VP/HR — Mass arbitrary detention of 1 million Uyghurs by Chinese Government in political indoctrination camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
6.9.2018
Question for written answer E-004540-18
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE) , Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD) , Petras Auštrevičius (ALDE) , Csaba Sógor (PPE) , László Tőkés (PPE)
Numerous credible reports[1] have indicated that an estimated 1 million[2] Uyghurs are being arbitrarily detained in large internment camps by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The detainees are targeted due to their ethnicity and religion and are subjected to indoctrination intended to instil loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Detainees are charged with no crime, are being held indefinitely and are denied their basic legal rights.
First-hand testimony has indicated that detainees are held in miserable conditions and subjected to torture[3]. A number of individuals have died[4].
UN CERD referred to the camps in the findings of its review of China, calling on China to release all those in arbitrary detention and immediately cease the practice of extra-legal detentions[5]. In an official letter, UN WGEID expressed its deep concern over the trend of enforced disappearances of Uyghurs, which escalated dramatically in April 2017 with the introduction of the camps.
In August 2018, a bipartisan group of 17 US Senators and Congressmen wrote an official letter urging the US Government to take immediate action on the camps, including imposing targeted sanctions[6], [7].
Considering the gravity of the situation, what specific measures is the VP/HR taking to secure the release of all those held in the camps and to hold China accountable for this serious human rights violation?
- [1] https://www.nchrd.org/2018/08/china-massive-numbers-of-uyghurs-other-ethnic-minorities-forced-into-re-education-programs/
- [2] https://jamestown.org/program/evidence-for-chinas-political-re-education-campaign-in-xinjiang/
- [3] https://apnews.com/6e151296fb194f85ba69a8babd972e4b
- [4] https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/mother-07022018164214.html
- [5] https://tbInternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/CHN/CERD_C_CHN_CO_14-17_32237_E.pdf
- [6] https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-push-to-sanction-chinese-officials-over-xinjiang-camps-1535554800
- [7] https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Disappearances/A_HRC_WGEID_115_1_EN.docx