Credibility of UN Rights Chief on the Line in China: Daily Brief

The upcoming visit to China by the UN human rights chief should highlight the need for justice for victims and accountability for those responsible, but will it? High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet is scheduled to visit China during the last ten days of May, the first visit to China by a UN human rights commissioner since 2005. While Bachelet has previously asserted that she would require “unfettered” access to Xinjiang, the Uyghur region at the epicenter of the government’s crimes against humanity, the terms of her visit have not been disclosed. Chinese authorities have insisted they will not allow anything other than a “friendly visit” for the purposes of dialogue. Making matters worse, a long-promised report on the region from Bachelet’s office is still nowhere in sight. “The Chinese government is committing human rights violations on a scope and scale unimaginable since the last time a high commissioner visited in 2005, partly because there is no fear of accountability,” says HRW’s China Director Sophie Richardson. “The high commissioner needs to work to end, not enable, that perception.”

The New York Times has published yet further evidence of apparent Russian war crimes in Ukraine. This follows numerous reports by the Times and other media outlets, as well as multiple, in-depth reports of war crimes by the Russian military issued by independent international groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Just this week, for example, we published new research documenting summary executions, torture and other grave abuses by Russian occupation forces in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions in northeastern Ukraine from late February through March.

Washington has reportedly decided to redeploy several hundred US troops to Somalia, as part of a joint operation with the Somali government and African Union forces. They need to make civilian protection a priority. Previous US military operations in Somalia resulted in the loss of life and property for Somali civilians, which the US neither recognized nor redressed.

Monday’s meeting of the EU General Affairs Council offers a key opportunity for leaders to seriously address the authoritarian rot inside the bloc. EU ministers will discuss, for the fourth time, the systematic breakdown of the rule of law in Hungary. This scrutiny, under the process laid out in article 7(1) of the founding treaty of the EU, has been slow and lackluster. Meanwhile, respect for fundamental rights continues to deteriorate in Hungary as its autocratic government entrenches power and jeopardizes the EU bloc’s unity.

Iranian authorities have arrested several prominent activists on baseless accusations amid labor union strikes and ongoing protests against rising prices in dozens of small towns. Those arrested include a prominent sociologist and four labor rights defenders. Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that: “Instead of looking to civil society for help in understanding and responding to social problems, Iran’s government treats them as an inherent threat.”

Kazakhstan has scheduled a national referendum on amendments to the constitution for June 5, but the short time frame does not allow for public consultation and debate about the proposals, nor for consideration of changes to strengthen key human rights elements. Human Rights Watch says Kazakhstan should improve the parts of its constitutional reforms focused on plans for a human rights commissioner and for a Constitutional Court.

Finally, Australia heads to the polls on Saturday, May 21, in a federal election that’s an opportunity for voters to help push for greater respect for human rights. The campaign has raised many issues that involve fundamental rights, including the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, the right to seek asylum, and the right be protected from discrimination. On April 18, Human Rights Watch sent a questionnaire to the three largest political parties: The Coalition, the Australian Labor Party, and the Greens. All three responded.