MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on reports of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the Xinjiang police files

7.6.2022 - (2022/2700(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Engin Eroglu, Abir Al‑Sahlani, Petras Auštrevičius, Nicola Beer, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Olivier Chastel, Klemen Grošelj, Bernard Guetta, Svenja Hahn, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Nathalie Loiseau, Javier Nart, Dragoş Pîslaru, Samira Rafaela, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Michal Šimečka, Nicolae Ştefănuță, Ramona Strugariu, Dragoş Tudorache, Hilde Vautmans, Marie‑Pierre Vedrenne
on behalf of the Renew Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0310/2022

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B9‑0311/2022

European Parliament resolution on reports of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the Xinjiang police files

(2022/2700(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its decision to award the 2019 Sakharov Prize to Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist fighting peacefully for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority;

–  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 2012,

–  having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by China on 4 October 1988;

–  having regard to the Genocide Convention signed by China in 1949;

–  having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

–  having regard to the European Parliament's Resolution on forced labour and the situation of the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (2020/2913(RSP)) and the European Parliament resolution on the situation of the Uyghurs in China (China Cables) (2019/2945(RSP))

–  having regard to the European Parliament’s recommendation of 21 October 2021 to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on EU-Taiwan political relations and cooperation (2021/2041(INI))

–  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

1. whereas the promotion of and respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law are at the centre of the EU relations with China, in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold these very same values in its external action and China’s commitment to adhere to them in its own development and international cooperation;
2. whereas China has been pursuing the systemic persecution of the Uyghur people, Tibetans, Mongols and other ethnic minorities, human rights defenders, social activists, religious groups, journalists, and petitioners and protesters against injustices, as well as increasingly repressing all dissenting and opposition voices
3. whereas independent sources have come to the conclusion that the human rights violations against the Uyghurs committed by the Chinese authorities constitute acts of torture, crimes against humanity and genocide; whereas similar conclusions have been drawn by the United States Government and legislatures in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, and Lithuania;
4. whereas, since President Xi Jinping assumed power in March 2013, the human rights situation in China has continued to deteriorate; whereas the Chinese Government has increased its hostility against the human rights and the rule of law;
5. whereas a data trove- referred to as the Xinjiang police files date back to 2018 and include thousands of photographs of detained people; whereas over 2,800 images of detainees, 300,000 personal records, 23,000 detainee records and 10 camp police instructions have been leaked; whereas the leaked files show an inside view of the operations of the Chinese detention camps in China; whereas the police files shows that China uses re-education camps and prisons as systems of mass detention for Uyghurs;
6. whereas the documents published by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and a group of media, amongst other the BBC and USA Today; whereas there is  a plethora of policy and meeting notes referring to plans of Xinjiang officials over the ethnic Muslim Uyghur population and the formation of plans to carry out the mass detention programme;
7. whereas the publication of the leaked Xinjiang police files coincided with the visit of UN High Commissioner Bachelet; whereas UN High Commissioner mentioned that her trip was aimed at promoting, protecting and respecting human rights and not as part of an investigation process;
8. whereas hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities detained in vast network of purpose-built detention facilities in the Xinjiang region; whereas over 380 sites of re-education camps and detentions centres have been built since 2017;
9. whereas the Chinese government has been accused of detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region of Xinjiang; whereas the police files include thousands shots of detainees held in a network of camps in Xinjiang; whereas the youngest detainee was a 14-year old girl and the older was a 73-year old woman;
10. whereas the hacked files embed speeches from high-ranking Party officials; whereas the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has referred to the re-education camps, as schools that aim to de-radicalisation; whereas China’s Minister for Public Security suggested that at least two million people are extremists in southern Xinjiang region;
11. whereas the Chinese authorities are being accused of waging a campaign of forced labour, coerced sterilisation and the destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage; whereas many people have been detained for ordinary, outward signs of their Islamic faith or for visiting countries with majority Muslim populations; 
12. whereas leaked images and documents reveal alleged human rights abuses of the Chinese authorities in the Xinjiang region; whereas there are references on the use of batons and assault rifles, killings and methods of physically subduing detainees in the police security protocols; whereas claims of coercion have been repeatedly denied by China’s senior officials.
13. whereas the human rights violations committed by the Chinese authorities have become increasingly systematic; whereas the Chinese government has breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the handover of Hong Kong; whereas there is justified concern that the human rights violations committed by the Chinese authorities could also be committed in Taiwan.
14. Whereas China exerts transnational repression via a full range of activities from espionage, cyberattacks, physical assaults, to the issuance of Red Notices via Interpol and more recently the use of the so-called "vaccine diplomacy";
    1. Calls on the Chinese authorities to promptly respond to the alleged human rights violations and accusations of committing genocide against the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region and to allow independent monitoring by international human rights mechanisms, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; 
    2. Calls on the Chinese government not to impose the Hong Kong National Security Law;
    3. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to strengthen cooperation and relations between the EU and Taiwan, move towards a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan and to come up with concrete proposals and action to facilitate Taiwan’s full participation as an observer in the meetings, mechanism and activities of international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Calls on the Member States to recognise all Uyghurs wishing to come to the EU as refugees; calls on the Chinese authorities to grant all Uyghurs wishing to do so to leave the People's Republic of China;
    4. Recalls that China ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which provides for the absolute and non-derogable prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;
    5. Express its serious concerns about the reported persistent, systematic, and inhumane abuses of human rights taking place in detention centres in Xinjiang according to the recently leaked police files 
    6. Calls on the Commission to demonstrate to the European Parliament how it intends to guarantee that no forced labour products from Xinjiang enter the EU market;
    7. Calls on the Chinese government to scrutinise and prosecute government officials who may have been involved in the mass detention campaign against the Uyghur people.
    8. Calls on the Commission to impose sanctions against Chinese officers and government officials identified in the Xinjiang Police Files;
    9. Calls on the UN Human Rights Council to create a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity, genocide and other human rights abuses against the Uyghur population in the camps and facilities referenced in the Xinjiang Police Files
    10. Urges the Chinese Government to proceed to release all the detainees that have been unjustifiably captured; requests the Chinese authorities to provide evidence to their families that all detainees are alive; calls on the Chinese authorities to guarantee detainees' rights to allow regular contact with family members
    11. Calls on all the Member States of the Human rights Council to introduce a resolution condemning the constant violation of human rights against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.
    12. Calls on the Council to address the human rights violations in Xinjiang at the next Council summit and to urge the G7 and G20 Member States to address the topic likewise;
    13. Strongly condemns any kind of transnational repression or attempts of repression against Chinese dissidents or the Uyghur community representatives residing abroad; condemns as well the use of the vaccine diplomacy as a means of pressure to exert  transnational repression;
    14. Calls on the EU and the Member States to suspend the extradition treaties with China;
    15. Calls on China to explain the allegations and the documents displaying re-education camps as prison-like nature centres;
    16. Regrets the tenor of the UN Human Rights Commissioner Bachelet’s speech during her visit which failed to clearly hold the Chinese government accountable for rights abuse against Uighurs; Calls on her to condemn the ongoing gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity against the Uyghur population, within the meaning of Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
    17. Expresses its concerns over the alleged accusations of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture of women in China re-education camps;
    18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China.