Accountability for Gross Human Rights Violations
THE ISSUES
We seek accountability for gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. We work to end impunity for grave violations of human rights based on the firm belief that achieving justice and accountability could prevent a recurrence of such violations and lay a foundation for long-lasting peace. In particular, understanding that the status quo often fails to seek accountability for violations by strong states, we demand justice and accountability for crimes perpetrated by the strongest states.
UYGHURS IN CHINA
Under their “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Extremism”, the Chinese government has committed serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (UAR). These violations include a comprehensive system of arbitrary and abusive detention and forced labour for more than one million people in re-education camps, mass surveillance and coercive and abusive home stays by officials, the suppression and punishment of various forms of cultural and religious expression, and the widespread destruction of cultural and religious sites.
We strongly urge the Chinese government to immediately end mass arbitrary detentions, abuses, forced labour, and the destruction of Muslim culture in Xinjiang UAR. Additionally, we have reported on Japanese companies’ links to forced labor in Xinjiang UAR and issued a call for Japanese companies, investors, and the government to take steps to have potential links to forced labor of Uyghurs investigated and identified throughout companies’ entire supply chains, and to end and prevent such links if they are identified.
ROHINGYA IN MYANMAR
The Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar is a continuing human rights and humanitarian catastrophe; since August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya refugees have been forced to flee the country because of violence including mass killings, torture, forced starvation, systematic rape and sexual violence against women and children. Furthermore, reports and existing evidence indicate that the atrocities targeting Rohingya were an orchestrated ethnic cleansing campaign implicating all levels of the Myanmar security forces.
Human Rights Now remains deeply concerned over the continued and systematic human rights violations against Myanmar’s Rohingya people. Since the beginning of the crisis, we have been closely monitoring the situation of the Rohingya, submitting statements to the Human Rights Council, and following updates on ongoing cases at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.
PALESTINE (OPT)
The recent escalation of violence between the Israeli military and Gaza in May of 2021 was the latest incident in a long history of armed conflict surrounding the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). At the root of this violence is a pattern of systemic discrimination against Palestinians, including forced displacement, apartheid conditions, discriminatory laws, widespread poverty and hunger, a water supply crisis, and an Israeli blockade that has led to a collapse in infrastructure and blocked access to vital goods.
We strive to end the systemic discrimination against Palestinians and put an end to the violence by utilizing our special consultative status at the United Nations to actively engage in the UN decision-making process. Accordingly, we call upon state and non-state actors to abide by their obligations under international human rights law and urge U.S. leadership to take action to help bring an end to Israel’s institutionalized domination and oppression of the Palestinian people and protect their fundamental human rights.