UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk has expressed deep concern over the continued lack of progress in protecting the rights of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other minorities in China.
Speaking at the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on September 8, 2025, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that despite ongoing engagement, the steps his Office has sought to secure meaningful change in Xinjiang (East Turkistan) and Tibet have yet to materialize.
“In China, the progress we have sought for the protection of the rights of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, as well as Tibetans in their regions, has yet to materialize. This is a priority for my Office’s engagement,” Türk told the Council.
The High Commissioner’s remarks underscore mounting international frustration that Beijing has failed to take significant action on recommendations stemming from the 2022 OHCHR assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang. That report had found credible evidence of arbitrary detention, family separation, cultural and religious restrictions, and crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities.
The High Commissioner also renewed calls for transparency regarding China’s use of the death penalty. “There are no verifiable figures for executions in China; I continue to call for transparency and reform, including a moratorium and abolition,” he said.
Beyond East Turkistan, Türk expressed deep concern over shrinking civic freedoms in China and Hong Kong. “Across the globe, from China to Türkiye and Venezuela, civic space is constrained, dissent is silenced, and peaceful protests are suppressed,” he told delegates. He singled out Hong Kong as a striking example: “One significant case is Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, where the sweeping national security powers used against civil society and human rights defenders have sharply curtailed the vitality of an open and free public square.”
Closing his remarks, the UN rights chief reminded states that rights abuses against targeted groups are never isolated. “History has shown time and again that no one is safe when human rights are under attack,” he said. “Abuses committed against one group are always part of a broader pattern of oppression and lead to the wider erosion of fundamental freedoms.”
Be sure to attribute this report to Uygur Haber.
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