The UN rights chief on Monday called for concerted action to recover from the worst global deterioration of rights she had seen, highlighting the situation in China, Russia and Ethiopia, among others.
“To recover from the most wide-reaching and severe cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes, we need a life-changing vision, and concerted action,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s 47th session.
The session, which lasts until July 13 and is being held by videoconference, is set to feature an eagerly anticipated report by Bachelet about systemic racism, as well as draft resolutions on Myanmar, Belarus and Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Photo: AFP
In her opening address, Bachelet said that she was deeply disturbed by reports of “serious violations” in Tigray, racked by war and with about 350,000 people threatened by famine.
She pointed to “extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, sexual violence against children as well as adults,” and said she had “credible reports” that Eritrean soldiers were still operating in the region.
Other parts of Ethiopia, which held elections on Monday, were also seeing “alarming incidents of deadly ethnic and intercommunal violence and displacement,” Bachelet said.
“The ongoing deployment of military forces is not a durable solution,” she said, calling for national dialogue.
Bachelet also decried the situation in northern Mozambique, ravaged by deadly violence, where she said food insecurity was rising and “almost 800,000 people, including 364,000 children” had now been forced to flee their homes.
Bachelet also spoke of the “chilling impact” of a National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing.
The law, which took effect on July 1 last year, is seen as the spear tip of a sweeping crackdown on Beijing’s critics in the territory following 2019’s huge protests.
It has criminalized much dissent, given China jurisdiction over some cases and awarded the Hong Kong government powerful new investigative powers.
Bachelet said that “107 people have been arrested under the National Security Law and 57 have been formally charged.”
She also pointed to “reports of serious human rights violations” in China’s Xinjiang region and said that she hoped Beijing would grant her a long-discussed visit there, including “meaningful access.”
The UN rights chief has been facing diplomatic pressure to speak out about China’s policies in Xinjiang, where the US has accused Beijing of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uighurs.
At least 1 million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been held in camps, according to rights groups — allegations Beijing vehemently denies.
Liu Yuyin (劉玉印), a spokesman at the Chinese mission in Geneva, Switzerland, said Bachelet had made “erroneous remarks” on Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and should “stop making erroneous remarks which interfere in China’s sovereignty and judicial independence.”
Liu said Bachelet would be welcome to visit Xinjiang, but the trip “should be a friendly one ... rather than making the so-called ‘investigation’ under the presumption of guilt.”
Dozens of nations, led by Canada, were expected to deliver a joint statement to the council yesterday which would reportedly voice concern about the rights situation in Xinjiang, and demand that China grant Bachelet and other independent observers unfettered access.
“Certain countries and forces, out of political motives, spread shameless lies about Xinjiang in an attempt to tarnish China’s image,” Liu said. “Their attempt will not go anywhere.”
Bachelet also criticized measures by the Kremlin shrinking the space for opposing political views and access to participation in elections in September.
She highlighted moves to dismantle the movement of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Barring his organizations from working in the nation, a Moscow court earlier this month branded them as “extremist” in a ruling Bachelet said was “based on vaguely defined allegations of attempting to change the foundations of constitutional order.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation that outlaws staff, members and sponsors of so-called “extremist” groups from running in parliamentary elections.
“I call on Russia to uphold civil and political rights,” Bachelet said.
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