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In this December 3, 2018, file photo, people line up at the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Centre at the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. The prominent British human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice is convening an independent tribunal in London with public hearings in 2021, to look into the Chinese government's alleged rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in the far western province of Xinjiang.
More than 300 civil society groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Service for Human Rights are urging the United Nations to set up an international watchdog to address human rights violations by the Chinese government.
Read more: 'What is happening here?' Chinese ambassador confronted on live TV with 'not beautiful' footage
In an open letter published on Wednesday, the groups say they are seeking greater scrutiny of and response to violations in places like Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, as well as beyond — such as through censorship, development that hurts the environment and the targeting of rights defenders.
The call for the creation of an "independent international mechanism" to focus on China's rights violations adds to recent international pressure on Beijing over its handling of issues like protests in Hong Kong and detention centres — what the government calls vocational or training centres — for Uighur Muslims and others in western Xinjiang region.
"China has systematically persecuted rights defenders in reprisal for their cooperation with UN human rights operations — torture, enforced disappearance, imprisonment, and stripping licenses from lawyers," said Renee Xia, director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, in a statement. "The UN system should no longer tolerate such treatment."
Drone footage of hundreds of blindfolded and shackled men, who appeared to be Uighur and other minority ethnic groups was shown to China's ambassador to the UK
(BBC)
Veterans of the camps and family members say those held are forced, often with the threat of violence, to denounce their religion, culture and language and swear loyalty to Communist Party leader and head of state Xi Jinping. (BBC)
The move follows a call by independent experts who work with the United Nations for a special session of the Human Rights Council focusing on the array of issues around China's rights record. Advocates insist that no country — no matter how large or powerful — should escape extra scrutiny of their rights records when warranted.
Read more: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law
The groups also want UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to "take responsibility for publicly addressing China's sweeping rights violations," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Watch: China denies mass detention of Uighur Muslims in 2018:
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China denies mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang
At a news conference on Wednesday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian sought to brush off the groups' appeal, saying: "I think the statements made by these organisations are groundless and not worth refuting."
The appeal comes before the start of the 47-member-state Human Rights Council's fall session on Monday. In its summer session, the council held an urgent debate on a rise of police violence against Black people and repression of protests in the United States.
– Reported with Associated Press
Over 300 groups call for UN watchdog to address human rights violations by the Chinese government
More than 300 civil society groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Internationa...
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