Washington D.C.- US Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led their colleagues to send a letter to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the release of the long-delayed UN report on the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The senators urged Guterres to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to immediately release the report. High Commissioner Bachelet’s office reported in December 2021 that the report would be released within weeks, but was delayed for unspecified reasons. Ms. Bachelet is due to travel to Xinjiang this month.

“We are now five months into 2022 and fear that the report will be delayed due to [Bachelet’s] agreement with the Chinese government to visit the XUAR this month,” the senators wrote. “It is imperative that the report be released quickly and not be dependent or delayed due to a planned trip to XUAR. Either scenario would send a dire message that Beijing is able to delay and escape international scrutiny for its heinous crimes by arranging what is likely to be a limited trip with access only to selected areas. by hand by the CCP.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) joined Rubio and Merkley in sending the letter.

the full text of the letter is inferior to.

Dear Mr. Secretary General:

We write to respectfully urge you to resolve the human rights crisis in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Specifically, we ask that you work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet to release the report on the human rights situation in the XUAR without delay. The ongoing atrocities and genocide occurring against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must continue to be documented, exposed, and made public to ensure justice and accountability.

As you know, in 2018 the High Commissioner pledged to publish a report on ongoing human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the XUAR. In December 2021, the office further reported that the report would be released within a few weeks. In January 2022, the chairmen of the Congressional Executive Commission on China called for the report to be released before the Beijing Winter Olympics. In March 2022, nearly 200 organizations wrote to the High Commissioner expressing concern about the relative silence in the face of these grave violations and urging Ms. Bachelet to publish the report.

We are now five months into 2022 and fear that the report may be delayed due to its agreement with the Chinese government to visit the XUAR this month. It is imperative that the report be released promptly and not be dependent on or delayed due to a planned trip to XUAR. Either scenario would send a dire message that Beijing is able to delay and escape international scrutiny for its heinous crimes by arranging what is likely to be a limited trip with access only to selected areas. by hand by the CCP.

We remain united in our goal to see the Chinese government and its enablers held accountable for the well-documented human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other XUAR groups. U.S. administrations on both sides have determined that the CCP’s mass surveillance and internment system, denial of the right of Uyghurs to peacefully practice their religion, and use of forced labor, sexual violence, forced abortion and forced sterilization of women constitute genocide and crimes. against humanity. Elected bodies of other United Nations member states, including Canada, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have condemned the genocide and crimes against humanity of the CCP. It is time for the United Nations to fully recognize the gravity of these crimes and stand with the victims, instead of giving in to political pressure.

The United Nations was founded, in part, to reaffirm basic human rights and prevent the scourge of genocide that the world witnessed during World War II. As a principal founding member and largest contributor to the United Nations, the United States expects senior United Nations human rights officials to uphold that mandate and lead the moral charge against continued human rights abuses. ‘male. By releasing the report without delay and before any potential travel to the region, the High Commissioner can show unequivocally that the Chinese government and the CCP did not help influence the report’s findings and did not avoid rendering accounts for their crimes. This can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council does not give any country the right to commit serious human rights violations with impunity.

We stand ready to work with you and the High Commissioner to take that first step towards ending the atrocities against the Uyghurs once and for all. Thank you for your attention to this important subject.

Sincerely,