Member States of the UN Human Rights Council rejected on Thursday (6) a motion presented by countries such as the United States and Turkey for the collegiate to start, next year, a round of debates on the situation of the Uighur Muslim minority in China. Brazil was one of 11 countries that abstained.
The proposal, also endorsed by Germany and the Nordic nations, among others, followed a report by now former Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, published in August after high expectations, claiming that Beijing had committed serious human rights violations against the ethnic group that occupies the Xinjiang region.
Altogether, the text of the motion consisted of only five lines, where it was claimed that, after receiving the information presented by Bachelet, the council would discuss the matter. Nineteen nations voted against — including Indonesia, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. And 17 voted in favour.
For Raphael Viana David, responsible for advocacy for China and Latin America at the International Service for Human Rights, who followed the vote, the Brazilian abstention weakens the country’s position as a promoter of dialogue on the international stage. “The Itamaraty indicates that you can talk about human rights in any country, except China”, he tells Sheet.
Zumretay Arkin, spokesman for the World Uighur Congress, also criticized the Brazilian decision. “Brazil has failed millions of Uighurs; how is it possible that a country that promotes dialogue refuses to support this? It is a hypocrisy that must be denounced.”
The Brazilian position on the matter had already been drawing attention last week. Members of the third sector reported that, when the motion was raised, the Brazilian mission, in an unusual way, asked for the floor to oppose the text, stating that the content of the five lines would polarize the Human Rights Council.
Xinjiang, the region where most of the Uighurs live, is a Chinese province of 1.6 million km² —an area similar to that of Amazonas — that is an important financial hub. Beijing is accused by the international community of repressing the minority, which has a growing diaspora in Turkey, and promoting mass incarceration.
In addition to Brazil, Viana David draws attention to the abstention of Argentina and Mexico in the scope of Latin America. Honduras and Paraguay, however, voted in favor of dialogue, even though they also maintain important economic ties with the Chinese regime.
Ukraine, which amid the war started by Russia in February sees an increasing rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing, was another country that abstained from the vote.
According to a report by Reuters, Chen Xu, China’s ambassador, had said shortly before the vote that approving the text would open a “dangerous shortcut” for the human rights situation in other countries to also be a scope of analysis. “Today the target is China; tomorrow, any other developing country could be.”
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