Switzerland urges China to close Uighur detention camps
Around 1,000 Uighur and Tibetan protesters from around Europe demonstrated outside the UN headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday
Keystone
China faced criticism by Switzerland and other western countries in Geneva on Tuesday concerning detention camps allegedly holding up to one million Uighurs and other Muslims.
During the review, western countries – including Belgium, France, Germany and the United States – described the deteriorating human rights situation in China since the last UPR, especially its treatment of Muslims in the western Xinjiang region.
Switzerland and other states called for the closure of “re-education camps” for Uighurs in the Xinjiang region and for access to visits by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
China, meanwhile, rejects Western criticism and allegations of suspected mass detention and heavy surveillance of Uighurs in the region of Xinjiang.
“We will not accept politically-driven accusations from a few countries that are fraught with biases,” Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Yucheng told the council. China has claims that Xinjiang is under threat from Islamist militants and separatists.
During the UPR, Switzerland also urged China to respect the human rights of the Tibetan people and other minorities.
“We also recommend ending the practice of “surveillance residences in a designated location”, specifically for human rights defenders and lawyers,” said Swiss ambassador Sabrina Dallafior.
On Tuesday, around 1,000 Tibetan and Uighur protesters from around Europe demonstrated outside the UN headquarters in Geneva.
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Tibetans and Uighurs protest in Geneva
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“Stop the genocide against Tibetans,” people shouted in the Place des Nations square. They called for the Chinese president, who is on a week-long visit to Switzerland and the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, to bring back “Swiss democracy to Tibet and to China”. On Sunday, Swiss police detained 32 Tibetans and…
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