In November 2018 the UN Human Right Council will once again review and scrutinise China's human rights record during the Universal Periodic Review.
Since China’s last Review there has been a significant deterioration in the human rights situation in Tibet and it is currently ranked as the second most oppressed territory in the world, after Syria. Tibetans are discriminated against and denied a wide range of rights, including freedom of religion, expression, association, assembly, and movement. China exercises tight control over the passage of both information and people within Tibet, and their access in and out of Tibet, in a bid to limit international exposure of these human rights violations.
Over the past four and a half years China has failed to implement even the simplest of provisions to protect Tibetans’ human rights, including the accepted recommendations committed to during both UPR cycles, and has instead enacted policies that further impinge upon the rights of Tibetans and entirely undermines its engagement with the international human rights system.
I urge Sushma Swaraj, India's External Affairs Minister, to uphold India's key principles and values robustly pressing China on the situation in Tibet by raising constructive, concrete recommendations with a specific mention of “Tibet”.