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NORTHEAST ASIA
Mounting international pressure on China
The international community is finally stepping up its pressure on China, amid the continued detention of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans without due process.
In an unprecedented display of solidarity, 15 Western countries recently delivered a powerful appeal to China, demanding the release of all Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans detained without due process and urging full access for independent human rights observers to assess conditions in Xinjiang and Tibet.
The joint statement, led by Australian Ambassador James Larsen during a U.N. General Assembly committee meeting, marks a historic move as Western nations collectively challenge China’s human rights record with an insistence on transparency and accountability.
“Transparency and openness are key to allaying concerns, and we call on China to allow unfettered and meaningful access to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent observers, including from the United Nations, to evaluate the human rights situation,” Larsen said in the speech.
FAST FACTS
- Representing countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, and Japan, Larsen called for “unfettered and meaningful access” to both Xinjiang—where up to 1 million Uyghurs are reportedly held in “reeducation camps”—and Tibet, where freedoms have been sharply restricted by Beijing.
- The statement echoes findings from a 2022 U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report that identified grave abuses in Xinjiang, potentially amounting to crimes against humanity.
- The international community has previously tried to rein in China’s abuses, using a combination of public statements and targeted punishments. For instance, the United States has sanctioned Chinese officials and entities over alleged human rights abuses, particularly in Xinjiang. Sanctions include visa restrictions and asset freezes. Canada and the United Kingdom have also imposed targeted sanctions on Chinese officials.
- Despite the weight of international scrutiny, China continues to reject allegations of human rights violations, dismissing the findings of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as “illegal and void” while accusing Western nations of using human rights as a political weapon against it.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
In their joint public statement, the 15 Western countries urged China to undertake the following:
- Immediately release individuals arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and Tibet, providing full transparency regarding the fate of missing persons.
- Grant unhindered access to independent observers, including those from the U.N. to assess the human rights situation in these regions.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
A human rights challenge to Vietnam’s new leader
A coalition of activists in Vietnam and abroad has urged President Tô Lâm, the newly appointed chief of the Southeast Asian country’s Communist Party, to uphold Vietnam’s human rights commitments amid concerns over a continuation of his stringent, authoritarian approach.
In their open letter, made public on Oct. 20 after Lâm’s official visits to the U.S. and France, the group outlined specific recommendations to uphold human rights, including the release of all political prisoners, the protection of freedoms of speech and assembly, and reforms to guarantee the rule of law in Vietnam.
“We, Vietnamese people at home and abroad who yearn for freedom, democracy and human rights, acknowledge the above statement, and believe that those commitments must be concretized by practical action,” the letter read. “Vietnam’s development cannot be based only on political or diplomatic statements, but should be based on respecting and enforcing the fundamental rights of all people.”
FAST FACTS
- Lâm was elected president last May before he assumed his new post on Aug. 3 following the death of long-serving General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. He was known for leading an aggressive anti-corruption campaign that saw many political rivals jailed and others forcibly resigned.
- Lâm has been associated with grave human rights abuses. The 88 Project, a rights group documenting arrested Vietnamese activists, says that from 2018 to 2023 when Lam was head of the Ministry of Public Security, he had overseen the arrests of at least 330 human rights activists and dissidents.
- Trinh Xuan Thanh, a former Hau Giang official accused of state violations, fled to Germany in 2016 but was abducted by Vietnamese secret service under Lâm, sparking condemnation from the German government, which said the abduction was a breach of sovereignty and international law.
- Currently, it’s unclear whether Lâm has cleared his post as president of Vietnam. But that he now holds a dual position, CIVICUS said, meant that power has “accumulate(d) in the hands of the architect of the purge” and is “unlikely to lead to improvements with the worsening human rights situation” in the country.
- As it is, the one-party nation is already considered a “Not Free” state by Freedom House, as freedom of expression, religious freedom, and activism are tightly restricted and punished.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
The activists called on the new leadership to:
- Ensure freedoms of speech, press, association, assembly, protest, religion, and movement;
- Implement reforms to guarantee civil and political rights;
- Establish a multi-party system allowing diverse political participation without suppression or control; and
- Organize elections under international supervision, ensuring citizens can vote and run freely.
SOUTH ASIA
Suspending Pakistan from the Commonwealth of Nations
For years now, Pakistan has been struggling with a grave human rights crisis driven in part by accusations of blasphemy that often snowball into vigilante justice and mob violence.
Alarmed by the surge in human rights violations gripping the country, much of which are linked to blasphemy laws, a coalition of 17 human rights groups have called for the South Asian country’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations, the association of mostly former territories of the British Empire which aspires to promote democracy, human rights, and good governance.
“We believe that decisive action is once again necessary. The Commonwealth cannot remain silent while one of its member states systematically violates the rights of religious minorities and fails to prevent the extrajudicial execution of its own citizens,” read their joint letter.
The letter was published in time for the Commonwealth’s Oct. 21 to 26 meeting in Samoa, where the member-states discussed slavery reparations and climate change.
FAST FACTS
- Pakistan has been suspended twice from the Commonwealth before on human rights grounds: from Oct. 18, 1999 to May 22, 2004; and Nov. 22, 2007 to May 22, 2008, A suspension, says the Human Rights Without Frontiers, could send a strong rebuke and pressure Pakistan to pursue reforms.
- Rights groups have long flagged Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which criminalize disrespect of the Prophet Muhammed and carry the death penalty. These legislation are often misused to settle personal scores, target religious minorities, or silence dissent.
- Elsewhere in Asia, Afghanistan and Brunei similarly impose a mandatory death sentence for blasphemy.
- Mere allegations of blasphemy have led to vigilante violence. Since 1990, local media and independent researchers have documented at least 85 cases of individuals extrajudicially killed because of blasphemy accusations.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
- The coalition of human rights groups called on the Commonwealth to suspend Pakistan’s membership and to “act swiftly and apply pressure” on the Pakistan government.
GLOBAL / REGIONAL
Sending help to the world’s most marginalized community
Since 2017, thousands of Rohingya Muslims, fleeing ethnic genocide in Myanmar, have sought refuge in Bangladesh. However, their suffering continues unabated. Many are forced back to Myanmar by border guards or the junta’s conscription, while those in refugee camps endure severe food and medical shortages, alongside other challenges.
Amnesty International has thus urged the Bangladeshi government to stop sending the Rohingya back to Myanmar, where conflict continues to rage and for the international community to urgently send humanitarian aid to support the returning Rohingya.
“Sending people back to a country where they are at real risk of being killed is not only a violation of international law; it will also force people to take greater risks while making the journey to avoid detection, such as traveling by night or on longer routes,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International secretary general.
FAST FACTS
- The Rohingya as well as other Burmese citizens, particularly young men fleeing the mandatory military conscription, have been fleeing Myanmar in boats, especially since the junta took over in 2021. Most of them have settled in camps in Cox’s Bazar, where they live in overcrowded, makeshift shelters with limited access to clean water, sanitation, and health care.
- A strained Bangladesh has been repatriating refugees in droves since last year, in violation of the principle of non refoulement or the obligation not to send back refugees to countries where they face real threats of persecution or harm.
- Many refugees rely on humanitarian aid for their basic needs, as they are unable to work or earn a living. The Bangladeshi government also heavily limits their movement, education, and informal businesses.
- Early this year, there were reports that the junta – which is suffering from heavy losses fighting with rebel armies – has conscripting Rohingya men by dangling promises of citizenship before them. Others have been forcibly abducted by Rohingya militants who have aligned with the junta.
ACTIONS SOUGHT
Beyond her appeal for Bangladesh to stop repatriating refugees, Amnesty International’s Callamard has also made the following calls:
- For the junta (as well as the ethnic Arakan Army) to abide by international humanitarian law and stop forcibly conscripting men.
- For the international community to “step up with funds and assistance” for those living in refugee camps; and
- For the U.N. Security Council to refer the entire situation of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court for appropriate action.
