Humanists International urges the Chinese government to end the persecution of Uygher Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the ongoing human rights violations carried out by it in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Chinese government under President Xi Jinping has increasingly come to characterize any expression of Islam in Xinjiang as terrorism, and any expression of pro-democracy values in Hong Kong as a threat to its territorial integrity.
The Chinese government’s detention of up to one million people in Xinjiang on the basis of their religion and their systematic attempt to wipe out an entire cultural identity is a form of genocide. Its imposition of a draconian national security law in response to legitimate demands for freedom and autonomy severely curtails the civil and political rights of the people of Hong Kong. Humanists International condemns China’s repressive tactics which amount to grave violations of international human rights law that cannot be justified by reference to national security and anti-terrorism.
'Position Statement on human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong', Humanists International, Board of Directors, London, United Kingdom, 2020