The US, UK and Germany are urging China to allow the UN 'immediate, unrestricted' access to the region amid concerns over Beijing's treatment of the Uighur minority.
The United States, Germany and Britain have clashed with China at the United Nations over its handling of Uighurs and people from other groups, especially Muslims in Xinjiang, as they continued their campaign to persuade Beijing not to stay.
"We will continue to stand up and speak until the Chinese government relinquishes its crimes against humanity and the extermination of the Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang," U.S. Ambassador to the United States Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the event, which organizers said was attended by about 50 people on Wednesday.
The UN, other western countries, academics and rights groups claim that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs have been sent to re-education camps in the farthest western region. China has acknowledged the existence of camps but says they are skills training centers needed to deal with difficult teams.
“In Xinjiang, people are being abused. Women are forced to close down, ”said Thomas-Greenfield.
Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard told the event that there were about a million Uighurs people and most of them young Muslims were illegally detained.
In a letter to UN member states last week, China's UN campaign denied the allegations were "false and false allegations" and accused the developing countries of being "concerned about provoking conflict with China".
He urged countries to "not take part in the anti-China event," but on Wednesday a Chinese lawyer denied the allegations.
"China has nothing to hide in Xinjiang," said Chinese official Guo Jiakun. “Xinjiang is always open. We welcome everyone to visit Xinjiang but oppose any form of investigation based on falsehoods and speculation. ”
The event was organized by Germany, the US and Britain and sponsored by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other European countries.
Barbara Woodward, the British ambassador to the UN, told the conference that "there is evidence of mass arrests, forced disappearances and conditions of torture. There are also reports of forced labor and interest rates".
Access calls
There have also been reports of vandalism of Muslim cemeteries, the separation of children and Uighurs who were forced to eat pork in violation of their beliefs.
Human Rights Watch suspected last year that the repression was “technically motivated” by individuals being selected for incarceration through the use of social media, travel and even handkerchiefs.
“We are here today to address these issues. And to ask China to allow immediate, meaningful and uninterrupted access to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and its Office, ”said Woodward.
"We urge China to respect the declaration of human rights around the world and call on China to abolish the concentration camps," said German ambassador Christoph Heusgen.
"If you have nothing to hide, why not give it uninterrupted access to the High Commissioner for Human Rights?" China asked.
Cracked land in Kuqa, China, formerly a Muslim cemetery [File: Hector Retamal / AFP]
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet was not present at the event and her absence was noted by Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth.
"I'm sure he's busy," he said. “You know we are all here. But I have the same international mandate to protect human rights and I would not have thought of anything more important than joining here today. ”
Ravina Shamdasani, deputy spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, said Bachelet - who expressed serious concern about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and asked for uninterrupted access - was unable to participate.
"The High Commission continues to liaise with Chinese authorities on such travel arrangements," he said, adding that Bachelet's office "continues to collect and analyze relevant information and closely monitor the situation."
Later Wednesday, during the presentation of the annual report on the state of religious freedom in the world, a US State Department official accused China of turning Xinjiang into an "foreign prison".
Daniel Nadel, a senior official at the Office of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said people were being watched closely.
"People's movements are closely followed," he told a news conference. “You have students assigned to stay with the Uighurs to keep tabs on them. You have people who go to the market and have to look every time they go to a different market store, ”he said.
The report also described China's persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual group.
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