WUC, 19 September 2010

On September 16, 2010, Kathy Polias spoke on behalf of the Society for Threatened Peoples on the floor of the 15th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.  She spoke about the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghur people as an example of governments’ use of security campaigns and the global war on terrorism to repress, persecute, and dilute the cultural identities of minorities in their countries.  Ms. Polias delivered the statement under Item 3 of the Human Rights Council agenda –“Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.”  Her statement was interrupted three times by China’s delegation to the UN Human Rights Council on points of order.  China’s delegation claimed that the statement did not fall within the confines of Item 3.  The United States and United Kingdom delegations defended the Society for Threatened Peoples’ right to speak.  The UK delegation noted that the Society for Threatened Peoples properly contextualized its statement within Agenda Item 3.  The President of the Human Rights Council permitted Ms. Polias to conclude the statement.

The UN Human Rights Council has regular sessions three times per year in Geneva, Switzerland.  The current session runs from September 13th to October 1st, 2010.

To view a video of the statement, go to:  http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/fifteenth/hrc100916pm2-eng.rm?start=01%3A15%3A50&end=01%3A26%3A34.