{"id":228424,"date":"2021-07-06T07:35:28","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T07:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/?p=20609"},"modified":"2021-07-06T07:35:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T07:35:28","slug":"china-in-the-47th-session-of-the-un-human-rights-council-uyghurs-and-jailed-human-rights-defenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/07\/06\/china-in-the-47th-session-of-the-un-human-rights-council-uyghurs-and-jailed-human-rights-defenders\/","title":{"rendered":"China in the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council: Uyghurs and jailed human rights defenders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a statement 22 June 2021, the ISHR on<\/strong> behalf of over 20 civil society organisations called for unequivocal action by the High Commissioner to monitor and report on the human rights situation in China<\/a>. The violations targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, the groups underlined, have been determined by\u00a0Amnesty International<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Human Rights Watch<\/a>\u00a0to constitute crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Special Procedures and treaty bodies have repeatedly, for the last five years, raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in China,<\/em>\u2019 said Sarah M Brooks, ISHR programme director. \u2018But despite these efforts, little has changed. More is needed<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gravity of the situation was underlined also by a joint statement delivered by Canada, on behalf of more than 40 states, earlier today. Listing a range of concerns about treatment of Uyghurs, those governments pressed China to allow \u2018immediate, meaningful and unfettered\u2019 access to the region for the High Commissioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weight of evidence and the gravity of allegations of crimes against humanity against Uyghurs demands that the High Commissioner commence remote monitoring and public reporting immediately. The full statement can be accessed here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anadolu<\/a> on 29 June 2021 reported that Mary Lawlo<\/strong>r, the <\/a>UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, says she has countless reports about mistreatment of activists in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN\u2019s independent expert on human rights defenders said that she feared activists in China were arbitrarily sentenced to long prison terms, house arrest and tortured and also denied access to medical treatment, their lawyers and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCondemning human rights defenders\u2026to long terms in prison for their peaceful human rights work, abusing them in custody and failing to provide them with adequate medical care\u2026cannot continue,\u201d <\/em>Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she had \u201ccountless reports\u201d pointing to the mistreatment of human rights defenders in Chinese custody, which is \u201cendemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geneva\u2019s Chinese mission spokesman Liu Yuyin later refuted Lawlor\u2019s criticism, accusing the UN expert of having \u201cdeliberately smeared China, spread disinformation and interfered in China\u2019s judicial sovereignty under the pretext of human rights<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe individuals that Ms. Lawlor and other special procedure mandate holders mentioned have committed a series of crimes such as inciting subversion of state power and splitting the state. The facts are clear and the evidence is solid,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawlor said the treatment meted out to those jailed may amount to torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment, despite a plethora of recommendations from the UN mechanisms over the years, including from the Committee Against Torture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some defenders, such as Gao Zhisheng,<\/strong><\/span> have been \u201cforcibly disappeared,\u201d while others such as Guo Hongwei have died in prison<\/a>, she said. Lawlor said she knew of at least 13 human rights defenders sentenced on \u201cspurious charges\u201d such as \u201cpicking quarrels\u201d or \u201cprovoking trouble\u201d to 10 years or more in prison for peacefully defending the rights of others. Among them is Qin Yongmin,<\/strong><\/span> sentenced to 35 years in prison for work that included promoting engagement with the UN, and Ilham Tohti,<\/strong><\/span> a \u201cmoderate scholar\u201d serving a life sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTohti was arbitrarily arrested, allegedly tortured and sentenced to life after a closed-door trial. He was not allowed any family visits and no information has been provided by Chinese authorities since,\u201d said Lawlor. He is a much-recognised defender: https:\/\/www.trueheroesfilms.org\/thedigest\/laureates\/37AE7DC4-16DB-51E9-4CF8-AB0828AEF491<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights defender Chen Xi,<\/strong><\/span> serving 10 years in prison, has chronic enteritis, which causes dehydration and fever. In winter, he contracts severe frostbite on his hands, ears and abdomen, and in his lifetime, he has been sentenced to 23 years in prison, said the expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ishr.ch\/news\/hrc47-governments-ngos-call-hig<\/a>h-commissioner-step-work-protect-uyghurs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.globalvillagespace.com\/un-expert-raises-concern-on-jailed-activist-in-china\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a statement 22 June 2021, the ISHR on behalf of over 20 civil society organisations called for unequivocal action by the High Commissioner to monitor and report on the human rights situation in China. The violations targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, the groups underlined, have been determined by\u00a0Amnesty International\u00a0and\u00a0Human Rights Watch\u00a0to constitute crimes [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30399,31325,190,3117,31326,31327,6,1438,1424,15158,2742,3203,31328,31329,1641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228425,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228424\/revisions\/228425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}