STUDY GUIDE

“Devising measures in order to restore the right of Uyghur Muslims

of China”

The Special Political and Decolonization

Committee

Modern Youth International Model United Nations

“6th Edition”
Message from Executive Board

Dear Delegates,
Welcome to the SPECPOL council at MYIMUN 6! As your chairs and committee staff,
we look forward to seeing your engaged participation and lively debate. This committee
serves to broaden your worldviews as participants of the MYIMUN 6.0 virtual
conference.
With delegates from all over the world, we are excited to bring you this unique
opportunity. It is expected that you come out of this experience to be more enlightened
on issues regarding the rights of Uyghur Muslims of China. Furthermore, we hope that
your participation will increase your passion for MUNs and, of course, foster
cooperation, teamwork, analytical skills, and diplomacy.
The Head Chair encourages all delegates to prepare thoroughly and speak up about
your stances later in the conference. Hence, we can have a very insightful discussion to
meet the committee’s goal.
Your Co-Chair Khushi encourages you to speak up and allow yourselves to experience
this gorgeous simulation of the UN. Make mistakes and learn. This is an opportunity to
not only improve but more so to know your capability. You will be surprised to see what
is in store inside you.
Your Co Chair Raoul Dcunha would simply want all the delegates to learn and
experience new things and wishes everybody to have a fruitful discussion and enjoy the
time you will spend with MYIMUN.
As your dais, we are looking forward to guiding you through this committee in an
educational yet entertaining way.
This background guide serves as an introduction to the topic of “ Devising measures in
order to restore the right of Uyghur Muslims of China” It is expected that you read
through this thoroughly, but please do not limit your research to this study guide; we
recommend that you come prepared with your own research to further your knowledge
about this topic.
We look forward to seeing you in committee through this virtual conference!

Sincerely,
Timur Alikhodjaev - Head Chair
Khushi Ruparel - Co Chair
Raoul Dcunha - Co Chair
Introduction to the Committee

The Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth

Committee) considers a broad range of issues covering a cluster of five
decolonization-related agenda items, the effects of atomic radiation,
questions relating to information, a comprehensive review of the
question of peacekeeping operations as well as a review of special
political missions, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Report of the
Special Committee on Israeli Practices and International cooperation
in the peaceful uses of outer space. In addition to these annual items,
the Committee also considers the items on Assistance in mine action,
and University for peace biennially and triennially respectively.
 Introduction to the agenda

The topic “Devising measures in order to restore the right of Uyghur Muslims of
China” is very important today, because today unprecedented cases of human
rights violations have become more and more frequent. The delegates will have to
consider the topic from different angles and come to a compromise.
 History

In the mid-1990s, separatist movements intensified in China's Xinjiang province.

The authorities kept everything under control until 2009, when 200 people died
as a result of such movements. As a result, China blamed the Uyghurs for
everything. According to the Chinese authorities, the Uyghurs wanted to create
their own independent state, and were ready to resort to any measures. As a
result, Xinjiang Province is engulfed in an extensive surveillance network, and
every inhabitant is suspected of extremism.
 Topic Overview
The problem of Uyghur Muslims in China has been generally recognized by
international community for quite some time. There have been many cases of
Muslims being detained by the Chinese government - that is not only about
Uyghur muslims, but also about other ethnic groups, such as Kazakhs, or Uzbeks.
All the detainees are referred to the so-called re-educational campls that appear
in Xinjiang province.

Most of the detainees had never been convicted of a crime before. The reasons for
the detention by the Chinese government are most often related to religion.
Muslim Uighurs in China are recognized as extremists simply because they
preach their religion.

China, for its part, claims that these are no detentions at all, but vocational
training that does not violate human rights in any way.
 Current situation

Nowadays, China has completely denied all allegations of human rights violations
against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang province. Government officials said the "re-
educational" program was completely phased out in 2019, but there is evidence
that some Uyghurs are still in camps, while some have been transferred to real
prisons.

China claims that repression in Xinjiang is necessary to prevent various kinds of

threats from Islamic extremists, but at the same time, China is accused of
exaggerating the threat and, again, violating human rights
 Past International Actions

Many Uyghurs were forced to work in factories of various global brands during
their imprisonment. At one point, information reached the UN Human Rights
Council. At the same time, UN experts immediately drew up a letter to the
Chinese government and private enterprises, in whose factories the Uyghurs were
allegedly exploited. The letter recalled their responsibility to respect all human
rights in accordance with the UN Human Rights Business Guidelines.

The 16 experts who issued the statement monitor specific human rights situations
covering areas such as freedom of religion or belief, modern slavery, minority
issues, human trafficking and cultural rights.

They were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, which issued their
mandates, and are not UN staff, nor do they receive a salary.
 Scope of Debate
The Chinese government’s oppression of Turkic Muslims is not a new
phenomenon, but in recent years has reached unprecedented levels. As many as a
million people have been arbitrarily detained in 300 to 400 facilities, which
include “political education” camps, pretrial detention centers, and prisons.
Courts have handed down harsh prison sentences without due process,
sentencing Turkic Muslims to years in prison merely for sending an Islamic
religious recording to a family member or downloading e-books in Uyghur.
Detainees and prisoners are subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, cultural
and political indoctrination, and forced labor. The oppression continues outside
the detention facilities: the Chinese authorities impose on Turkic Muslims a
pervasive system of mass surveillance, controls on movement, arbitrary arrest
and enforced disappearance, cultural and religious erasure, and family
separation.

The United States State Department and the parliaments of Canada and the
Netherlands have determined that China’s conduct also constitutes genocide
under international law. Human Rights Watch has not documented the existence
of the necessary genocidal intent at this time. Nonetheless, nothing in this report
precludes such a finding and, if such evidence were to emerge, the acts being
committed against Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang—a group protected by the 1948
Genocide Convention—could also support a finding of genocide.

In 2017, according to official statistics, arrests in Xinjiang accounted for nearly 21

percent of all arrests in China, despite people in Xinjiang making up only 1.5
percent of the total population. Since 2017, Chinese authorities have used various
pretexts to damage or destroy two-thirds of Xinjiang’s mosques; about half of
those have been demolished outright. Important Islamic sacred sites have been
demolished across the region. As part of regional authorities’ intrusive “Becoming
Families” surveillance, development, and indoctrination campaign, officials
impose themselves for overnight stays at the homes of Turkic Muslims, a practice
that authorities say “promote[s] ethnic unity.” In another particularly chilling
practice, some Turkic Muslim children whose parents have been arbitrarily
detained are placed in state institutions such as orphanages and boarding
schools, including boarding preschools.
 Bloc Positions
The global response to these abuses has been increasingly critical.
Some governments, such as Canada, the European Union, the United
Kingdom, and the US, have imposed targeted and other sanctions on
Chinese government officials, agencies, and companies implicated in
rights violations. Increasingly, governments are joining statements at
the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Third Committee,
the human rights arm of the UN General Assembly, to condemn
Chinese government policy. Nonetheless, many governments,
including several members of the Organisation for Islamic
Cooperation, still praise the Chinese government’s Xinjiang policies.

The European Union has called on China to respect religious freedom

and change its policies in Xinjiang. In late 2020, the bloc adopted
legislation that allows sanctions on human rights abusers, though it has
yet to apply it to Chinese officials. And human rights organizations
have urged China to immediately shut down the camps and answer
questions about disappeared Uyghurs.

In January 2021, on U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s last full day in

office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that China is
committing crimes against humanity and genocide against Uyghurs,
making the United States the first country to apply those terms to the
Chinese government’s abuses. The designation could lead the United
States to impose more sanctions on China. President Joe Biden used
the term genocide to refer to China’s abuses while campaigning, and his
secretary of state, Antony Blinken, affirmed Pompeo’s declaration. In
February, the Canadian and Dutch parliaments passed nonbinding
motions to use the genocide label.

Prior to the designation, the United States had imposed visa

restrictions on Chinese officials and blacklisted more than two dozen
Chinese companies and agencies linked to abuses in the region,
effectively blocking them from buying U.S. products. Trump signed
legislation, which passed with overwhelming support from Congress in
June 2020, mandating that individuals, including Chen, face sanctions
for oppressing Uyghurs. The law also requires that U.S. businesses and
individuals selling products to or operating in Xinjiang ensure their
activities do not contribute to human rights violations.

Foreign governments have also imposed restrictions to address forced

labor in Xinjiang. The United States banned cotton and tomato imports
from the region, and the United Kingdom will fine companies that fail
to guarantee their supply chains do not use forced labor. The European
Union, however, is moving forward with China on an investment
agreement that does not include provisions on forced labor.

China’s partners have been notably silent. Prioritizing their economic

ties and strategic relationships with China, many governments have
ignored the human rights abuses. In July 2019, after a group of mostly
European countries—and no Muslim-majority countries—signed a
letter to the UN human rights chief condemning China’s actions in
Xinjiang, more than three dozen states, including Pakistan and Saudi
Arabia, signed their own letter praising China’s “remarkable
achievements” in human rights and its “counterterrorism” efforts in
Xinjiang.
 Case Study
Over the past decade, China has firmly established itself as a pivotal
strategic actor within the global economy, not least because of its $900 bn.
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).The construction of ports, roads, and
railways across the entire Eurasian continental landmass intersects with
the People Republic of China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative and the
launch of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2016.
Together these projects allow China to set commercial standards as well as
creating a parallel institutional structure to the Bretton Woods Institutions
established at the end of the Second WorldWar. International scrutiny of
China’s political endeavours has largely focused on disputes over islands
and freedom of navigation in the South- and East China Seas as well as
China’s growing military presence in Africa. Beyond exerting its own
political interests more boldly, China’s Communist Party (CCP) is seen to
engage with governments that America and its European allies consider
beyond the pale, often because of the human rights violations committed by
such governments. Prime examples of such engagement include Xi
Jinping’s warm relations with Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
who is wanted by an international arrest warrant, and the CCP’s close ties
to the political and military leadership of Zimbabwe. What is becoming
increasingly clear, however, is that China is now also emerging as a key
normative actor in the global political sphere. As such, the CCP seeks to
redefine the boundaries of legitimate state actions in its own interest. While
China’s interests may align with most Western liberal democracies with
respect to environmental issues and climate change,the CCP’s quest for
normative leadership is a grave threat to the notion of universal human
rights. The Chinese state’s severe violations of its own citizens’ human
rights are exemplified by its crackdown on its Uyghur Muslim minority,
primarily resident in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. In a time
where American commitments to universalism and human rights are
already fragile, the CCP’s crackdown is not just a human catastrophe for the
more than ten million Uyghurs living in China, it is a threat to the survival
of the principle of universal human rights.
 QARMA’S
1) Is China’s strategy just an attempt to spur ethnic violence in
order to justify more repressive policies?

2) How does Western Islamophobia factor into how neglected this

humanitarian crisis has been?

3) How can the international community help?

 Bibliography
1) Rights experts concerned about alleged detention, forced labour of
Uyghurs in China / URL:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1088612 / 07/19/2021
2) Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide? / URL:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037 / 07/19/2021
3) What is happening with the Uighurs in China? / URL:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/uighurs/ / 07/19/2021