SW News: An 18-member UN committee said it was concerned about China's treatment of its Muslim minority, including the use of forced labor against Uyghurs, in a report that puts pressure on Beijing to improve its human rights. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The UN-appointed independent experts raised a range of topics including Beijing's COVID-19 policies, and the treatment of human rights defenders and its Muslim minority. Last year, a report by the UN human rights chief said China's treatment of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in Xinjiang, may constitute crimes against humanity. China vigorously denies the allegations.

In an 11-page response to the report, China stated that it would carefully consider the recommendations and was willing to put those into practice "that are suitable to China's national realities". However, it disregarded several proposals labeling them as "untruthful" including the one for Xinjiang.

The committee also demanded a stop to "systematic" indictments and reprisals against attorneys and human rights advocates working in this field. It also expressed concern about the country's mounting mental health issues in the wake of the lengthy lockdowns it experienced during its rigorous zero-COVID policy, which ended late last year.

According to research that said China's arrest of Uyghurs and other Muslims may amount to crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch anticipates the UN to take action, its acting executive director stated on February 13.

Human Rights Watch's Tirana Hassan reported that Volker Turk, the new UN High Commissioner for Rights, appeared committed to acting on the report that Michelle Bachelet delivered in August just before she finished her four-year term.

The majority-Muslim province of Xinjiang was cited in the report as an example of arbitrary and discriminatory incarceration, and Beijing was urged to take action to free everyone being held in detention centers, prisons, or training institutions.