U.N. physique rejects debate on China’s remedy of Uyghur Muslims in blow to West By Reuters

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. rights council on Thursday voted down a Western-led movement to carry a debate about alleged human rights abuses by China towards Uyghurs and different Muslims in Xinjiang in a victory for Beijing because it seeks to keep away from additional scrutiny.

The defeat – 19 towards, 17 for, 11 abstentions – is barely the second time within the council’s 16-year historical past {that a} movement has been rejected and is seen by observers as a setback to each accountability efforts, the West’s ethical authority on human rights and the credibility of the United Nations itself.

America, Canada and Britain have been among the many international locations that introduced the movement.

“This can be a catastrophe. That is actually disappointing,” mentioned Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, whose mom died in a camp and whose two brothers are lacking.

“We’ll by no means hand over however we’re actually upset by the response of Muslim international locations,” he added.

Qatar, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan rejected the movement, with the latter citing the danger of alienating China. Phil Lynch, director of the Worldwide Service for Human Rights, known as the voting document “shameful” on Twitter.

“Xinjiang-related points should not human rights points in any respect, however problems with counter-terrorism, de-radicalisation and anti-separatism,” mentioned China’s overseas ministry late on Thursday.

The movement was an try by america and a few Western international locations to “use the UN human rights physique to intervene in China’s inner affairs,” mentioned the overseas ministry in a publish on its official web site.

NEW TARGETS ‘TOMORROW’

China’s envoy had warned earlier than the vote that the movement would create a precedent for analyzing different international locations’ human rights data.

“At the moment China is focused. Tomorrow every other creating nation might be focused,” mentioned Chen Xu, including {that a} debate would result in “new confrontations”.

The U.N. rights workplace on Aug. 31 launched a long-delayed report that discovered severe human rights violations in Xinjiang that will represent crimes towards humanity, ramping up strain on China.

Rights teams accuse Beijing of abuses towards Uyghurs, a primarily Muslim ethnic minority that numbers round 10 million within the western area of Xinjiang, together with the mass use of pressured labour in internment camps. America has accused China of genocide. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.

‘ENORMOUS PRESSURE’

The movement is the primary time that the rights document of China, a robust everlasting Safety Council member, has been on the council’s agenda. The merchandise has stoked divisions and a diplomat mentioned states have been below “monumental strain” from Beijing to again China.

International locations like Britain, america and Germany, vowed to proceed to work in direction of accountability regardless of Thursday’s final result.

However activists mentioned the defeat of such a restricted movement, which stopped wanting looking for an investigation, would make it tough to place it again on the agenda.

Common Rights Group’s Marc Limon mentioned it was a “severe miscalculation”, citing the timing which coincides with a Western-led movement for motion on Russia.

“It is a severe blow for the credibility of the council and a transparent victory for China,” he mentioned. “Many creating international locations will see it as an adjustment away from Western predominance within the U.N. human rights system.”

The occasion raised political dilemmas for a lot of poor international locations within the 47-member council who’re loath to publicly defy China for worry of jeopardising funding.