'..deep concern over the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong under the National Security Law and about longstanding human rights problems in Tibet.
..
The development follows recent moves by legislatures in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Lithuania that determined that China’s policies in the XUAR constitute genocide. The U.S. government in January designated abuses in the region as part of a campaign of genocide, and the German parliament is conducting an inquiry into the allegations.''An alliance of 40 countries led by Canada called on China on Tuesday to allow the U.N.’s human rights chief access to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to look into reported abuses of ethnic Uyghurs, including arbitrary detentions, torture, and forced labor.
Leslie Norton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.N., read a statement on behalf of the 44 countries, including the U.S., which cited reports of torture or inhumane treatment and punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities.
“We urge China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the High Commissioner, and to urgently implement the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s eight recommendations related to Xinjiang, including by ending the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities,” Norton said.
In August 2018, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern over credible reports of mass detention, measures to restrict cultural and religious practices; mass surveillance targeting Uyghurs, and other human rights violations and abuses in the XUAR.
In the statement, Norton also expressed deep concern over the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong under the National Security Law and about longstanding human rights problems in Tibet.
“We call on Chinese authorities to abide by their human rights obligations,” she said.
..
The development follows recent moves by legislatures in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Lithuania that determined that China’s policies in the XUAR constitute genocide. The U.S. government in January designated abuses in the region as part of a campaign of genocide, and the German parliament is conducting an inquiry into the allegations.
..
In Washington, the Biden administration is mulling a ban on imports of polysilicon, a solar panel material manufactured in the XUAR, reported Politico on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the administration’s plans.
Lawmakers have pressured Biden to impose import restrictions on polysilicon, similar to ones the Trump administration imposed on cotton and tomatoes from the XUAR, the report said, noting that about half the global supply of polysilicon comes from the region.
The latest move is in response to calls to confront allegations of forced labor and other human rights violations in the region.
In January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) to detain all cotton products and tomatoes from the XUAR at the country’s ports of entry, saying that the agency had identified indicators of forced labor including debt bondage, restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation and threats, withholding of wages, and abusive living and working conditions.'
-
Nations, Lawmakers Urge UN Investigation Into Abuses in China’s Xinjiang, June 22, 2021
Context(The Uyghur Tribunal) - '..a campaign to deliberately destroy the Uyghurs .. genocide..''..a boycott on the Beijing 2022 Winter Games..''..reduce supply chain reliance on China.'