GENEVA — The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet mentioned potential rights violations in China and Israel in an address on Wednesday that condemned a litany of “gross inequalities” at play across the world today.
Ms. Bachelet pressed China to allow an independent inquiry into reports of abuses and enforced disappearances in the country, particularly in the western region of Xinjiang, where the Muslim Uighur minority resides.
Stability and security in Xinjiang, an area at the center of China’s $1 trillion “Belt and Road” initiative, “can be facilitated by policies which demonstrate the authorities’ respect of all people’s rights,” she said.
Ms. Bachelet also had harsh words for Israel’s blockade of Gaza, saying the policy had left “more than 70 percent of people on humanitarian assistance, primarily food.”
Ms. Bachelet’s statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva was her first annual assessment of global rights since she took up her post in August.
Here are some of the major cases she cited.
China’s mass re-education program
While Ms. Bachelet praised the rapid economic progress that has lifted millions of Chinese out of poverty in recent years, she was critical of Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang. Uighurs there have increasingly been targeted by the authorities, including being rounded up en masse.
Ms. Bachelet’s highlighting of the situation in Xinjiang will probably annoy Beijing, which sharply denies that it has forcibly detained upward of one million Uighurs. The government says the camps are intended to eliminate the risk of Islamist radicalization.
But academic research and news reports have challenged those claims. After the issue was brought to global attention last year, China embarked on an intensive information campaign including guided tours to Xinjiang for diplomats stationed in Beijing. The visits were carefully choreographed to reinforce the official narrative that the camps provided vocational training to improve livelihoods in one of China’s poorest regions.
Rights groups say Ms. Bachelet should continue to push for access for independent monitors.
“We should expect a firm rebuke from the Chinese delegation” Sarah Brooks, a China specialist at the nonprofit International Service for Human Rights, said. “The High Commissioner should be prepared to stand her ground on these demands.”
Israel’s blockade of Gaza
Ms. Bachelet drew attention to “the devastating impact” on economic and social rights arising from Israel’s policy toward Gaza.
The blockade began in 2007 after Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip. Ms. Bachelet said that the ensuing 12 years had led to negative economic growth and environmental degradation.
“It could be said that the major product of Gaza’s economy is despair,” she said. “Imposing economic hardship on Palestinians does not make Israelis safer.”
Ms. Bachelet also expressed disappointment that Israel had dismissed a report released by United Nations investigators last week that suggested there may have been rights violations during mass demonstrations last year at the border with Gaza.
The report said that Israeli troops could have committed crimes against humanity in shooting unarmed civilians — including children — who posed no threat during the protests.
Saudi Arabia’s crackdown
Ms. Bachelet turned a spotlight on Saudi Arabia, where the government announced last week that women’s rights activists detained last year would be put on trial but did not specify a date or the charges.
She expressed concern that the women had suffered torture and sexual abuse in prison, and she called for their release. “The persecution of peaceful activists would clearly contradict the spirit of the country’s proclaimed new reforms,” she said.
Saudi Arabia will face further pressure from the Human Rights Council on Thursday. Rights groups say European states are set to introduce a resolution in the council urging the Middle Eastern country’s government to release the activists and also to cooperate with an investigation into the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul.
The drug war in the Philippines
Ms. Bachelet reserved some of her sharpest criticism for President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and for his ruthless antidrug campaign. She cited estimates that about 27,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since 2016.
“People who have fallen into the trap of drug reliance need help to rebuild their lives; drug policies should not be more of a threat to their lives than the drugs they are abusing,” she said. She urged Mr. Duterte to shift focus to public heath policies to combat addiction.
Activists, journalists and opposition politicians have come under attack for criticizing Mr. Duterte’s tactics, and even United Nations investigators have faced threats, she noted. The government’s consideration of measures to reintroduce the death penalty for drug-related crimes and to lower the age of criminal responsibility were also reasons for concern, she added.
“The drug policies in place in the Philippines, and its lack of respect for rule of law and international standards, should not be considered a model by any country,” she said.
Source : Nytimes
