{"id":112449,"date":"2021-03-08T16:19:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T23:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112449"},"modified":"2021-03-08T16:19:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T23:19:55","slug":"sri-lanka-and-china-stand-shoulder-to-shoulder-at-unhrc-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/08\/sri-lanka-and-china-stand-shoulder-to-shoulder-at-unhrc-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka And China Stand Shoulder To Shoulder At UNHRC \u2013 Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0P. K. Balachandran<\/a> Courtesy Urasia Review<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the Core Group\u2019s draft resolution at the UNHRC, Sri Lanka questioned the reliability of the data in the report on the Uighur Muslims of China.  <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the Core Group\u2019s draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Sri Lanka questioned the reliability of the data in the report of the Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, on the Uighur Muslims of China.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s representative C.A.Chandraprema strongly defended China\u2019s treatment of the Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of China in the Interactive Dialogue on March 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandraprema said that Special Rapporteur Shaheed\u2019s claims about discrimination against the Uighurs were based only on biased and sensational reporting in the Western media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems facing the Muslims community in Sri Lanka received a brief reference in Shaheed\u2019s report, specifically referring to mob attacks against Muslims in which the police appeared to be complicit. In reply to Shaheed, Chandraprema said that the Sri Lankan Constitution upholds the right to freedom of religion and denied violence and discrimination against Muslims following the Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus On Defending China<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Having said that Ambassador Chandraprema quickly switched focus to the UN Special Rapporteur\u2019s findings on the treatment of the Uighurs in China\u2019s Xingjiang province. He said Shaheed\u2019s report on the Uighurs had quoted various Western media outlets\u201d that had made various sensational claims\u201d about issues encountered by the Muslims in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have serious concerns about the credibility of these sources. We note that the policy of freedom of religion has been fully implemented in the Xinxiang province,\u201d he said.<\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a broadside against Western countries, the Sri Lankan Envoy said: Many Muslim countries have been destroyed in the past two decades in the guise of promoting democracy. However, Xinxiang has been at peace and has enjoyed democracy with the rest of China during this period.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaheed had also been critical of the Indian Government in his Islamophobia report which drew a harsh response from New Delhi\u2019s representative participating in the Interactive Dialogue. But the Lankan  Ambassador did not make a reference to the allegations against India during his intervention.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage Defends China <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Envoy\u2019s remarks came in Beijing\u2019s defense came in the wake of Foreign Secretary Adm. Prof. Jayanath Colambage\u2019s assertion that he had seen no evidence\u201d to suggest genocide in Xinjiang. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Foreign Secretary had called the Government of China guardians\u201d of the people of Xinjiang. Colambage\u2019s interview was widely circulated in the form of a promotional video by the Chinese State media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China Backed Sri Lanka<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

China had earlier strongly backed Sri Lanka over the Core Group\u2019s draft resolution on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and the war crimes charges against its armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese envoy Chen Xu had said: The proposed targeted sanctions contained in the OHCHR\u2019s report are clear interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka and exceed the mandate of the OHCHR. We hope that the HRC and the OHCHR will strictly follow impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity and non-politicisation principles, respect the sovereignty and political independence of all nations, respect the efforts of the nations for the protection and promotion of human rights, advocate constructive dialogue and cooperation, and abandon the practice of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and exerting political pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN View on Uighurs <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Draft UN experts and activists claim that one million Muslim Uighurs are detained in camps in Xinjiang Province. Last week, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet decried the ill-treatment of the community and demanded access into the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, the Dutch Parliament passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in China amounted to genocide, the first such move by a European country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese Envoy Reprimanded<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During Thursday\u2019s Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur, China was reprimanded by the Chair for using its time to launch a scathing attack on Shaheed. The Chinese Delegation said Shaheed had relied only on BBC and New York Times\u201d to slander and smear China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Special Rapporteur was wantonly\u201d spreading false information, the Chinese representative said, adding that Shaheed lacked basic professional ethics and serves as a political tool for Western countries\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chair said: I would like to remind the speaker that I cannot allow derogatory or inflammatory remarks to be made against a special rapporteur. That is not allowed by the rules. No personal attacks should be made.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmed Shaheed\u2019s Report<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Introducing his damning report about Islamophobia world over at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Shaheed said institutional suspicion and fear of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have escalated to epidemic proportions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Special Rapporteur said that numerous\u201d States, regional and international bodies were to blame. In a report to the Council, he cited European surveys in 2018 and 2019 that showed that nearly four in 10 people held unfavourable views about Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, 30% of Americans viewed Muslims in a negative light\u201d, the Special Rapporteur added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0P. K. Balachandran Courtesy Urasia Review Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the Core Group\u2019s draft resolution at the UNHRC, Sri Lanka questioned the reliability of the data in the report on the Uighur Muslims of China.   Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}