European Union calls on China to allow “meaningful access” to regime detention centers in Xinjiang

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday called on China to authorize United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, visit and investigate alleged human rights violations of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. He also extended the request to the situation in Tibet.

“Once again, we urge China to allow meaningful access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including High Commissioner Bachelet. This is essential to allow an independent, impartial and transparent assessment of the serious concerns of the international community ”Borrell told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

International human rights organizations estimated at one million the number of Uyghurs who are said to be held in concentration camps in the region, whose existence has been recognized by China, which calls them “re-education camps” and whose existence justifies by the argument that they are centers “to fight extremism”.

Despite Beijing’s repeated refusals, numerous reports have documented practices in areas ranging from the force-feeding of pigs to a predominantly Muslim population – prohibited by religion – to forced labor, shackling of students, gang rape and many tortures.

The last of them was published by the channel CNN, who cited the case of a teacher who was taken to one of the camps to teach Mandarin to a group of detainees as Beijing seeks to assimilate the ethnic group. “When the guards drank at night, the officers told each other about how they raped and tortured the girlsThe professor said. Sidik saw with his own eyes how a woman died as a result of these gang rapes. In herd. There was no spark of life in his face. His cheeks were colorless, he wasn’t breathing», Recordó Qelbinur Sidik.

There are countries that have spoken more vehemently about the actions of the Chinese regime. Donald Trump’s administration before stepping down from executive power classified the actions as “genocide and crimes against humanity“. Joe Biden’s current secretary of state for administration Antony Blinken has said Washington will continue to follow.defend human rights and democratic values ​​in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong“.

In the same spirit, the Parliament of Canada on Monday adopted a non-binding motion that equates China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority to “genocide”, a move that Beijing called a “malicious provocation.”

The motion, presented at the initiative of the Conservatives (opposition), was adopted in the House of Commons by 266 votes for (out of 338) and no votes against. The approved text also urges the government of Justin Trudeau to formalize this decision. Cabinet ministers were virtually the only ones who abstained from voting.

The text recognizes that “the Uyghurs in China have been and are subject to genocide”.

“Conservatives call on Liberal government to respect Parliament and officially recognize genocide is taking place in China“Said its leader, Erin O’Toole, who for months has been asking the Canadian government to harden its position against Beijing.

In another area related to the Chinese regime, Borrell called on authorities to respect democratic principles and the rule of law in Hong Kong.

“A high degree of autonomy must be guaranteed under the principle of one country, two systems”, he expressed.

On the other hand, the Spanish official also denounced the “Unacceptable crackdown on peaceful protesters in Russia” and called for re-establishment of “legitimate civilian government” in Myanmar, which was overthrown in a military coup on February 1, given that “like everywhere, democracy must prevail,” he said.

(With information from Reuters, EFE and AP)

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