Penny Wong condemns Beijing over ‘human rights violations’ against Uyghur Muslims

Penny Wong has slammed China’s horrendous ‘human rights violations’ against  Uyghur Muslims and demanded the communist superpower grant ‘unfettered access’ to the UN and human aid workers.

Australia’s Foreign Minister made the stern statement after a bombshell UN report on Thursday outlined China’s ‘crimes against humanity’ in the far-western Xinjiang region where Muslim minorities are cruelly repressed. 

Some of the most shocking allegations include torture, forced labour and medical treatment, as well as sexual violence and even organ harvesting.

‘The Australian Government is deeply concerned about the findings of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report on Xinjiang,’ Ms Wong said.

‘The report is informed by extensive research, including the first-hand testimonies of Uyghur and other minority peoples in Xinjiang. It concludes that serious human rights violations have been committed in Xinjiang.

‘It states that allegations of torture or ill-treatment are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence and that some of the violations may constitute crimes against humanity.’

She also called for China to allow independent observers access to Xinjiang, with Beijing banning media and aid agencies from the region.

‘The Australian Government has emphasised the importance of transparency and accountability, in calling on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers,’ she said.

‘Australia expects all countries to adhere to their international human rights obligations and we join with others in the international community in calling on the Chinese Government to address the concerns raised in this report.

‘Our thoughts are also with the Australian Uyghur community. We acknowledge the strength and determination they have shown in speaking out, in support of their loved ones.’

The UN and various human rights groups accuse Beijing of abuses against Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labour in internment camps. 

Despite evidence to the contrary, Beijing has vehemently rejected the claims insisting it is running vocational training centres to counter extremism. 

However, the report will now pile more pressure on the communist government. 

The report, in the making for around a year, was released in Geneva at 11:47 pm local time yesterday – just 13 minutes before Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expired.

The former Chilean president, who has faced criticism from some diplomats and rights groups for being too soft on China, said she was determined to ensure the report saw the light of day – despite intense pressure from an infuriated Beijing.

‘The issues are serious – and I raised them with high-level national and regional authorities in the country,’ said Bachelet, who visited China in May.

The report raised concerns about the treatment of people held in China’s so-called ‘Vocational Education and Training Centres’. 

‘Serious human rights violations have been committed in XUAR in the context of the government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter- “extremism” strategies,’ the report said.

‘Allegations of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence,’ the report said.

‘The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,’ it continued.

The report was drawn from interviews with former detainees and others in the know about conditions at eight separate detention centers in the region. Its authors suggest China was not always forthcoming with information, saying requests for some specific sets of information ‘did not receive formal response’.

The report also said that ‘there are credible indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies since 2017.’

It added that a lack of government data ‘makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the full extent of current enforcement of these policies and associated violations of reproductive rights.’

The report urged Beijing, the UN and the world at large to focus its gaze on the situation described in Xinjiang.

‘The human rights situation in XUAR also requires urgent attention by the government, the United Nations intergovernmental bodies and human rights system, as well as the international community more broadly,’ it said.

Bachelet recommended the Chinese government to take prompt steps to release all those detained in training centers, prisons or detentions facilities.