Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken or are planning to take, following the recommendation of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales in its Briefing Paper Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China, published on 22 July, to support the call of the UN independent experts of 26 June for decisive measures to protect fundamental freedoms in China by (1) urging the government of China to invite mandate-holders, including those with a mandate to monitor civil and political rights, to conduct independent missions and to permit those visits to take place in an environment of confidentiality, respect for human rights defenders, and full avoidance of reprisals against those with whom mandate-holders may meet, (2) calling upon the UN Human Rights Council to act with a sense of urgency to take all appropriate measures to monitor Chinese human rights practices, and (3) establishing an impartial and independent United Nations mechanism or a Secretary-General Special Envoy, to closely monitor, analyse and report annually on the human rights situation in China, particularly, in view of the urgency of the situation in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. As the Foreign Secretary said during a Statement to the House on 20 July, we have particularly grave concerns about the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council in a joint statement with 27 other countries on 30 June.