51st Session UNHRC: Intervention by Ms. Yoana Barakova (Senior Research Analyst EFSAS) on General Debate Item 3
21-09-2022, Geneva
Text and video of Ms. Yoana Barakova's intervention on General Debate Item 3 (Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development) during the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Video of Ms. Yoana Barakova's Intervention ntervention on General Debate Item 3 during the 51st Session of the UNHRC.
"Madam Vice President,
The release of the report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Xinjiang has highlighted China’s subjection of innocent Muslims to torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence and labor exploitation for years in its so-called ‘re-education camps’, simply for being Muslim and non-Han. Chinese authorities have wrongly justified these gross human rights violations in the name of counterterrorism.
On the other hand, Beijing is cozying up to a terrorist outfit in Afghanistan. China is clearly willing to legitimize the Taliban in political practice as long as it gains unrestricted access to Afghanistan's abundance of natural resources.
This conscious Chinese strategy of exploiting the economic and political vulnerabilities of poor nations has already had devasting consequences for South Asia. Sri Lanka, for example, was forced to part with physical national assets. Pakistan, home of the BRI’s flagship project CPEC, is also negatively affected by China’s ambitions. Pakistan further faces the dilemma that, while championing Muslim causes across the world, it has become such a vassal state of China that it cannot dare or afford to even speak out about its own dependency or the subjugation of its fellow Muslims in Xinjiang.
Madam Vice President,
The recent UN report lays a solid foundation for further UN action to establish accountability for the abuses by China.
We urge this council to set up an independent international mechanism to investigate these crimes under international law.
Thank you".
