Friday, July 19, 2019

Ambassadors from 16 African States Support China's Treatment of Uyghurs

The New York Times published on 12 July 2019 an article titled "China's Retort Over Its Mass Detentions: Praise from Russia and Saudi Arabia" by Nick Cumming-Bruce.

Ambassadors of 37 states from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America signed a letter to the president of the United Nations Human Rights Council praising China's "contribution to the internal human rights cause." Referring to China's "reeducation centers" in Xianjiang Province, the letter said security had returned to the region and the fundamental human rights of people of all ethnic groups there had been safeguarded. This followed a letter signed by 22 mainly European countries that urged China to halt arbitrary detention of Xinjiang's ethnic Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups.

Ambassadors from 16 African countries signed the letter. They included Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Angola, and Zimbabwe.

This is surely a new low in hypocrisy for the signatories, especially those from Muslim countries and those with a large Muslim minority.