investigate the scope of the genocide that is taking place, something which we had highlighted in a press release a couple of weeks ago. We have said time and time again that if China has nothing to hide then it should have no problem letting in a team of independent investigators to show the world the reality of the situation on the ground.
It was and still is unlikely that ‘unfettered access’ was ever going to be given in the first place and this response just further confirmed this. It would be interesting to see how the UN high commissioner responds to this because it is her duty to uphold the mandate to “promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all human rights.” As we have pointed out before, Ms. Bachelet has spoken out in the past against human rights violations in many countries, but has failed to competently do so against China.
Executive Director Rushan Abbas said today, “Now that China’s intentions are clear; I urge Ms. Bachelet to release her report on the abuses happening in East Turkistan, even if she lists them as just human rights abuses. She must send a clear message to the Chinese government that China must open its doors and be held accountable for it crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. The mere fact China continues to refuse to give unfettered access to the UN, then this should send a clear message to the World that China is clearly hiding the extent to which this genocide is taking place and that the whole world should come together, just like we have seen recently, rightfully coming to the aid of Ukraine against the Russian invasion.”
Human rights organizations, freedom-loving nations and the UN, need to continue to be vigilant and not fall for China’s diplomatic run-arounds on this pressing issue.
