Sam Brownback, ambassador at large for international religious freedom has said he is “disappointed” at the response of governments in the Islamic world to China’s mass incarceration of Uighur Muslims, suggesting they had been threatened by Beijing. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – have been silent in the face of the mass incarceration of Muslims in Xinjiang.
He said some majority-Muslim states did not want to draw attention to their own human rights record. He was hopeful that the more Muslim populations around the world heard about the imprisonment of an estimated more than 1 million Uighurs, the more they will put pressure on their governments to speak out. Brownback, a former Kansas governor, added: “I have been disappointed that more Islamic countries have not spoken out. I know the Chinese have been threatening them and but you don’t back down to somebody that does that. That just encourages more actions. “If China is not stopped from doing this they’re going to replicate and push this system out in their own country and to other authoritarian regimes,” he said. Brownback suggested another reason for reticence of some governments in the Islamic world was they felt vulnerable on their own record on religious rights. “I think a number of who are concerned about their own human rights record and then they’re saying look: we don’t want people criticizing us so we’re not going to criticize somebody else,” he said.
After the Turkish foreign ministry called the incarceration of Uighurs a “great shame for humanity”, China scaled down diplomatic ties and warned of damaged economic relations.
The Trump administration has severely criticised Beijing for its campaign against Islam in Xinjiang province but has yet to impose sanctions.
At the beginning of March, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation passed a resolution which praised China for “providing care to its Muslim citizens”. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has also defended China’s “right to carry out anti-terrorism and counter extremism work for its national security”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/10/us-envoy-decries-lack-of-foreign-response-to-chinas-attack-on-islam
He said some majority-Muslim states did not want to draw attention to their own human rights record. He was hopeful that the more Muslim populations around the world heard about the imprisonment of an estimated more than 1 million Uighurs, the more they will put pressure on their governments to speak out. Brownback, a former Kansas governor, added: “I have been disappointed that more Islamic countries have not spoken out. I know the Chinese have been threatening them and but you don’t back down to somebody that does that. That just encourages more actions. “If China is not stopped from doing this they’re going to replicate and push this system out in their own country and to other authoritarian regimes,” he said. Brownback suggested another reason for reticence of some governments in the Islamic world was they felt vulnerable on their own record on religious rights. “I think a number of who are concerned about their own human rights record and then they’re saying look: we don’t want people criticizing us so we’re not going to criticize somebody else,” he said.
After the Turkish foreign ministry called the incarceration of Uighurs a “great shame for humanity”, China scaled down diplomatic ties and warned of damaged economic relations.
The Trump administration has severely criticised Beijing for its campaign against Islam in Xinjiang province but has yet to impose sanctions.
At the beginning of March, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation passed a resolution which praised China for “providing care to its Muslim citizens”. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has also defended China’s “right to carry out anti-terrorism and counter extremism work for its national security”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/10/us-envoy-decries-lack-of-foreign-response-to-chinas-attack-on-islam
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