(Geneva) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday it wants to achieve “tangible progress” on the human rights situation in China, following a recent visit to Beijing.
China and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have held a series of roundtable discussions in Geneva since February 2023.
Following these meetings, the High Commission was able to send, from May 26 to 1er June, in Beijing “a team” which “engaged in dialogue with the authorities, specifically on anti-terrorist policies and on the criminal justice system,” indicated a spokesperson in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani, during a regular press briefing.
“In terms of cooperation, it is positive” but “as regards the effective implementation of the recommendations, there are many things that leave something to be desired,” she said.
“That’s why we have to continue to work and engage with them to see where we can make progress, tangible progress,” she added.
The spokesperson stressed that the UN’s engagement with China was “long term”: “we should not expect immediate results overnight,” she said, stressing that the issues discussed are “sensitive.”
In June, the High Commission had contested being too inactive on human rights violations in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, as several major NGOs have criticised it for doing.
Several human rights groups had called on the United Nations to act, nearly two years after the publication of an explosive report detailing numerous violations in Xinjiang, home to a Muslim minority that Beijing is accused of persecuting.
This report was published in August 2022 by Michelle Bachelet, who preceded Volker Türk as head of the High Commission.
Categorically rejected by China, the report listed a series of human rights violations committed against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, citing possible “crimes against humanity.”
Mme Shamdasani said on Tuesday that the High Commission team met with many representatives of state authorities as well as representatives from Xinjiang and Hong Kong during its visit to Beijing.
“With regard to Xinjiang in particular, we understand that many problematic laws and policies remain in place, and we have again called on the authorities to undertake a comprehensive review, from a human rights perspective, of the legal framework governing national security and counter-terrorism, and to strengthen the protection of minorities from discrimination,” she said.
Furthermore, she added, “allegations of human rights violations, including torture, must be thoroughly investigated.”