The US, Japan and many EU nations joined a call on Tuesday urging China to respect the human rights of minority Uighurs, and also expressing concern about the situation in Hong Kong.

"We call on China to respect human rights, particularly the rights of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet," said German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who led the initiative during of a meeting on human rights.

Among the 39 signatory countries were the United States, most of the EU member states including Albania and Bosnia, as well as Canada, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

"We are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the recent developments in Hong Kong," the declaration said.

"We call on China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights," it added.

Immediately afterward, the envoy for Pakistan stood up and read out a statement signed by 55 countries, including China, denouncing any use of the situation in Hong Kong as an excuse for interference in China's internal affairs.

Addressing Germany, the United States and Britain, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun criticized what he called their "hypocritical" attitude and demanded that the three countries "put away your arrogance and prejudice, and pull back from the brink, now." 

The organization Human Rights Watch praised the fact that so many countries had signed on to the declaration "despite China's persistent threats and intimidation tactics against those who speak out."

In 2019, a similar text drafted by Britain only garnered 23 signatures.

Western diplomats have said that China is piling on more pressure each year to dissuade UN member states from signing such statements, threatening to block the renewal of peacekeeping missions for some countries or preventing others from building new embassy facilities in China.

On Monday, China led a group of 26 countries in a joint declaration calling for an end to US sanctions which they said violate human rights during the struggle to combat the coronavirus pandemic. 

Last month, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said it had identified more than 380 "suspected detention facilities" in the Xinjiang region, where China is believed to have held more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking residents.

In the United States, the House of Representatives passed a bill at the end of September that aims to ban imports from Xinjiang, contending that abuses of the Uighur people are so widespread that all goods from the region should be considered made with slave labor./AFP

China has been accused of detaining Uighurs in camps under a mass campaign of political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation. Human rights groups accuse the government of forcefully sterilising Uighur women.

Turkey has expressed concerns over ongoing human rights violations in China's Xinjiang autonomous region, home to the ethnic Uighur community.

In a national declaration to the UN General Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues), Turkey urged that the cultural and religious identity of Uighur Turks be respected and guaranteed.

"We attach importance to the role of the UN in addressing the concerns and expectations of the international community regarding practices against Uighur Turks and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang," Turkey’s Foreign Ministry told reporters on Wednesday, citing the declaration which was made on Monday.

Turkey’s declaration stressed that relevant UN bodies play "an important role in recording the human rights situation in the region" while "making concrete recommendations."

Citing eight recommendations the UN Elimination of Racial Discrimination Committee gave to China in August 2018, Turkey said the concerns and recommendations the committee made are still applicable to this day and "necessary steps must be taken in this regard."

'Equal citizens'

The declaration also underscored Turkey's respect for China's territorial integrity, and stated: "Our country's well-known expectation from both the international community and the Chinese authorities is for the Uighur Turks and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang to live in peace and tranquillity as equal citizens of China."

"In addition, their cultural and religious identity should be respected and guaranteed," the declaration added.

Turkey's declaration also pointed to its ethnic, religious and cultural ties with Uighur Turks, and said: "The human rights practices against Uighur Turks and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang in recent reports have made us particularly worried."

In its declaration, Turkey vowed to follow up the matter of Uighur Turks and Muslim minorities in China at various international platforms such as the UN and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and said it "will continue to direct and constructive dialogue with China on a bilateral level."

Turkey also said it expects "a meaningful, comprehensive and unrestricted visit to Xinjiang" by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and that "China will act transparently on this issue."

Mass internment

China has been widely accused of putting Uighurs into camps, and there have been reports of the forced sterilisation of Uighur women.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), accuse Beijing of oppressing the 12 million Uighurs in China, most of whom are Muslims.

A 2018 HRW report focused on what it said was a Chinese government campaign of “mass arbitrary detention, torture, forced political indoctrination, and mass surveillance of Xinjiang’s Muslims.”

Similarly, Amnesty International has published reports on a “campaign of mass internment, intrusive surveillance, political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation,” saying that the “true scope and nature of what is taking place in Xinjiang remains obscured.”

Many Uighurs – around 1 million to 1.6 million, according to the World Uyghur Congress – have left China to live abroad.

China has repeatedly denied allegations that it is operating detention camps in Xinjiang, saying instead that it is “re-educating” Uighurs.

GAZA CITY, Palestine

A Palestinian local committee in Gaza on Wednesday urged the international human rights groups to urgently put pressure on the Israeli authorities to save the life of Palestinian detainee Maher al-Akhras who has been on hunger strike for over 70 days.

"The life of detainee Maher al-Akhras is passing through difficult times and his health condition may deteriorate at any moment," said Ibrahim Mansour, from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in a news conference in Gaza held in front of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mansour, who spoke on behalf of the Prisoners' Committee formed by many Palestinian groups, called on the international human rights organizations to urgently exert pressure over the Israeli authorities to stop the policy of administrative detention against the Palestinian people.

He also held Israel responsible for the al-Akhras' health. 

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, the wife of the detainee, Taghreed al-Akhras, said: "After 73 days of his hunger strike, his health condition became very serious and requires special health care."

She also complained of weak official and international reactions to her husband's ordeal.

Maher al-Akhras was detained on July 27, and held by the Israeli authorities under the administrative detention, with no trial or charges, which pushed him to wage an open-ended hunger strike.

Under Israel's "administrative detention" policy, prisoners can be held for up to one year without charge or trial.

Some 5,000 Palestinian political detainees are languishing in Israeli jails, including 43 women, 180 children, and 430 detainees under the administrative detention./aa

 Kuwait’s new emir on Wednesday named his brother the Gulf country’s crown prince, the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al‑Ahmad Al‑Jaber Al‑Sabah issued a royal decree choosing his brother Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah for the royal post. Kuwait’s parliament will hold a special session Thursday to pledge allegiance to the chosen crown prince.

The announcement came on the same day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to visit to pay his condolences and hold talks with the new emir.

The 80-year-old new crown prince is half-brother of the new emir, who was sworn in following last week’s death of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at age 91.

Since Kuwait’s independence in 1962, the Al-Sawalem branch of the Al-Sabah royal family used to rotate with the Al-Ahmad branch in ruling the country, before the late emir broke the customary habit by appointing Sheikh Nawaf from the Al-Ahmad branch as crown prince.

The new crown prince has been deputy chief of the National Guard with the rank of minister for 17 years, and currently heads the guard due to the poor health of its head, Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, who is also head of the Al-Sabah family.

Sheikh Mishaal is known for his strict personality, and was considered the most likely figure for the position, despite his distance from the country’s political circles.

Mishaal used to accompany the late emir during all his medical trips, including his recent trip to the US, where the emir passed away.

He is the seventh son of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who ruled Kuwait from 1921 to 1951, and the half-brother of Sheikh Jaber, who ruled Kuwait for 28 years.

Kuwait’s Late Amir Death A Tragedy - Al-Ghanim His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s passing away was a “tragedy and a difficult day in Kuwait,” Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim said. This came in Al-Ghanim’s speech in the special session of the National Assembly, Wednesday, held to eulogize His Highness the late Amir, who passed away on September 29. His Highness the late Amir was “righteous with his people, seeking to meet their needs, watching over their comfort and striving to achieve their aspirations to Kuwait,” Al-Ghanim said.

Regionally, he was a messenger of peace, working hard for issues of Arab and Islamic nations, especially those issues in which the humans were victims of conflicts as the Palestinian people case was his priority, he added. Al-Ghanim said the late Amir was guardian of the constitution and thus the nation was “crying a great leader and a wise skipper who steered the ship through weathering storms … He had a kind heart and was a source of safety.”

DHAKA, Bangladesh(AA)

At least four Rohingya refugees were killed and dozens injured in a feud between two factions in a temporary refugee shelter in Cox’s Bazar. 

The clashes, counter-clashes and gunfights Tuesday occurred at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia of Cox's Bazar and continued throughout the night, Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Shamsu Douza told local Somoy News television station.

But the number injured was yet to be confirmed, he said.

Before the deadly clashes, law enforcement arrested nine Rohingya on different criminal charges, he added, stressing that law enforcement, including the army, anti-terrorism units and police are trying to bring the situation under control.

Three Rohingya were killed in a factional clash to establish control in the camps in recent days, said Douza.

Camp in-charge Md. Mahfuzur Rahman told reporters that 500 Rohingya families were transferred from Camp-1 for fear of the clashes and took shelter in homes of relatives in other camps.

The Rohingya families could return to their homes once the situation returned to normal as tension was still high at the camp, he said.

ISTANBUL

Turkish security authorities arrested dozens of suspects early Wednesday affiliated with the outlawed Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP).    

Security teams raided multiple addresses simultaneously in Istanbul and arrested 24 suspects linked to the far-left terror group.  

The suspects are accused of disseminating propaganda for the MLKP.  

The MLKP was founded in 1994 and in 2007 was added to a list of active terror organizations in Turkey./aa