'It's like making pyromaniac the fire chief': UN watchdog on China joining human rights panel

Despite China's controversial history of systematic human rights violations, the country has been appointed to a panel on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

During this, China will play a key role in picking the world body’s human rights investigators, including global monitors on freedom of speech, health, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detention.

The latest move has sparked protests by international human rights activists due to the country's history of "oppressive and inhumane" practices in the country.

"Allowing China's oppressive and inhumane regime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief,"said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

"It's absurd and immoral for the UN to allow China’s oppressive government a key role in selecting officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide," Neuer also said.

The executive director and a strong critic of China also said that UN is undermining "their legitimacy by picking an authoritarian regime."

"The UN often describes the UN human rights experts as the 'crown jewels' of its Human Rights Council, yet the world body only undermines their legitimacy by picking an authoritarian regime that oppresses human rights activists, dissidents and minorities to preside over the experts’ appointment."

By joining the UNHRC panel, China will be able to influence the selection of at least 17 UN human rights mandate-holders over the next year, known as special procedures, who investigate, monitor, and publicly report on either specific country situations, or on thematic issues in all parts of the world, such as freedom of speech and religion.

China will help vet candidates for the critical UN human rights posts — serving as Chair of the interview processes for at least five of the mandates and help decide whom to recommend for appointment. In most cases, the council president appoints the experts selected by the 5-nation panel.

Beijing has been under global criticism over its surveillance technology and re-education camps in Xinjiang. The United Nations estimates roughly 1 million Uighurs have been previously detained in Xinjiang.

Beijing denies any mistreatment of Uighurs or others in Xinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism and to teach new skills.

In January, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a scathing review of the Chinese government, calling on the international community to push back against "the most brutal and pervasive oppression China has seen in decades" in its 2020 annual report.

The report condemns Beijing’s treatment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region and warns that China’s growing political influence and efforts to censor people abroad pose an “existential threat to the international human rights system.”

(With inputs from agencies)