Chinese authorities not held to account since UN issued damning report three years ago

Relatives of those detained call for concrete action

‘Every day of delay is another day of suffering for innocent people... I want real, concrete action from the international community, not just words’ - Nefise Oğuz

‘The international community must honour the calls of survivors and act now to end repression in the Uyghur region’ - Sarah Brooks

Detainees in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region continue to suffer despite a major UN report published three years ago stating that China was responsible for “serious human rights violations”, their families have told Amnesty International.  

Despite the release of an historic assessment by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 31 August 2022, which concluded serious human rights violations in the Uyghur region "may constitute international crimes - in particular crimes against humanity" the Chinese government continues to intimidate and silence victims’ families, and maintain repressive laws and policies in the region, while neither the international community nor the UN has acted on the findings.

Amnesty also found that China’s treatment of Muslim ethnic minorities in the Uyghur region amounted to crimes against humanity in a major report it published in 2021.

Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China Director, said:

“Three years after the UN report concluded that China was responsible for grave human rights violations in Xinjiang, it is shameful that the international community has failed to act.

“Lives have been ruined, families separated and communities dismantled by the Chinese authorities’ continuing cruelty. Today, families of detainees continue to seek truth, justice and freedom for all those suffering in the Uyghur region.

“Another year of inaction has passed. The international community must honour the calls of survivors and act now to end repression in the Uyghur region.”

Amnesty has long documented the crushing repression faced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Uyghur region. In 2021, Amnesty’s global petition – signed by more than 323,000 people across 184 countries and territories – called for the release of the hundreds of thousands of Muslim minority men and women arbitrarily detained and subjected to mass internment, torture and persecution in the Uyghur region, and accountability for the abuses.

Lives ruined

Since January this year, Amnesty has contacted families of 126 people featured in its #FreeXinjiangDetainees campaign as well as other sources, and has received a range of responses that illustrate the ongoing violations and continuing impact on people’s lives.

Patime*, who has one relative who died in detention and another who continues to be held, said the hope that action would follow publication of the UN report has now disappeared:

“The global attention that peaked around the report has faded, and China has faced little meaningful consequence. For Uyghurs, every day without action means more families are torn apart.

“I hoped the report would lead to real, concrete action – sanctions, political pressure and accountability for those committing these crimes. I thought that once the UN formally acknowledged the atrocities, governments would be compelled to act more decisively. Don’t let this become another forgotten report on a shelf.”

Regarding Patime’s relative who remains in detention, they said:

“We have been completely cut off from him since June 2018. Not a single call, letter or message… This silence is not just painful, it has taken a heavy toll on our physical and mental health. Living with this uncertainty is its own form of torture.”

Mamatjan Juma, whose brother Ahmetjan is still in prison, said the lack of updates makes everyday life difficult: “It feels like living with a wound that never heals, because I don’t know if he’s safe, if he’s healthy, or even if he’s alive.

“We’ve lost birthdays, weddings, countless moments together. His son has grown up without his father’s presence, and we’ve all been forced to live with a constant absence that reshapes who we are.”

Other interviewees said they had limited contact with relatives, and described constant surveillance by the Chinese authorities. Murekkem Mahmud, who lives in Turkey, said communications with her parents were always monitored:

“Family visits happen now, but always under surveillance – a way to deny the crimes and mislead the world… After 10 years apart, I just want to be with my family again… I want the uncertainty to end.”

Many relatives called on the international community to act on the UN report’s recommendations, and increase pressure on China to free all those still arbitrarily detained in the Uyghur region.

Nefise Oğuz, whose uncle Alim remains in prison, said: “Every day of delay is another day of suffering for innocent people... I want real, concrete action from the international community, not just words.”

Medine Nazimi, whose sister Mevlüde was arrested in 2017 and remains in prison, told Amnesty of her frustration at the lack of progress in the last three years:

“The international community – including governments, civil society and ordinary citizens – must stop treating China's crimes as just an internal issue. What is happening to Uyghurs is not a domestic matter, it is a human rights crisis and a crime against humanity.

“Our goal is for the people who are suffering in China’s internment camps and prisons – those being tortured, deprived of their freedom – to see the light of day, reunite with their families, and escape those four walls as soon as possible.”

International community needs to act

Amnesty calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide a public update on the report, and once again urges UN member states to condemn China’s serious human rights violations in Xinjiang and to reiterate the critical importance of establishing an independent, international investigative mechanism to ensure accountability. 

Member states must also support effective access to justice and remedies, including reparations for victims and survivors, particularly those within their jurisdictions, and take appropriate measures to prevent further violations.

*Names have been changed