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Uyghur Congress Calls on States to Demand Investigation into UN Complicity in Chinese Efforts to Silence NGOs

Uyghur Congress Calls on States to Demand Investigation into UN Complicity in Chinese Efforts to Silence NGOs General view of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council during the presentation of report by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, on March 13, 2018 in Geneva. Syria enters its eighth year of war on March 15, 2018 free of the jihadist “caliphate” but torn apart by an international power struggle as the regime presses its blistering reconquest. / AFP PHOTO / Fabrice COFFRINI

Press Release – For immediate release
3 July 2019
Contact: World Uyghur Congress
 www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

In April, the World Uyghur Congress discovered that former UN Under-Secretary-General and head of UNDESA, Wu Hongbo, openly admitted that he represented Chinese national interests in his position as a UN official, and ordered the expulsion of WUC President, Dolkun Isa, from the 2017 UN Indigenous Forum.

This is, however, not the first time China has attempted to prevent Uyghur activists from participating in UN events. The UN Human Rights Office, at least since 2013, engaged in a practice of informing the Chinese delegation in Geneva of Uyghurs participating in the Human Rights Council.

After a whistle-blower uncovered this practice, the UN Human Rights Office put out a press release in its defense, claiming that the representatives whose names were handed over in March 2013 had made public their plans to attend the Council session. Our press release, however, did not name specific participants who would be travelling to Geneva. The UN Human Rights Office did not seek our consent before providing our names to the Chinese delegation. They did not, as they claim, contact us directly to let us know our names had been handed over and they did not inform us of the serious allegations made against us by the same delegation.

We heard this first from the whistle-blower, Emma Reilly, who contacted us directly. Last month, she took the UN to court over retaliation she faced for speaking out. A vindicated UN whistle-blower, and veteran human rights investigator and researcher, Caroline Hunt-Matthes, attended the hearings and reported that:

“Spectators including myself were stunned to learn from the evidence presented in court – the UN admitted handing names of human rights defenders to China without their knowledge or consent. The legal representatives for the UN argued that the principles of doing no harm, of protecting confidentiality, and of applying the uniform principles of protection to all countries could be subverted to the importance of its political relationship with China. In fact, the judge commented from the bench that this was shocking.”

It seems the UN shared Ms. Hunt-Matthes’ analysis that the judge would condemn this dangerous practice in his judgment. We have now learned that the UN Secretary-General removed the judge from his post without notice on July 10th, before he had a chance to issue judgement. For the accused party in a case to remove a judge between the hearing and the verdict is concerning, and a new low in the UN’s efforts to cover up its complicity in China’s interference in the UN human rights mechanisms.

Dolkun Isa provided a witness statement to the court, which we will make public. The WUC’s efforts to get confirmation of whether China is still provided with advance information on our work has gone without success. Not only does the UN fail in its obligation to denounce China’s human rights abuses against Uyghurs, but it may even assist China by providing the details of Uyghur activists who do plan to speak out.

The UN Human Rights Office should not be applying one rule for China and one rule for every other Member State. Uyghur human rights defenders should not be betrayed by the very organisation with an international mandate to promote and protect human rights. Member States must now demand an independent investigation into the extent of the complicity of the UN with China’s abuses against Uyghurs.