The Flaws in the “Assessment” Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on China

By Alfred de Zayas

On 31 August 2022, the last day of Michelle Bachelet’s 4-year tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office released a 46-page document, which I believe should be discarded as propagandistic, biased, and methodologically flawed. This document, which was not mandated by the Human Rights Council and responds to pressures on OHCHR by Washington and Brussels, bears the superficially neutral title “Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”

The Flaws in the “Assessment” Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on China

Related:

Xinjiang-Related Report Shows OHCHR ‘Serves US & EU Geopolitics,’ Ex-UN Independent Expert Says

*Xinjiang*

Xinjiang-Related Report Shows OHCHR ‘Serves US & EU Geopolitics,’ Ex-UN Independent Expert Says

Xinjiang-Related Report Shows OHCHR ‘Serves US & EU Geopolitics,’ Ex-UN Independent Expert Says

“The UN Human Rights Council is in the service of US and EU geopolitics and pursues a skewed human rights policy – much lip service to universal principles, but selectivity in application, double-standards in assessment of country situations,” Professor Alfred de Zayas claimed.

“Experience shows in the cases of Belarus, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Venezuela, etc. that the Western Information War has been effective in distorting the picture,” Professor Alfred de Zayas emphasized.

“The current proxy war against Russia is using Ukraine as a pawn with a view to weakening and destabilizing Russia. Among the activities of many US-funded organizations we recognize the systematic use of the Uyghur card against China, unfortunately with a degree of success.”

“Many NGO’s are financed directly or indirectly by the United States and its allies… The US National Endowment for Democracy finances a great number of non-governmental organizations and think tanks whose purpose is to disseminate fake news and skewed narratives about Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, etc. By virtue of the information war, ‘color revolutions’ have been conducted in many countries, including the run-up to the coup d’état against the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich, in February 2014,” the expert noted.

“It demeans the word and constitutes an insult against those who have been victims of genocide, including the genocides perpetrated against the Armenians, the Jews and gypsies during the second world war, the Tutsis of Rwanda, the Yemenis,” the former UN independent expert added.

He pointed out that this use of the term “genocide” by the US and others also constitutes a violation of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which “prohibits war propaganda and incitement to racial hatred” and is contrary to the letter and spirit of the UN Charter and of the UNESCO constitution.

Previously:

Updated (with video): UN Accuses China of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Xinjiang

*Xinjiang*

Updated: UN Accuses China of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Xinjiang

UN Accuses China of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ in Xinjiang

The OHCHR relied on a variety of sources in the report, including interviews with 26 former detainees at facilities in Xinjiang, the majority of whom “reported having been subjected to treatment that would amount to torture.” However, in addition to purported first-hand testimony, the assessment also cites the work of German anthropologist Adrian Zenz, whose research on the Uyghurs has come under fire for major statistical errors, mistranslations of Chinese source material and ideological bias against Beijing, among other shortcomings.

Video via Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris

The report also sites The Xinjiang Police Files and ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute), both of which are covered here. On a side note, when is the US going to be held accountable* for their crimes against humanity or war crimes?!

Related (I’ve also included two Western media sources for balance):

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US Using UN to Bolster Anti-China “Genocide” Claims

Aug 10, 2022 – As tensions continue to rise between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan, it is important to keep track of the undercurrent of propaganda the US uses to shape public perception regarding China in the first place.

Continued efforts by the US to use organizations like the UN in its propaganda war against China includes an upcoming report regarding Xinjiang, China meant to undermine a recent visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the region.

Odysee via The New Atlas

Reference:

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Credibility and the ‘Xinjiang Police Files’

by Patrick Macfarlane | Jul 14, 2022

Since at least February 2018, a German-born anthropologist named Adrian Zenz has alleged that China is persecuting the Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim minority that inhabits Xinjiang, China’s westernmost autonomous region.

Credibility and the ‘Xinjiang Police Files’ (archived)

Related:

Xinjiang Police Files: Zenz’ Reality Warping

Xinjiang (Updated to include the above links)

Mishel Kondi, also worked as research assistant for the VOC and was an analyst for Foreign Brief. “Foreign Brief is an industry-leading source of open source geopolitical intelligence focused first on the Indo-Pacific.” They’re an Australian company with offices in the US, Europe, and Australia.

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Ecuador: Lasso’s Masquerade vs. People’s Real Demands

Today marks 15 days since the beginning of the demonstrations against the neoliberal government of Guillermo Lasso. During that time over 15,000 indigenous people and representatives of social movements have joined the protests to demand urgent actions to stop the collapse of the living conditions of the poorest and the entire working class. However, the response has been violence and police repression, which has already caused six deaths, hundreds of wounded, and over 200 imprisonments.

Ecuador: Lasso’s Masquerade vs. People’s Real Demands

Related:

Ecuador’s Lasso survives impeachment vote, halts protest talks

The Unjustified Criticism of High Commissioner Michelle Bachetlet’s Visit to China

As former UN rapporteurs we are committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in all corners of the world, including China. Progress can only be achieved on the basis on good faith implementation of the UN Charter and UN human rights treaties, and requires patience, perseverance, and international solidarity.

The Unjustified Criticism of High Commissioner Michelle Bachetlet’s Visit to China