UN needs to step up against 'Uyghur genocide' in China: Pro-Uyghur body

Reiterating the need for urgent action to address the Uyghur genocide, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) asserted that the UN needs to "step up" and act in line with its self-pronounced core values

Reiterating the need for urgent action to address the Uyghur genocide and China's threat to the United Nations human rights mechanisms, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) asserted that the UN needs to "step up" and act in line with its self-pronounced core values.

In a statement on the occasion of the United Nations (UN) International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Sunday, the pro-Uyghur body said that the decades of discriminatory policies introduced by successive Chinese governments, and the exclusion of Uyghurs from any meaningful participation in the political and economic processes in East Turkistan paved the way for the current genocide.

"In light of the Uyghur genocide and China's threat to the UN human rights mechanisms, the UN needs to step up and act in line with its self-pronounced core values," WUC President Dolkun Isa said.

"This includes the establishment of an independent Human Rights Council mechanism to assess and monitor the ongoing and egregious human rights violations in East Turkistan, as well as the appointment of a special rapporteur on China," Isa added.

Last week, European Union officials had approved sanctions on Chinese officials, who are accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.

The penalties were approved at preparatory meetings for next week's Foreign Affairs Council, according to people familiar with the discussions.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party's brutal crackdown on the ethnic community.