Human rights organizations call on Guterres to condemn China’s policies towards Uighurs

International human rights organizations have called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “publicly and unequivocally condemn the mass detention of more than a million people from

International human rights organizations have called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “publicly and unequivocally condemn the mass detention of more than a million people from the Muslim Uighur minority in China.”

This came in a joint letter sent by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The three organizations said in their letter that the UN chief should join the growing number of those who speak out against the mass detention in China of more than a million Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang and condemn the arbitrary policies of the Chinese government.

“The Secretary-General should use the weight and authority of his office to unequivocally call on China’s leadership to close arbitrary detention centers in Xinjiang and demand an end to persecution,” the organizations’ letter stressed.

“The Secretary-General’s preferred approach to the Chinese government on Xinjiang is to pursue private diplomacy, but the Chinese government has not responded,” the letter said.

The letter also urged the Chinese authorities to grant the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and United Nations experts immediate and unimpeded access to Uighur camps in the territory of East Turkistan.