At the UN General Assembly, 15 countries, including Australia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan, condemned China’s systematic genocide and severe human rights violations in East Turkistan and Tibet in a joint statement.
During the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, a significant joint statement was issued on October 22, 2024, during the general debate of the 3rd Committee, which addresses social, humanitarian, and cultural issues. The statement, presented by Australia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador James Larsen, and signed by 15 nations, strongly condemned the systematic and gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese regime in East Turkistan and Tibet.
Speaking on behalf of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Lithuania, and others, Ambassador Larsen highlighted the findings of a report published two years ago by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which concluded that the atrocities in East Turkistan “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.” The statement also noted that the UN, treaty bodies, and many international organizations have echoed similar concerns.
The joint statement detailed comprehensive reports based on China’s own official records, revealing inhumane practices against Uyghur Turks and other Muslim minorities in East Turkistan. These abuses include mass arbitrary arrests, forced family separations, systematic torture, severe repression based on religion and ethnicity, sexual violence, forced abortions, sterilizations, and the systematic destruction of religious and cultural sites. According to a statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in August, these inhumane policies in East Turkistan persist to this day.
The statement also condemned repressive policies in Tibet, which were another key focus. Reports by UN human rights mechanisms indicate that peaceful expressions of opinion in Tibet are met with arrests, freedom of movement is heavily restricted, forced labor is imposed, and children are separated from their families and sent to boarding schools.
The statement called on China to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals arbitrarily detained and to provide information about the whereabouts of those who have been forcibly disappeared. It also demanded that international observers be granted unrestricted access to East Turkistan and Tibet.
Ambassador Larsen emphasized that China’s systematic human rights violations must not be overlooked, stating: “No country has a perfect human rights record, but no country is above fair scrutiny of its human rights obligations.” He stressed that all states must uphold their international human rights commitments.
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