The International Campaign for Tibet strongly welcomes today’s unprecedented statement by more than 50 UN independent experts on China, calling on “the international community to act collectively and decisively to ensure China respects human rights and abides by its international obligations.” The statement also urges “the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to act with a sense of urgency to take all appropriate measures to monitor Chinese human rights practices.”

ICT is concerned by China’s refusal to abide by international norms by denying the UN experts access to conduct investigations.

The experts, who are special rapporteurs and members of working groups, believe “it is time for renewed attention on the human rights situation in the country, particularly in light of the moves against the people of the Hong Kong [Special Administrative Region], minorities of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and human rights defenders across the country.”

As a consequence, they urge the Human Rights Council to conduct a special session on China and to create an independent mechanism on human rights violations in the People’s Republic of China.

ICT said today: “The statement is welcome at a critical time for Tibet, which has been under a severe lockdown from the Chinese authorities. There must be unfettered access to Tibet to create transparency and accountability, and reports about a wide range of systematic rights violations in Tibet must be investigated. The Chinese government must live up to its obligations according to international law. We strongly support the recommendation to create a special independent mechanism to monitor and investigate human rights violations by the Chinese government, particularly in Tibet.

“The statement clearly underlines what is wrong with the government in Beijing. There is no transparency, no accountability and no willingness to respect international law. The independent experts have called out the Chinese government and are challenging its tactics to avoid accountability and defy its obligations. It is about time that the international community takes strong measures to confront Beijing on its human rights record, including in Tibet.”