Chinese diplomacy is stepping up its efforts to influence the United Nations human rights bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with international conventions, such as the Committee against Torture, as denounced this Wednesday by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR, in the acronym in English).
According to a report published by this NGO, high-ranking Chinese diplomats and officials try to “disturb, limit and reduce” the work of these bodies, which also include the United Nations committees against discrimination against women and against racism.
Among the practices used by China, the report cites attempts to reduce the role of independent NGOs on these committees, in favor of others that appear to be independent but are actually aligned with the Chinese dictatorship or other of its allies.
The document also denounces attempts to intimidate human rights defenders who collaborate with the Committee against Torture, or obstacles in the form of strict procedures against the Committee against Racism when it tried to investigate repression in mines in Chinese regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang.
The ISHR concludes its report by calling on UN Member States to ensure transparent elections of the experts who make up these committees (usually human rights lawyers) and efforts within the bodies themselves to maintain their independence from external pressures.
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