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UN calls on Saudi Arabia to stop handing over two Uyghur Chinese citizens to the Chinese government

Less than 1 minuteReading Time: Minutes

News briefing

Translated and edited by: Committee for Justice

Geneva: 5 April 2022

UN human rights experts have called on the government of Saudi Arabia to fulfill its commitments not to extradite two Chinese nationals belonging to the Uyghur minority, saying they risk serious human rights violations if returned to China.

Detention is an exceptional measure subject to individual evaluation:

“We are alarmed by the arrest of two Uyghur men in Saudi Arabia, since November 2020, and their continuous detention without proper legal justification or implementation of fundamental safeguards, reportedly on the basis of an extradition request made by China,” the experts said.

“Detention should remain an exceptional measure subject to an individual assessment and regular judicial review, otherwise Saudi Arabia would be depriving the two men of their fundamental rights provided for under national and international law.”

The experts noted that the prohibition of refoulement is absolute and non-derogable under international human rights and refugee law, and states are obligated not to remove any individual from their territory when there are substantial grounds for believing that the person may be subject to gross human rights violations in the destination State, such as a consistent pattern in the country concerned, gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

“In view of the credible risk of grave violations, both for their membership of an ethnic and religious minority, Saudi Arabia is required to undertake an individual, impartial and independent assessment of risks, and provide prompt and transparent access to safeguards, including the ability to challenge the deportation decision,” the experts said.

Reprisals against the families of the two detainees:

The experts were alarmed by information indicating that the two men were transferred to Riyadh for possible extradition on March 16, 2022, and then returned to the detention center in Jeddah again, where they were held incommunicado for at least 12 days.

The experts called on the Saudi authorities to immediately allow the two men to contact their families and ascertain their fate and whereabouts, noting at the same time their concern about the recently reported reprisals against members of the two men’s families who are in Saudi Arabia.

For more information and media requests or inquiries, please get in touch with us (+41229403538 / media@cfjustice.org)

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