Geneva: UN human rights experts today asked China to allow them to probe tensions in Xinjiang as they called the expulsion of 20 Chinese Uighurs from Cambodia
"a blatant violation" of anti-torture rules.
The 20 Muslim Uighurs, who had fled the western
Chinese region after unrest erupted there in July, were
deported to China on Saturday after they sought asylum in the
Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
"This is a blatant violation of Cambodia's obligations
under the principle of non-refoulement as stipulated in
article 3 of the UN Convention against torture," UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak said in a statement.
Nowak said he had reports of "severe torture" in
Xinjiang following the unrest while recent executions there
violated "the most basic fair trial guarantees."
"I am calling on the Chinese authorities to treat the
20 persons humanely upon return in accordance with
international standards, to grant access to them in case they
are detained and to afford them due process guarantees, if
charged with criminal offenses", he added.
China has accused the group of being "criminals."
Meanwhile, the UN Independent Expert on Minority
Issues, Gay McDougall, called on Beijing to allow UN rights
envoys to examine ethnic tensions in Xinjiang after the
violence involving the Uighur and Han Chinese communities.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 20:47