Newport Beach, CA – September 4, 2022 — The August 31st report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights outlines the human rights violations and abuses occurring in Xinjiang. It concludes that “the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of the Uyghur and predominantly Muslim groups… may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” and that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in Xinjiang.

The following is the message of Global Bank Group President Ron Nechemia on the occasion of the release of the report on the Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang on September 1, 2022, by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, China:

Mr. Ron Nechemia welcomed the report’s release on Thursday, saying in a statement that the report deepens and reaffirms that “there is cause for grave concern regarding any ongoing violations that constitute international crimes, in particular, crimes against humanity” that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government authorities are perpetrating against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups.

Global Bank Group “strongly condemns any human rights violations,” including those delineated in the UN report regarding acts perpetrated against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups by the People’s Republic of China government authorities. Mr. Nechemia expressed his concern and stressed the gravity of the report’s findings.  

Global Bank Group stands with countries and people around the world against crimes against humanity committed in the Xinjiang region in China, where more than a million people have been placed arbitrarily in detention camps for their ethnic and religious identities.

China’s obligations under international human rights law are contained principally in the human rights treaties to which China is a State Party, in particular, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

China is bound by human rights norms that are accepted as constituting customary international law, notably concerning the right to life, the prohibition of discrimination based on race, religion, marital status or sex, and the right to freedom of religion.

Global Bank Group will continue to raise these issues and call for change – not to stand against China, but to stand up for peace, security, and human dignity.

Our organisational purpose, and values, are in the Global Bank Charter. The central role of the Global Bank Group is embracing the Bank Group’s ideals and values enshrined in the Global Bank Charter; respect for fundamental human rights of men and women, social justice and human dignity, peace and security, the worth of the human person, self-determination of peoples, social progress and development, and leave no one behind.