The Australian government should take the lead with other governments to continue to publicly criticize grave human rights abuses in China, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. An Australian-led joint statement at the United Nations General Assembly on October 22, 2024, expressed ongoing concerns about the Chinese government's serious human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry's criticism of the General Assembly statement and of Australia in particular highlights the importance of countries raising these matters in public forums.
"The Chinese government's human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet have continued unabated in recent years and in some respects have gotten even worse," said Daniela Gavshon, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. "It's crucial for Australia to work with other concerned governments to take strong, coordinated action to hold the Chinese government to account."
In August 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a landmark report on Xinjiang that found that the Chinese government had committed serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims that "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity." Two years after the report's publication, Chinese authorities have made no meaningful efforts to carry out the recommendations or stem their relentless abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, instead dismissing the report as "illegal and void."
The High Commissioner's Office stated in August that "many problematic laws and policies remain in place" and identified a lack of access and risk of reprisals against people engaging with the UN as key barriers in ongoing monitoring efforts.
The human rights situation in Tibet is also very alarming, the organizations said. Multiple UN human rights bodies have expressed concern over the Chinese government's forced assimilation of Tibetans into Chinese society and its moves to erase Tibet's distinct identity.
These include the marginalization of the Tibetan language in favor of Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction in primary schools. The government has also engaged in massive involuntary relocations that have disrupted the lives of Tibetan farmers and nomads, compelling them to abandon traditional livelihoods for manufacturing and construction work.
"For years, China has severely restricted the access of independent international observers to Tibet," said Ry Atkinson, Amnesty International's strategic campaigner. "If there is truly nothing to hide, China must allow Australian government officials and other international actors unrestricted access to assess the human rights situation on the ground."
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urge the Australian government to continue to promote a coordinated international response to press the Chinese government to account for all those missing and arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang, end cultural assimilation in Xinjiang and Tibet, and take concrete action in response to the General Assembly statement and the UN human rights office's report.
"Australia and other countries should not be deterred by the Chinese government's transparent attempt to bully them into silence," Atkinson said. "No state, no matter how influential, should be shielded from accountability for human rights violations."
