The US Department of State marked the second anniversary of a United Nations report on human rights in the Xinjiang region by voicing disappointment over China’s continued repression of Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the region. In 2022, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report that detailed serious violations needing to be taken immediately, according to both the US Government and human rights organizations.
US State Department Urges for Urgent Action
The US Department of State has called on the PRC to immediately stop its continuing repression in Xinjiang. Through its Spokesperson Matthew Miller, the US Department of State has issued fresh calls against this. Posting on X, Miller emphasized how, two years after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued her report on violations in Xinjiang, the US continues to call on the People’s Republic of China for immediate corrective action.
UN Report Findings and Response From Around the World
The 2022 UN report concluded that “serious human rights violations” had been committed in Xinjiang, with the assessment indicating these acts “may constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity.” To date, however, the PRC has declined to take any steps to implement recommendations for releasing those arbitrarily detained and to investigate reports of abuses, including forced labor, torture, and sexual violence.
Ongoing Global Concerns and Advocacy
International human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, continue to raise grave concerns over the situation in Xinjiang. Maya Wang, HRW Associate China Director, lambasted Beijing for pursuing “its two-decade campaign against millions of Uyghurs,” noting that China’s refusal to take on board the documented crimes in Xinjiang underlines all the more the needs for robust follow-up actions by the UN and UN member states.
This is but the latest from a litany of international calls on China to stop the repressive actions in Xinjiang by the US State Department. The international community remains steadfast, since thousands of Uyghurs and other minorities continue to be subject to arbitrary detention and other egregious human rights abuses, in calling upon this regime for justice and basic human rights in the region.