Statement by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on the Release of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Report on Xinjiang
United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
September 1, 2022
Last night, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released its long-anticipated report on the human rights situation in Xinjiang. The report confirms the atrocities and human rights violations the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is perpetrating against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with the word “universal” for a reason. It speaks not just to nation-states but also to human beings. Yet, as this report documents, the PRC, a UN Member State and permanent member of the UN Security Council, continues to violate the human rights of Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang.
The United States, in concert with our allies and partners, will continue to demand an end to the PRC’s genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang. It is critical that the full Human Rights Council membership have an opportunity to formally discuss the findings of this report as soon as possible and that the perpetrators of these atrocities are held accountable.
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