Germany is concerned about reports of possible human rights violations in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and urges Beijing to let UN experts into the region so that they may conduct an independent investigation, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said on Monday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2019) Germany is concerned about reports of possible human rights violations in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and urges Beijing to let UN experts into the region so that they may conduct an independent investigation, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said on Monday.Last week, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a report about the mass persecution of Uighurs, a minority Turkic ethnic group, in Xinjiang, citing leaks of highly classified Chinese government documents, which included manuals for operating detention camps.
"We demand that the Chinese side improve the human rights situation and provide access there to the UN human rights commissioner and international experts," Adebahr said at a briefing, commenting on the ICIJ report.
She recalled that Germany had for some time been conducting a "serious dialogue" with China about the Uighurs.
When asked whether Germany demanded the closure of the camps as part of this dialogue, Adebahr said that Berlin was requesting access to the facilities to look into what was really happening there.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert has even said that "it is necessary to concentrate on checking these reports" so that an independent probe can be conducted.
In late August 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reported that large numbers of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities were being held in political "reeducation camps" in Xinjiang often for long periods, and without being charged or tried under the pretext of countering terrorism and religious extremism. The Chinese foreign ministry has refuted these claims as unfounded and not reflective of reality.
According to the Chinese authorities, they have established vocational education and training centers so that people can learn the language and law, as well as gain professional skills. They also help strengthen the resistance to extremism and terrorism.
