Uyghurs abuse: Why UN is accusing China for 'crimes against humanity'

The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity, the UN said

In a long-awaited report, the United Nations on Thursday accused China of actions that "may constitute international crimes, in particular, crimes against humanity" in its Xinjiang region for mass detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

"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," the report stated.

The UN report further stated that the allegations of sexual and gender-based violence, including of rape, "appear credible and would in themselves amount to acts of torture or other forms of ill-treatment."

Who are the Uyghurs?

According to a BBC report, there are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang. Like Tibet, the region is autonomous, which lies in the north-west of China.

Instead of Mandarin, they speak their own language, similar to Turkish. The community finds themselves close to Central Asian countries.

Reports suggest the province has been witnessing a mass migration of China's ethnic majority, Han Chinese, into Xinjiang, orchestrated by the government to dilute the minority population. The census cited in the UN report said the population was more than 75 per cent of the region in 1953. At present, it is less than half of the total population.

The country since then has been accused of targeting Muslim figures, destroying mosques and banning religious practices.

Atrocities against Uyghurs

The UN report talks about mass sterilisation, forced labour, torture, sexual abuse and possible crimes against humanity. However, it does not call it genocide.

Everything from having too many children, wearing a veil or beard, or not using one’s passport is cited as behaviours that can lead authorities to identify individuals as being at risk of “extremism” and mark them for possible detention, reports AFP.

Former detainees interviewed by the UN describe being beaten while immobilised in “tiger chairs” used by Chinese police to restrain interrogation subjects and being forced to receive unexplained medical treatments, as well as instances of rape and “invasive gynaecological examinations”.

“The government’s blanket denials of all allegations, as well as its gendered and humiliating attacks on those who have come forward to share their experiences… have added to the indignity and suffering of survivors,” the UN report says.

The UN says it spoke to women who recounted being “forced to have abortions or forced to have IUDs inserted”, claims it said are believed to be credible, AFP report added.

China's view on Uyghurs

China denies all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

In 2014, President Xi Jinping warned of the “toxicity of religious extremism” and advocated for using the tools of “dictatorship” to eliminate Islamist extremism. The warning was made in a secret speech while he was visiting Xinjiang. In 2019, the speeches were revealed by the New York of Times.

As per the UN report, a number of watchdogs have also come up with several reports with first-person accounts of affected minorities, which showed Beijing's active involvement in the crime against humanity.

On Thursday, China said the UN rights office was the “thug and accomplice of the US and the West”.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “has already sunk to (becoming) the thug and accomplice of the US and the West against the vast majority of developing countries”.