U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken held a videoconference Tuesday (April 20) with eight human rights defenders representing eight countries to learn about their work to advance human rights and the challenges they face, and to hear their recommendations for U.S. human rights policy. Chinese human rights lawyer Fujibiao, who participated in the meeting, suggested that the U.S. government should ask Chinese authorities to close the detention camps in Xinjiang and release political prisoners when it meets with Chinese officials. He also argued that the United States and its allies should conduct a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics and put more human rights abusers on the sanctions list.
In a tweet Tuesday after an hour-long videoconference with human rights defenders from eight countries, including China, Russia, Egypt and Yemen, Secretary Blinken said, “Had an inspiring meeting today with eight outstanding human rights defenders. We discussed the threats that human rights defenders face every day and how the United States can better support their vital efforts to promote respect for universal human rights.”
In a statement, State Department spokesperson Price said, “The Secretary of State reaffirmed the United States’ support for their efforts to build free, fair and democratic societies where human rights will be respected and where voices from government, business, labor and civil society, including members of vulnerable groups, will be actively engaged in civil dialogue. This includes efforts to end conflict and achieve an inclusive peace.”
He said the conference was held to “advance this administration’s commitment to place human rights at the heart of U.S. foreign policy.”
Chinese human rights lawyer Fujimiao, who was invited to the meeting, told VOA that the State Department began preparing for the conference a month and a half ago. He said Secretary Blinken also repeatedly emphasized at the conference that human rights is a priority of the U.S. government’s foreign policy, demonstrating his concern and support for human rights issues.
Fujibiao, who is currently a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, briefed the Voice of America about the conference.
“He asked each of us to present our work on human rights and some of the challenges we have encountered. I then spoke about the arrests of Chinese lawyers and the fact that many human rights defenders have been put in prison. I specifically emphasized that almost all political prisoners in China who are imprisoned have been tortured.”
In addition to specifically mentioning the cases of Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong, who were sentenced for promoting the civil movement and are still in prison, Fujimoto focused on Xinjiang and thanked Blinken in particular for publicly characterizing the Chinese authorities’ treatment of Uighurs and others in Xinjiang as “genocide.”
In response to Blinken’s question about what the U.S. government can do to help human rights defenders in various countries, Fujimoto said, “I made a number of suggestions, including putting human rights at the forefront of U.S. diplomacy, demanding the closure of concentration camps and the release of political prisoners in meetings and talks with Chinese officials, and demanding that China make legal reforms and comply with international human rights treaties to which it is a party. .”
The human rights activist also suggested that the U.S. conduct a “diplomatic boycott” of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and convince other allies to do the same for the Games because “it’s one of the few political levers the international community has.
Dr. Fujibiao also argued that the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions against human rights abusers are a very effective tool to have an immediate effect and put them under immediate pressure, but that the number of people sanctioned under the Act in the past few years is not high enough, nor is the level high enough, so he suggested that the U.S. government add more human rights abusers to the sanctions list.
The State Department said Secretary Blinken is committed to continuing a close dialogue with civil society organizations and human rights advocates, and to continuing to make human rights a priority of U.S. foreign policy.
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