UN rights body rejects Western bid to debate Xinjiang abuses Geneva
Geneva(AP:) At the 47-member state Human Rights Council, 17 countries voted in favor, 19 were against, and 11 abstained in a vote to hold a debate on Xinjiang at its next session in March.
The vote amounted to a test of political and diplomatic clout between the West and Beijing and would have marked the first time that China's record on human rights would merit a specific agenda item at the council.
The result, prompting a smattering of applause in the chamber, followed days of diplomatic arm-twisting in Geneva and in many national capitals as leading Western countries tried to build momentum on a report from former UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet's office, released on August 31, which found that possible crimes against humanity had occurred in Xinjiang.
A simple majority of voting countries was required.
China locked down no votes among its usual allies, plus many African countries and the Persian Gulf states Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Somalia was the only African country, and the only member state of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to vote yes.
Turkey is in the OIC but doesn't have a council seat right now. Argentina, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico, and Ukraine were among the countries that abstained.
The make-up of the council rotates among UN member states each year, and China a powerful country with a permanent seat on the Security Council has never been the subject of a country-specific resolution at the council since it was founded more than 16 years ago.
It's always difficult for countries to vote against a permanent member of the Security Council," said one Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
He acknowledged it was a genuinely difficult call for some countries notably those with economic or political ties to China to sign on to the measure.
The proposal was just to hold a debate, with no consistent monitoring of the rights situation, and amounted to just about the least intrusive form of scrutiny that the council could seek.
The call stopped short of creating a team of investigators to look into possible crimes in Xinjiang, or appointing a special rapporteur a tacit acknowledgment by the Western countries that going after increasingly influential China would be a tall order.
Before the vote, Chinese ambassador Chen Xu said Beijing firmly opposes and categorically rejects the proposal.
He accused Western countries of seeking to turn a blind eye to their own issues on human rights and point a finger at others. He insisted that China never gave its support to Bachelet's report, and warned of a bad precedent.
Today China is targeted, Chen said. Tomorrow any other developing country could be targeted.
Michele Taylor, the US ambassador, said the request for the debate aimed simply to provide a neutral forum for discussion that would give China a chance to put its views on record and hear the views of others.
No country represented here today has a perfect human rights record, she said. No country, no matter how powerful, should be excluded from council discussions. This includes my country the United States and it includes the People's Republic of China.
On Friday, as part of dozens of proposals before the council, member states are also to consider a proposal from 26 European Union countries to appoint a special rapporteur on Russia, citing a string of concerns about mass arrests and detentions; harassment of journalists, opposition politicians, activists and rights defenders; and crackdowns at times violent on protesters against President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
It's part of a rare push against two permanent members of the Security Council: China and Russia. Some Western diplomats have insisted the two-pronged effort needed attention now.
The council has already commissioned a team of investigators who are looking into human rights violations and abuses in Ukraine following Putin's order for a military invasion of Ukraine in late February.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
