AWC Denounces Nepal’s Voting against Examination of Human Rights Violations of Uyghur Community

The Accountability Watch Committee (AWC) has denounced the recent step taken by the government of Nepal to vote against the debate on the OHCHR report on the Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

By issuing a press release on Tuesday AWC denounced Nepal’s step and also urged the Nepal government to maintain its non-alignment policy

According to a press release, the step taken by Nepal not only has been a blunder for the pursuit of universal individual human rights values but also deviates from Nepal’s perpetual claim of non-alignment as foreign policy.

Since 2017, the People’s Republic of China carried out massive and systematic abuses against Muslims living in Xinjiang. The Chinese oppression of Turkic Muslims has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. In addition to mass detention and pervasive restrictions on practicing Islam, there is increasing evidence of forced labor, broad surveillance, and unlawful separation of children from their families, among others.

On August 21, 2022, the UNOHCHR forwarded a report on the Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, firmly suggesting credible evidence of torture and other forms of human rights abuses that were likely to be “crimes against humanity”. The report was then called for debate at the UN human rights council meeting in Geneva. However, on October 6, 2022 the council voted to turn down its back on its own report that accused Beijing of serious human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang province. In the 47-member council, 19 to 17 rejected the call for a debate on the report at the next human rights council in spring. Eleven countries abstained. A simple majority was required. Nepal voted against the proposal, along with Pakistan and other several Muslim countries.