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	UN Human Rights Office assessment of human rights concerns in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Region by OHCHR, DW, agencies China   Sep. 2022   The UN Human Rights Office has issued an assessment of human rights concerns in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.   The assessment was initiated following serious allegations of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Office and UN human rights mechanisms since late 2017, particularly in the context of the Chinese Government’s policies and measures to combat terrorism and “extremism”.   The assessment is based on a review of documentary material currently available to the Office, with its credibility assessed in accordance with standard human rights methodology. Particular attention was given to the Government’s own laws, policies, data and statements. The Office also requested information and engaged in dialogue and technical exchanges with China throughout the process.   The information was assessed against applicable international human rights law, and builds on the work of a number of UN human rights mechanisms. The UN Human Rights Office stands ready to support China in addressing the issues and recommendations articulated in the assessment.   China responsible for ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang province: UN human rights report. (UN News)   The long-awaited report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) into what China refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has concluded that “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have been committed.   The report published in the wake of the visit by UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet in May, said that “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.”   In a strongly-worded assessment at the end of the report, OHCHR said that the extent of arbitrary detentions against Uyghur and others, in context of “restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights, enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”   Published on Ms. Bachelet’s final day of her four-year term in office, the report says that the violations have taken place in the context of the Chinese Government’s assertion that it is targeting terrorists among the Uyghur minority with a counter-extremism strategy that involves the use of so-called Vocational Educational and Training Centres (VETCs), or re-education camps.   OHCHR said that the Government policy in recent years in Xinjiang has “led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights.”   Even if the VETC system has as China says, “been reduced in scope or wound up”, said OHCHR, “the laws and policies that underpin it remain in place”, leading to an increased use of imprisonment.   The systems of arbitrary detention and related patterns of abuse since 2017, said OHCHR, “come against the backdrop of broader discrimination” against Uyghur and other minorities.   “This has included far-reaching, arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international laws and standards”, including restrictions on religious freedom and the rights to privacy and movement.   The report said that Chinese Government policies in the region have “transcended borders”, separating families, “severing” contacts, producing “patterns of intimidations and threats” against the wider Uyghur diaspora who have spoken out about conditions at home.   OHCHR said that the Chinese Government “holds the primary duty to ensure that all laws and policies are brought into compliance with international human rights law and to promptly investigate any allegations of human rights violations, to ensure accountability for perpetrators, and to provide redress to victims.”   Report recommendations   Among the recommendations that the UN rights office makes in the report, is for the Government to take “prompt steps” to release all individuals arbitrarily imprisoned in XUAR, whether in camps or any other detention centre.   China should let families know the whereabouts of any individuals who have been detained, providing exact locations, and help to establish “safe channels of communication” and allow families to reunite, said the report.   The report calls on China to undertake a full legal review of its national security and counter-terrorism policies in XUAR, “to ensure their full compliance with binding international human rights law” and repeal any laws that fall short of international standards.   It also calls for a prompt Government investigation into allegations of human rights violations in camps and other detention facilities, “including allegations of torture, sexual violence, ill-treatment, forced medical treatment, as well as forced labour and reports of deaths in custody.”   Chinese rebuttal   In a long and detailed response published along with the report, the Chinese Government said in conclusion, that authorities in the Xinjiang region operate on the principle that everyone is equal before the law, “and the accusation that its policy is ‘based on discrimination’ is groundless.” China said that its counter-terrorism and “de-radicalization efforts” in the region, had been conducted according to “the rule of law” and by no means add up to “suppression of ethnic minorities.”   On the issue of the camps, Beijing responded that the VETCs are “learning facilities established in accordance with law intended for de-radicalization” and not “concentration camps”. China’s statement added that there had been no “massive violation of rights”.   The human rights chief undertook her mission in May, at the invitation of the Chinese Government and visited XUAR to review the situation there. During her mission, Ms. Bachelet spoke with a range of government officials, several civil society organisations, academics, and community and religious leaders. In addition, she met several organizations online ahead of the visit, on issues relating to Xinjiang province, Tibet, Hong Kong, and other parts of China.   At the end of her visit, while expressing concern over issues relating to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, human rights defenders and labour rights, she praised China’s “tremendous achievements” in alleviating poverty, and eradicating extreme poverty, 10 years ahead of its target date.   * The assessment and the Government of China’s response are available here:   http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ohchr-assessment-human-rights-concerns-xinjiang-uyghur-autonomous-region http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/09/china-xinjiangs-forced-separations-and-language-policies-uyghur-children http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/08/1125932 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/11/china-un-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-calls-probe-xinjiang http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/china-un-experts-alarmed-separation-1-million-tibetan-children-families-and   May 2022 (DW)   A cache of leaked files and photos sheds new light on the methods used by the Chinese government towards the Muslim Uyghur minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.   China is accused of operating a network of centers in the region to reeducate Uyghurs, forcing them to unlearn their culture and religion. Over one million detainees are obliged to learn Mandarin Chinese and adopt a secular-aligned, pro-Communist Party outlook.   According to the leaked files published by the BBC, China uses a shoot-to-kill policy for Uyghurs who dare to escape the internment camps. The documents contradict the official line of Chinese officials that the Uyghurs voluntarily choose to attend the centers.   China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin rejected the report saying the media is "spreading lies and rumors."   The revelations pose troubling questions for world leaders alarmed by human rights abuses in Xinjiang. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Tuesday, and mentioned "the shocking reports and new evidence of very serious human rights violations in Xinjiang."   Baerbock urged a "transparent investigation" into the reports in the leaked files, according to a German Foreign Ministry statement.   The release of the documents also comes as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is on an official trip to China.   http://www.permanentrepresentations.nl/permanent-representations/pr-un-geneva/documents/speeches/2022/06/14/hrc50_item2_jst_china http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/06/1120172 Visit the related web page
	DRC: how rampant impunity for crimes leads to endless cycles of violence by International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)   Mar. 16, 2022   With today’s release in French cinemas of Thierry Michel’s latest film, "L’Empire du Silence", the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the League of Voters (LE), the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO) and the Lotus Group (GL), call on the congolese authorities and their partners to engage in concrete efforts to fight impunity for the gravest crimes in the DRC.   In his latest documentary, "L’Empire du Silence", Thierry Michel retraces the different cycles of violence and impunity for crimes committed in the DRC since the 1990s. We see and hear victims, witnesses, perpetrators, and those responsible for these serious crimes throughout the DRC. Activists in the fight against impunity, including 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege, other actors in this struggle such as former members of UN investigation teams and local journalists, are featured.   The film is based partly on the findings of the 2010 Mapping project report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which lists the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in the DRC between 1993 and 2003.   More than ten years after the publication of this report, the FIDH and and its member organisations in the DRC regret that no follow-up has been made regarding our recommendations, despite the efforts of several civil society actors to encourage the Congolese authorities to open investigations and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, so that the victims may finally have effective access to truth, justice and reparation.   Our organisations have been working to support the implementation of this report for over 10 years through advocacy, support, and awareness-raising activities at the local, national, and international levels.   Even before the Mapping Project report, FIDH and its Congolese member organisations documented the serious human rights violations committed and supported survivors in their quest for truth, justice, and reparation. They documented many crimes committed in 2002 and 2003 in the east of the country and published several reports.   They transmitted testimonies of victims and witnesses of "Operation Wipe the Board" to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which opened an investigation in June 2004 into the international crimes committed in the DRC since July 2002. Several Congolese survivors of crimes committed in Ituri in 2002, represented by FIDH lawyers, were recognized in 2006 as participating victims at the ICC investigation stage.   FIDH and its member organisations supported the opening and holding of trials at the ICC in the cases against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Germain Katanga, and Bosco Ntaganda, calling for effective victim participation, adequate outreach programs to affected communities, as well as meaningful reparations measures for victims. They also called for the establishment of a Mixed Specialised Court in DRC to try international crimes committed in the country. Our organisations welcome the recent arrest of Roger Lumbala and the opening of a judicial investigation against him in France for his role in crimes against humanity committed in Ituri province in 2002-2003.   Our organisations support the campaign against impunity in the DRC through the film initiative entitled "Justice for Congo". Recently, they joined the initiative of the Collective of young Congolese volunteer activists who launched a memorial of the Mapping Report online sponsored by Dr Mukwege.   In this context, our organisations supported the petition of NGOs initiated by the National Survivors Network in the DRC, the Panzi Foundation (DRC and USA), and the Mukwege Foundation, addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations, calling for support and assistance to the Congolese authorities to implement the report’s recommendations.   "Since at least the 1990s, we, the Congolese people, have suffered this violence and we see that these crimes continue again and again, with rampant impunity. Yet, the evidence is there. The victims are sometimes still alive to testify. What are we waiting for to open investigations and prosecute those responsible!" - Paul Nsapu, FIDH vice president   FIDH and its members in the DRC also recall that other serious crimes continue to be committed in the country since 2003, generated by growing impunity. Our organisations have thus investigated the serious crimes committed in December 2018 in Yumbi, in the province of Maï-Ndombe, and then those committed in the provinces of Kasaï during the pre-electoral period from 2016 to 2018. For over ten years, our organisations have called for truth and justice in the case of those responsible for the assassination of human rights defender Floribert Chebeya and the disappearance of his driver Fidèle Bazana.   This case had inspired one of Thierry Michel’s previous films, "L’affaire Chebeya, un crime d’Etat?" which FIDH and its member organisations supported when it was released in France in 2012. While trials have been opened in these cases, our organisations deplore the scant progress made in these cases and the fact that those responsible for these crimes are still in office or even promoted.   FIDH and its member organisations in the DRC therefore call on the Congolese authorities, with the help of their partners, to promptly implement a holistic response to the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes, as part of a broader framework of transitional justice through, among other things:   - the opening of independent, impartial and transparent investigations into cases ;   - the implementation of a "vetting" process within the DRC’s defence and security forces, and the adoption of a national plan for reparations to victims of serious human rights violations, including a specific programme for victims of sexual violence ;   - the establishment of mediation and support mechanisms for victims and affected communities ;   - the implementation of necessary reforms to ensure the effectiveness, impartiality, and independence of the judicial system   Oslo, 10 Dec. 2018   Nobel Peace Prize 2018: Speech of Denis Mukwege   "On the tragic night of October 6, 1996, rebels attacked our hospital in Lemera, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More than thirty people were killed. Patients shot in their beds at close range. Staff unable to flee, killed in cold blood. I could not imagine that this was only the beginning. The human toll of this perverse and organized chaos was hundreds of thousands of women raped, more than 4 million internally displaced persons and the loss of 6 million lives.   Imagine, the equivalent of the entire population of Denmark decimated. UN peacekeepers and experts have not been spared. Many died during the course of carrying out their mandate. The United Nations Mission in the DRC remains present to this day to ensure that the situation does not degenerate any further.   My name is Denis Mukwege. I am from a country which is one of the richest in the world. Yet my fellow countrymen and women are among the poorest in the world. The disturbing reality is that the abundance of our natural resources - gold, coltan, cobalt and other strategic minerals - is fueling the war which is the source of extreme violence and despicable poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo.   As I speak, a report is gathering dust in a desk drawer in New York. It is a result of a professional and rigorous investigation into war crimes and human rights violations in Congo. This investigation explicitly names victims, places, and dates but leaves out the perpetrators.   This Mapping Report, prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, describes no less than 617 war crimes and crimes against humanity and possibly even crimes of genocide. What is it going to take for the world to take this into account? There is no lasting peace without justice, yet justice is not negotiable".   http://www.fidh.org/en/region/Africa/democratic-republic-of-congo/empire-du-silence-impunity-cycles-violence-drc http://www.fidh.org/en/region/Africa/democratic-republic-of-congo/1-october-2020-10th-anniversary-of-the-publication-of-the-report-of http://www.memorialrdcongo.org/ http://www.mapping-report.org/en/ http://www.fidh.org/en/region/Africa/democratic-republic-of-congo/   * Nov. 2021   IPC Democratic Republic of Congo Alert   Around 27 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between September and December 2021, of which around 6.1 million people are experiencing critical levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4). The country has the largest number of highly food insecure people in the world. In the projection period, from January to June 2022, 25.9 million people or 25% of the analysed population will likely be in IPC Phase 3 or above, including 5.4 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).   http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-51/en/ http://bit.ly/3M4fTkr http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/alerts-archive/en/ Visit the related web page
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