India "notes the serious maltreatment" of minorities in China's Xinjiang

New Delhi, Sept 2: The Ministry of External Affairs, though refused to comment on the UN human rights office over a report that found Beijing's crackdown on ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, it noted that this is about the serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang.

 

 

When asked about the UN report, Arindam Bagchi, MEA spokesperson, said, "Our understanding is that the report is about the serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang, but this is a UNHRC report so for the moment let the UN comment on it. So I have nothing further to say for the moment, except that to note that this is about the, as I said, serious maltreatment of minorities in Xinjiang."

 

 

 

The report was published just minutes before the end of UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet's four-year term and after months of unexplained delays. It stated that China has committed "serious human rights violations" against the Uyghur and "other predominantly Muslim communities" in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

 

 

 

The report said that the violations have taken place in the context of the Chinese Government's assertion that it is targeting terrorists among the Uyghur minority with a counter-extremism strategy that involves the use of so-called Vocational Educational and Training Centres (VETCs), or re-education camps.

 

Reuters had reported last month that China had asked Bachelet to bury the report, according to a Chinese letter that diplomats confirmed. Bachelet confirmed the previous week of receiving the letter, which she said was signed by about 40 other states, adding that her office would not respond to such pressure.

 

 

After she visited China in May, Bachelet faced severe criticism from human rights groups for being too soft on the Asian giant. The former Chilean president had since stated that she will refrain from seeking a second term for personal reasons.

 

Hours after the release of much awaited UN report, Liu Yuyin, spokesperson for the Chinese mission to Geneva, called the "so-called 'assessment' on Xinjiang" a "farce" and a politically motivated attempt to smear China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said, "This so-called assessment is orchestrated and produced by the US and some Western forces and is completely illegal, null and void. It is a patchwork of disinformation that serves as a political tool for the US and some Western forces to strategically use Xinjiang to contain China."