Xinjiang-Related Report Shows OHCHR 'Serves US & EU Geopolitics,' Ex-UN Independent Expert Says

China denounced the Xinjiang-related so-called "assessment" released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on August 31 as a “farce planned by the United States, Western nations and anti-China forces.”

Beijing has roundly condemned the "assessment" of human rights concerns in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday. The 45-page report documented what it described as “serious human rights violations” committed in XUAR in the context of the Chinese government’s "application of counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies."

“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy… may constitute crimes against humanity,” the outgoing UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, said in the OHCHR assessment.

The OHCHR report, published after a lengthy delay, was decried by Beijing as “maliciously distorting Chinese laws… smearing China's Xinjiang fight against terrorism and de-radicalization, and interfering with its internal affairs.”

Servicing ‘US & EU Geopolitics’

Weighing in on criticism of the report by the Chinese authorities, who claim the politicized document was conceived to provide “ammunition for Western political manipulation of Xinjiang-related issues,” Professor Alfred de Zayas agreed that the human rights field has been largely “hijacked by powerful Western interests.”

“The UN Human Rights Council is in the service of US and EU geopolitics and pursues a skewed human rights policy - much lip service to universal principles, but selectivity in application, double-standards in assessment of country situations,” Professor Alfred de Zayas claimed.

Deploring the politicization of the work of the council, the expert underscored that many non-governmental organizations have abandoned their initial function of watchdogs and become “attack dogs of Washington and Brussels.”

Fact-finding is particularly important given the “Western Information War,” currently witnessed on a global scale, the professor added.

“Experience shows in the cases of Belarus, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Venezuela, etc. that the Western Information War has been effective in distorting the picture,” Professor Alfred de Zayas emphasized.

At this point he drew parallels between the use of the Xinjiang-related accusations targeting China, spearheaded by Washington, to the way that the Ukraine card is being played against Russia as it conducts its special military operation in that country.

“The current proxy war against Russia is using Ukraine as a pawn with a view to weakening and destabilizing Russia. Among the activities of many US-funded organizations we recognize the systematic use of the Uyghur card against China, unfortunately with a degree of success.”

The author of 10 books, including “Building a Just World Order,” underscored the importance of dialogue between the OHCHR and the governments concerned, adding that information given by non-governmental organizations and certain activists must be fact-checked.

“Many NGO's are financed directly or indirectly by the United States and its allies… The US National Endowment for Democracy finances a great number of non-governmental organizations and think tanks whose purpose is to disseminate fake news and skewed narratives about Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, etc. By virtue of the information war, 'color revolutions' have been conducted in many countries, including the run-up to the coup d'état against the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich, in February 2014,” the expert noted.

'Propagandistic Use of "Genocide"'

The governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been facing allegations of “mass internment, forced assimilation, forced labor and forced sterilization” against more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in XUAR. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and France have branded China’s actions as “genocide.” The claims have been repeatedly denied by China, which stated that the facilities referred to are "vocational training centers" used to eradicate extremism and stamp out poverty.

The use of the word "genocide" by the above countries is defamatory hyperbole and certainly does not apply to the situation in Xinjiang, according to the professor.

“It demeans the word and constitutes an insult against those who have been victims of genocide, including the genocides perpetrated against the Armenians, the Jews and gypsies during the second world war, the Tutsis of Rwanda, the Yemenis,” the former UN independent expert added.

He pointed out that this use of the term "genocide" by the US and others also constitutes a violation of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which “prohibits war propaganda and incitement to racial hatred” and is contrary to the letter and spirit of the UN Charter and of the UNESCO constitution.

‘Work-in-Progress’

The 45-page report was assessed as a "work-in-progress" by the expert, who suggested it would be followed up by further assessment by the working group that Michelle Bachelet established with the cooperation of the Beijing government. Professor Alfred de Zayas pointed out that the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states is a fundamental norm of international law, reaffirmed in countless UN resolutions, including the "Friendly Relations Resolution" 2625.