Turkish rights official calls China to fix its reputation for Uyghurs

By Dilan Pamuk

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish human rights official has called on China to halt its human rights abuses, forced labor, and violence against Uyghur Turks, saying its approach could not bring peace to the country.

Suleyman Arslan, chairman of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey, told Anadolu Agency that negotiating problems and neglected issues do not harm anyone while finding mutual solutions for problems faced by all citizens is beneficial for everyone.

"This applies to Turkey, China, every country. It's important to find mutual solutions. But unfortunately, people aren't willing to get to that point," he said.

"There are two basic problems regarding human rights in the world: one is disrespect of cultural differences, and the other is the issue of double standards, insincerity," Arslan said.

"What we can say about China is that they don't want the Muslim population to grow, as we can observe because we see that their mosques are being demolished."

He noted that it was no secret that people are fleeing China.

"I met a person here, for instance. After learning that he would be taken [to camps by Chinese forces], he escaped immediately, leaving his wife and children."

Arslan said he hoped to see conditions in China improve.

"Just like China tried to fix its reputation with beautiful images and scenes showing people strolling down the streets after the COVID-19 pandemic ... we want to see beautiful scenes from East Turkestan. We want to see mosques being built, news of the Muslim population's new sense of happiness there being shared."

Underlining that China's attitude towards the Uyghurs was a gross violation of human rights, Arslan said, "this kind of approach doesn't bring peace or happiness to a country. No country can attain prosperity through violence against other communities."

- Islamophobic human rights violations growing

Arslan said there were similar reports of human rights violations in other parts of the world.

"Right now, gross atrocities are being committed in Sri Lanka, for instance. Muslims' mosques are being burned, demolished, their bodies are being cremated, among other abuses."

He noted that much violence in the world resulted from established human rights systems, citing France's discourse and policies supporting Islamophobia, as well as the proposed restrictions that may soon be imposed on the practice of belief in the country.

"In the case of France, we're looking at a country that has veto rights in the United Nations [Security Council], claiming it's the guardian of human rights, with outstanding track records in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Yet, it's committing one of the greatest violations of human rights," he said.

- Europe violates human rights by refusing refugees

Arslan went on to say that refugees were another group of people whose rights are routinely violated.

"There's much talk on refugee rights, but they [refugees] are refused at the borders ... They're pushed back, abused. They [Greek border forces] even killed them at the Edirne border crossing. While traveling on boats, they've drowned," he said, referring to brutal efforts last year to stop refugees from entering Greece after Turkey announced it would open its border.

Greek security forces are accused of using disproportionate force against asylum seekers with tear gas, water cannon, and live ammunition. Nearly 2,500 asylum seekers were wounded and several killed by Greek border guards' measures in two weeks until mid-March [last year].

"Europe is responsible for the right to life of all people who have drowned in the Mediterranean," Arslan continued. "Europe is a violator of human rights for each and every individual whose burden they refuse to share."

"If we agree that human rights are the mutual responsibility of all humanity, it means everyone will share the burden. If a country approaches the asylum seekers with the intention: 'I'll take the good, cultivated ones to Europe. You keep the under-educated, the elderly,' then this violates human rights. Peace and harmony will never exist in the world in a system like this," he underlined.

- Dignity essential for all living beings

Arslan said that by inspecting prisons, detention rooms, nursing homes, and repatriation centers, among others, the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey aims to make sure the rights of inmates are not violated.

"Even if they had committed crimes, we care that people there are protected in a manner that is appropriate with human dignity," he said. "Our purpose in punishing these people is not to cast them out from society but to make them serve their sentence and rejoin society healthy."

Emphasizing the significance of love, respect, mercy, and dignity, Arslan said, "the sick, women, disabled, children, men, elderly, animals... they all need love. They all need mercy without discrimination. We need to preserve human dignity."

He said any attitude vilifying another living being must be abandoned, and views promoting others' value must be brought to the forefront instead.

"The violation of any living being, any disrespect towards their rights can't bring us peace; indeed, it gives us discomfort," he added.

The Human Rights and Equality Institution is an Ankara-based semi-judicial institution founded in April 2016. It acts to protect and improve human rights and combat discrimination based on 15 criteria, including race, gender, age, language, and belief, and combat torture and abuse.

The institution frequently inspects nursing homes, prisons, detention centers, psychiatric hospitals, repatriation centers, temporary refuge centers, and many other facilities to detect and prevent any violence, torture, abuse, or violation of rights.