Geneva, Switzerland, Nov 7, 2018 / 00:41 am America/Denver (CNA).
Human rights advocates are calling on the United Nations to address reports of Chinese internment camps holding 1 million Muslim minorities in Northwest China.
The call comes shortly before a review of China’s human rights record on November 6 by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The last review of China’s human rights was in 2013.
Ex-detainees have said these camps include abuse and political indoctrination, the Guardian has reported.
Researchers believe an estimated 1 million Muslim Uighurs have been detained at these camps. British diplomats, who visited Xinjiang in August, have confirmed those numbers, according to officials.
“The Human Rights Council must send an unequivocal message to the Chinese government that their campaign of systematic repression in the XUAR (Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region), including the arbitrary detention of up to 1 million people, must end,” said Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International.