The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) submitted a UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submission on People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the UN Human Rights Council in advance of PRC’s Third UPR Cycle in November 2018. The submission, done on 29 March 2018, raises concerns and makes recommendations on specific human rights issues namely arbitrary detention and torture, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and belief, and right to privacy.
As PRC’s third UPR cycle gets underway, it is imperative for the States to hold PRC to account for its failure to meet its human rights commitments and obligations. TCHRD urges States to raise the issues included in this submission with the PRC government during the interactive dialogue of the UPR.
The submission includes the following suggested recommendations:
- Immediately ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
- Immediately release all people arbitrarily detained, including protesters, monks and nuns, political dissidents, journalists, writers, artists, and activists.
- Introduce and strengthen legislation to prohibit torture and make it a criminal offence with proper independent investigation and sanction.
- Stop surveillance campaigns, permit all Tibetans to exercise their right of freedom of religion without government interference, and allow the free exercise of the right to information by Tibetans without criminal penalty.
- Review and repeal of national legislation that prevents the exercise by Tibetans of the right to peaceful assembly.
- Grant all Tibetans a valid passport without further delay.
- Extend invitations to UN officials and independent experts who have requested to visit Tibet and consider to join the 109 States which have extended a standing invitation allowing visits to the country to all UN thematic special procedures.
To read TCHRD’s full UPR submission click here