On 18 July 2023, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Extra-Territorial Obligation Watch Coalition (ETO Watch Coalition) filed a joint submission to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) ahead of its review of China’s human rights record in early 2024.
The joint submission outlined a number of human rights concerns and provided information and analysis to assist the Working Group on the UPR to ascertain whether or not China’s own activities, or those of entities China is in a position to influence, have a negative impact on human rights abroad, including in the Southeast Asia region.
The submission addressed the following human rights concerns:
- Measures that were adopted by China following its third UPR cycle to ensure that activities carried out by China, or by entities China is in a position to influence, do not have a negative impact on human rights abroad, including activities carried out beyond China’s borders;
- Human rights violations and abuses of economic, social and cultural rights of people living along the banks of the Lower Mekong (Lancang) River, which spans Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, resulting from the construction of dam projects in China; and
- Credible allegations of human rights abuses involving Chinese business entities and State-owned enterprises operating in Southeast Asia, which would render China responsible for violations of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for its failure to take reasonable measures that could have prevented the occurrence of such abuses abroad.
The ICJ and ETO Watch Coalition further called upon the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on the UPR to recommend that China should take various measures to immediately cease all aforementioned human rights violations and abuses; ensure adequate legal protection against them; and guarantee the right to access justice and effective remedies for the victims.
The submission can be downloaded here (PDF).