MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on 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

Željana Zovko, David Lega, Michael Gahler, David McAllister, Rasa Juknevičienė, Sandra Kalniete, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Antonio Tajani, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Paulo Rangel, Traian Băsescu, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Arba Kokalari, Vangelis Meimarakis, Janina Ochojska, José Manuel Fernandes, Ivan Štefanec, Michaela Šojdrová, Inese Vaidere, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Miriam Lexmann, Krzysztof Hetman, Seán Kelly, Christian Sagartz, Vladimír Bilčík, Andrey Kovatchev, Peter van Dalen, Tomáš Zdechovský, Sara Skyttedal, Romana Tomc, Peter Pollák, Adam Jarubas, Stanislav Polčák, Loránt Vincze
on behalf of the PPE 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.

B9‑0319/2022

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

(2022/270(RSP))

The European Parliament,

-  having regard to its previous resolutions on China,

 

-  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 should be at the centre of the EU’s relations with China, in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold these values in its external action and China’s commitment to adhere to them in its own development and international cooperation;

 

2. whereas the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and a number of international media outlets, including the BBC, Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde and Germany’s Der Spiegel were able to examine the Xinjiang police files;

 

3. whereas the Xinjiang police files document in detail – and, for the first time, with numerous photos, – the dimensions of the systematic, brutal and arbitrary repression in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang;

 

4. whereas the Uyghur Tribunal and other credible, independent investigative bodies and research organisations have concluded that China’s serious and systemic human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic peoples amount to torture, crimes against humanity and genocide;[1] whereas the U.S. Government, and legislative bodies in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Czech Republic, and Ireland have made similar determinations;

 

1. Condemns in the strongest possible terms that the Uyghur community in the People’s Republic of China has been systematically oppressed by brutal measures including family separation, restrictions of religious freedom, cultural destruction, and surveillance;

 

2. States that the credible evidence about birth prevention measures and the separation of Uyghur children from their families, amount to crimes against humanity and genocide;

 

3. Expresses its serious concerns about excessive and arbitrary prison sentences on allegations of terrorism or extremism which, according to the Xinjiang police files, amounted to 22,000 persons detained in the year 2018 representing 12 per-cent of the Xijang region’s adult Uygur population[2];

 

4. urges the Chinese Government to put an immediate end to the practice of arbitrary detention without charge, trial or conviction for criminal offences of Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic peoples, to close all camps and detention centres, and to immediately and unconditionally release those detained;

 

5. Calls on all members of the international community and all stakeholders to address the issue of the Xinjiang police files when engaging with the People’s Republic of China;

 

6. Calls upon the European Union and its Member States to take all necessary steps in accordance with the UN Genocide Convention to end these atrocities and ensure responsibility for the crimes committed, including through international accountability mechanisms;

 

7. 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, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China.

 

 

 

• [1] https://uyghurtribunal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Uyghur-Tribunal-Summary-Judgment-9th-Dec-21.pdf;
  https://14ee1ae3-14ee-4012-91cf-a6a3b7dc3d8b.usrfiles.com/ugd/14ee1a_3f31c56ca64a461592ffc2690c9bb737.pdf;
  https://newlinesinstitute.org/uyghurs/the-uyghur-genocide-an-examination-of-chinas-breaches-of-the-1948-genocide-convention/
  https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/reports-and-resources/the-chinese-governments-assault-on-the-uyghurs
• [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/24/xinjiang-michelle-bachelet-china-uyghur/