Cambodia’s
deportation of Uyghur refugees to China on 19 December 2009 remains a
severe violation of international law and human rights.
Below is an article published by World Uyghur Congress:
Source: http://www.unpo.org
Three years ago today [19 December
2012], 20 Uyghur refugees were deported to the People's Republic of
China (PRC) from Cambodia amidst widespread condemnation after repeated
calls of concern for their safety resulting from past evidence of
mistreatment of returned refugees and general human rights concerns went
unmet. Those fears were proved to have been warranted as 17 remain
detained and sentenced to harsh terms of imprisonment following closed
trials lacking any due process, nor meeting accepted international legal
norms.
In extraditing these Uyghur refugees
whilst their cases were still under review by the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights (UNHCR), Cambodia contravened established international
legal norms on the protection of refugees, including the 1951 Refugee
Convention and its 1967 Protocol (to which Cambodia is a party).
Furthermore, among the twenty Uyghur refugees were a pregnant woman and
children, representing further violations of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, although they have since been released.
The twenty Uyghurs had escaped from the
PRC in search of refuge in the aftermath of widespread crackdowns
following peaceful protests in Urumqi on 5 July 2009 which were
subsequently violently suppressed. The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and
other NGOs have reported that thousands of Uyghurs have been forcibly
disappeared in the aftermath of this crackdown, whilst many have since
been executed.
In that regard, the then-UN Special
Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak stressed that, “[i]n light of
the reports of severe torture I have received following the July events
and the recent executions in the Xinjiang region in violation of the
most basic fair trial guarantees, this is a blatant violation of
Cambodia’s obligations under the principle of non-refoulement as
stipulated in article 3 of the UN Convention against torture.” Dr Nowak
went on to assert that, “[t]he situation is aggravated by the fact
that I had reminded the Government of Cambodia beforehand by
means of an urgent communication of their international obligations.”
States are increasingly flouting such
international legal obligations, particularly the principle of
non-refoulement, against the backdrop of increasing pressure from the
PRC. The day following their extradition, the now-newly installed
President Xi Jinping, arrived in Phnom Penh gifting $1 billion of
foreign investment, loans and grants to Cambodia, raising serious
suspicions on the manner in which Cambodia seemingly succumbed under
pressure from the PRC instead of upholding international law.
Whilst there remains a shroud of secrecy
concerning the whereabouts and condition of many of the Uyghurs since
their forcible return, some information has been obtained on the length
of imprisonment reprehensibly handed down to some, who received
sentences ranging from 16 to 20 years often on charges of divulging
state secrets overseas.
On the situation, WUC President Ms
Rebiya Kadeer said, ”in spite of repeated calls for Cambodia to take
stock of the human rights situation in East Turkestan and the treatment
of Uyghur refugees, it continued to extradite these Uyghur refugees in a
flagrant abuse of international human rights law, for which no-one has
been held to account, both in Cambodia and the PRC.”
In light of the above, the WUC condemns
in the strongest possible terms the ongoing imprisonment of these Uyghur
refugees, and calls upon the international community to pressure the
PRC to release them with immediate effect. The WUC also
calls upon Xi Jinping, who brought the financial rewards to Cambodia,
to ensure that the new PRC leadership adheres to its international legal
obligations regarding its treatment of refugees.
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