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US Urges China to Halt Repression of Uyghurs and Other Religious Minorities

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Washington DC, August 31:
Friday was the second anniversary of a UN report on human rights in Xinjiang. On this occasion, the US State Department conveyed its displeasure and urged China to cease its present persecution of Muslim Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities.

Xinjiang was the site of "serious human rights violations" according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' 2022 report.

Matthew Miller, the US State Department's X official stated, "Two years since the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released an assessment on human rights violations in Xinjiang, the US continues to urge the PRC (People's Republic of China) to take immediate action and end the ongoing repression of Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups."

As stated in a news release by the US Department of State, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) determined in 2022 following an evaluation that lasted several years that "serious human rights violations have been committed" in Xinjiang.

The United States is disappointed that the PRC has refused to release all individuals arbitrarily detained, end all forms of intimidation and reprisals against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang and worldwide, and investigate claims of human rights abuses such as torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and forced medical treatment, according to the release. The PRC has rejected the findings of the OHCHR assessment for two years and has refused to implement the High Commissioner's recommendations.

According to the High Commissioner's assessment, the continuous persecution of Xinjiang's ethnic and religious minorities, including the mostly Muslim Uyghur population, "may constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity." This issue continues to cause significant concern for the United States. The announcement reiterated the previous call for the PRC to immediately put a stop to the ongoing atrocities.

Meanwhile, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement the day before condemning the Chinese government for what it called "human rights abuses in Xinjiang," where Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are allegedly subjected to ongoing human rights violations.

"The UN human rights chief and UN member states need to vigorously pursue Beijing's brazen refusal to meaningfully address well-documented crimes in Xinjiang," Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said in response to the situation. The Chinese government's punitive campaign in Xinjiang, which has affected millions of Uyghurs, is still causing them a lot of suffering, despite what they say.

Many members of Xinjiang's Muslim minority are still unfairly imprisoned, and their loved ones back home and abroad have very little contact with them. A lot of people have to deal with the constant fear that their loved ones—sometimes hundreds of them—are still in captivity or have vanished without a trace.