The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its concluding observations from its review of China at a hearing last month in Geneva urged the Chinese government to review policies, laws and practices that discriminate against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols and other ethnic groups.
The committee issued a number of recommendations while highlighting torture and ill-treatment against ethnic groups, the use of anti-terror and anti-separatism laws to stifle dissent and the diminishing space for civil society in China.
The committee said that it is “concerned by reports that Tibetans are subjected to significant restrictions on movement within and beyond Tibet Autonomous Region, and that the issuance of passports for foreign travel is almost entirely banned in the region. It is also concerned by reports that Tibetan language teaching in schools in the Tibet Autonomous Region has not been placed on equal footing in law, policy and practice with Chinese, and that it has been significantly restricted; that Tibetan language advocacy has been punished; and that Tibetans do not have access to Tibetan language translations during court proceedings, which are held in Mandarin.”
It recommended that the Chinese government “preserve the Tibetan language” by “encouraging and promoting its use in the fields of education, the judicial system and the media.” The committee also expressed general concern regarding resettlement policies that affect Tibetans.
According to the committee, China should “strengthen measures to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment committed against members of ethnic minorities,” the committee said, apparently dismissing claims by the Chinese government that reports of those acts being committed were “false.” The committee expressed its concern “that the broad definition of terrorism and vague references to extremism and unclear definition of separatism in Chinese legislation, could have the potential to criminalize peaceful civic and religious expression and facilitate criminal profiling of ethnic and ethno-religious minorities, including Muslim Uighurs and Buddhist Tibetans and Mongolians.”