Delivered by Farah Caïdi / GICJ 

On the 21st of September, Farah Caïdi delivered a statement on behalf of Meezaan Center for Human Rights and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ). Following the release of the High Commissioner’s report on the situation of Human Rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (or East Turkestan), she called for immediate action from States and UN intergovernmental bodies. 

Given the amount of credible evidence gathered throughout the years, GICJ emphasised that the situation meets the objective criteria for action from States. 

For these reasons, GICJ urges the Human Rights Council to prioritise the persecution of Uyghurs and other minorities on the agenda, and hold a Special Session on this issue. GICJ supports the call of more than 50 Special Rapporteurs and experts to establish a special procedure to examine more closely the situation of Human Rights in China. Finally, we highly believe the implementation of an Independent Investigative Mechanism is crucial to collect, unify and preserve the evidence. 

This situation is urgent. Meezaan and Geneva International Centre for Justice call again for the situation to shift towards seeking accountability for justice to be served.

HRC51, Human Rights Council, Uyghurs, Genocide, China, EastTurkestan, Enforced Disappearances, Human Rights Violations, Justice, Geneva4Justice, Geneva International Centre for Justice