May 17, 2005

UN Concerned about China's Policy in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan


United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has expressed concern over the human rights situation in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan
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United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has expressed concern over the human rights situation in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan after considering the initial report of the People’s Republic of China on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In a document of the Committee known as Concluding Observation adopted on 13 May, this UN Treaty Body noted “with concern the reports from sources other than the State party relating to the right to the free exercise of religion as a right to take part in cultural life, and the use and teaching of minority languages, history and culture in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)". However, the Committee failed to address the issue of population transfer of Chinese settlers affecting “minority regions” of Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang), Inner Mongolia and Tibet.

But on coercive birth control practices of China, the Committee remained “deeply concerned about reports of forced abortions and forced sterilisations imposed on women, including those belonging to ethnic minority groups, by local officials in the context of the one-child policy, and of the high maternal mortality rate as a result of unsafe abortions.” The Committee requested China “to provide information in its next periodic report in this regard, including information on women belonging to ethnic minority groups.”

After China’s ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 2001, on 27 and 28 April for this was the first time that China obligations to this human rights treaty was reviewed by the Committee at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The Committee welcomed the adoption of the China Rural Communities Poverty Relief Programme (2001-2010) and the adoption of the Framework for Education Development into 2020, a strategic plan for the reform and development of the education sector in China.

The Committee said that it was “concerned about the number of forced evictions and demolitions that have occurred in anticipation of the 2008 Olympics to be hosted by the State party.” The Committee further expressed concern “about the lack of effective consultations and legal redress for persons affected by forced evictions and demolitions, including those of historic structures, buildings and homes in Lhasa, Tibet.” The Committee recommended China to “take immediate measures to enforce laws and regulations prohibiting forced evictions and ensure that persons evicted from their homes be provided with adequate compensation or offered alternative accommodation, in accordance with the guidelines adopted by the Committee in its General Comment No.7 on forced evictions.”

In a major call the Committee recommended that China develop a human rights plan and establish a National Human Rights Commission. The Committee wanted China to “adopt a National Human Rights Plan of Action, and to report back in its next periodic report how the plan promotes and protects economic, social and cultural rights in the State party. In this connection, the Committee recommends that the State party consider establishing a National Commission for Human Rights on the basis of the Paris Principles.”

Although the Committee did not directly question the negative impact of the Western Development Plan of China in Eastern Turkestan and Tibet, the Committee asked China “to include detailed information in its next periodic report on environmental policies formulated by the State party, in particular, policies to reduce atmospheric contamination, and to evaluate the impact of large infrastructural development projects on the environment..” The Committee also recommended that, prior to implementing development projects, China should undertake open, effective and meaningful consultations with affected residents.

On China’s reporting obligations to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee took note of “the insufficient information provided by the State party regarding the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in the Covenant, by the populations in the ethnic minority areas.” In one of its many recommendations, the Committee called upon China “to provide in its next periodic report, detailed information, including disaggregated comparative statistics, to evaluate progress made and obstacles encountered in the implementation of all the provisions of the ICESCR in the ethnic minority regions including in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region.”

On “re-education through labour” used by the Chinese authorities, the Committee while remaining gravely concerned about the use of forced labour as a corrective measure, called for the abolition of this system practiced in China. The Committee also asked China to “consider withdrawing the programme of “Diligent Work and Economical Study (qingong jianxue)” from its school curriculum.”

The Committee while regretting that China’s Initial report did not go through a public consultation process and called for China’s next report “to provide detailed information on the public consultation process in the preparation of the report, including a listing of all civic organisations or non-governmental organizations consulted.” The Committee urged China “to bear in mind that public consultation is a requirement in the reporting process, the objective of which is to inform the general public and to generate interest and debate on the steps the State party has undertaken in fulfilling its treaty obligations under the Covenant.”

As regards, China’s next periodic report, the Committee asked China to submit the report before 30 June, 2010.

By Ngawang Drakmargyapon, UNPO Geneva Representative

NOTE: For further details of China review at the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/cescrs34.htm