Several countries, including the United States, had called for a debate on the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
On Thursday 6 October, the UN Human Rights Council refused to discuss the situation in China.
A dozen countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, had requested that the Council hold a debate on the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China, where Beijing is accused of crimes against humanity.
But the draft decision was rejected in a vote by 19 votes to 17 with 11 abstentions.
Gabon, which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council in October and is also a member of the UN Human Rights Council, voted against.
«We are not in favour of the current trend to use human rights as a political weapon to settle scores. These issues are too important and too sensitive to be used as a tool,» explained a Gabonese diplomat.
Gabon is less attached to the symbol than to efficiency
«As in the Security Council and in all international bodies where it sits, Gabon, in accordance with the indications given by President Ali Bongo Ondimba, strives to promote dialogue and the search for consensual solutions to resolve problems. Indexing this or that person often leads to a dead end,» he added, adding that «for us, effectiveness is more important than the symbol.»
