Madam High Commissioner, I have the honor to deliver this interregional joint statement on behalf of more than 40 countries.

We are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other minorities and restrictions on fundamental freedoms and Uyghur culture . Cases of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence and forced separation of children from their parents by the authorities have also been reported.

We also share the concerns expressed by the UN Special Procedures in their March 29 statement on allegations of detention, forced labor and transfers of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities and in a letter issued by experts. document describing the collective repression of religious and ethnic minorities.

We urge China to allow immediate, meaningful and unimpeded access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the High Commissioner, and to urgently implement the 8 recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding Xinjiang, in particular by ending the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities.

Finally, we remain deeply concerned about the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong under the National Security Law and the human rights situation in Tibet. We call on the Chinese authorities to respect their human rights obligations.

Thank you.

List of countries: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ukraine , United States