US and European delegates to the UN Human Rights Council have expressed concern about reports that ethnic Uighurs are being arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The council held a hearing on Tuesday on human rights situations in China at the UN European headquarters in Geneva.
The US delegate expressed surprise at the intensifying crackdowns on the ethnic minority group.
The delegate urged China to stop arbitrary detentions and immediately release hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of individuals.
European countries, including France and Germany, voiced similar concerns.
But the Chinese delegate rejected the criticism, saying that the detentions are part of security measures.
The delegate said the authorities are setting up facilities for terrorist sympathizers to keep them away from radical ideologies, adding that the government cannot sit idly by and watch them become members of terrorist groups.
About 1,000 Uighurs and Tibetans from China gathered in front of the UN building.
They demanded that China stop ethnic cleansing of Uighurs and said Beijing is lying about the situation.
Source: NHK