UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC)

https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/
PRESIDENTS:

NOMBRES CORREO
Sofía Calderón Vargas sofipooh@outlook.com
Esteban Carranza ea.carranzac@gmail.com

1. WELCOME:

Kind regards,
Dear delegates, first we congratulate you and appreciate your participation in SIMONU
Bogota Region 2021. As presidents, we welcome you to the United Nations Security Council,
where we invite you to be part of this commission as delegates, encouraging you to investigate
and debate on the proposed topic.
The Security Council belongs to Under-Secretariat 1, which gathers the commissions in
English, French and sign language.
With this commission guide we begin this process that we trust will be full of learning and
growth both individually and as a group, to prepare for the day of the simulation and fulfill the
assigned objectives, always giving the best of ourselves.
Thank you.
Sofía Calderón, Esteban Carranza.

2. TOPIC:

“THE SINKIANG CONFLICT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UYGHUR

ETHNIC GROUP”
The Sinkiang conflict was originated some decades ago, involving separatist groups of the
Uyghur ethnic group and the central government of the People's Republic of China. However,
in recent years (and even today) new events of relevance regarding this issue have been
occurring. The Security Council is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the world,
so this situation cannot go unrecognized. Approaching this issue implies knowing the situation
from social, historical, economic, cultural and geographical components, not only for the
countries to be represented, but also for all the countries involved and directly related.
 3. FOCUS: ANALYSIS OF THE UYGHUR ETHNIC CONFLICT IN SINKIANG:
ACTIONS, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES.

In order to discuss and deal with the Sinkiang Conflict, it is important to know: the actors
involved, their interests and points to defend, as well as, the decisions taken by the Uyghur
ethnic group (the most relevant ethnic group among all those involved) and the Chinese
government. They have influenced the course of this problematic, which core point is the
violation of human rights and how it has intervened in the internal day-to-day life of the nation
and, of course, of the ethnic group.
Uyghurs believe in Islam instead of communism, speak a Turkic language instead of
Mandarin: In the Chinese province of Sinkiang, Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic peoples
are claiming more autonomy. For years, the central government in Beijing has taken repressive
measures. In recent years, Chinese government policy has been characterized by mass
surveillance and the imprisonment without trial of more than one million Uyghurs and other
Muslim ethnic minority groups in internment camps, allegedly abolished in 2013.
These claims have been denied by the Chinese government, and were disputed at the 44th
session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC); 39 countries had condemned
China's treatment of the Sinkiang Uighurs in June 2020. In July, a group of 45 countries
released a rival letter to the UNHRC, defending China's treatment of both the Uyghurs and
other Muslim minorities in Sinkiang (Gohar & Reda, 2020).
At this point it is important to clarify the determined position of each delegation and how this
has influenced the development of the previously presented issue.

4. METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINES FOR COMMISSION WORK:

As explained above, it is important to take into account several aspects to understand the
positions of each of the countries to be represented. It is also essential to understand the timeline
of events and how the actors in the conflict have been involved.
During the commission, we will focus, specifically, on the causes and consequences of the
problematic, both for the Uyghur ethnic group and for the other actors, and how the interests
in between have changed the dynamics of the conflict.
We suggest that you start by understanding the relations your commission has with the
People's Republic of China, as well as, who supports the interests and policies of each side,
how they are historically linked and how your country has been implicated over time.
 It is vital to present statements, positions and various supports for the role that the
commission has taken, attaching statistics and other sources if necessary. During your research
process remember to make conclusions and highlight the most relevant parts.
5. ABOUT THE COMMISSION:
➢ What does the commission do?
The Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security. The Security Council has 15 members and each member has one vote on
the commission. According to the letter, all UN members agree to accept and implement the
decisions of the Security Council. This is the only UN body whose decisions Member States,
under the Charter, are bound to comply with (Security Council UN, 2021).
➢ To which main body does the commission report?
The Security Council is a commission that reports/reaches only to the United Nations system
itself (Security Council UN, 2021).
➢ What kind of issues does the committee deal with?
The Council intervenes on any issue that is in one way or another related to endangering
international security. This is evidenced in the United Nations Charter which establishes as the
priority function of the Council, as follows: “maintaining international peace and security in
accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations” (Security Council UN,
2021).
➢ What things can the commission do and not do?
When a complaint of a threat to peace is received, the first step taken by the Council is usually
to recommend that the parties try to reach a settlement by peaceful means. The Council may:

❖ Establishing principles for this agreement;

❖ In some cases, conduct an investigation and mediation process;
❖ Send a mission;
❖ Appoint special envoys; or request the Secretary-General to use his good offices to
reach a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
When a dispute gives rise to hostilities, the Council's main concern is to put an end to them
as soon as possible. In such a case, the Council may:

❖ Issue ceasefire directives that may help prevent an escalation of the conflict;
 ❖ Send military observers or a peacekeeping force to help defuse tensions, separate
opposing forces and create a calm environment in which peaceful solutions can be
sought.
If this is not sufficient, the Council may decide to apply coercive measures, including:

❖ Economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial sanctions and restrictions and

travel bans;
❖ Breach of diplomatic relations;
❖ Blockade; Or even collective military actions.
One of its main concerns was to focus its actions on those responsible for policies or practices
condemned by the international community, while minimizing the impact of measures taken
on other sectors of the population and the economy (Security Council UN, 2021).

6. KEY CONCEPTS:
➢ Uyghur ethnic group: Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group, speaking a southeastern Turkic
language related to Uzbek with an estimated population of 224,713 (1.4 per cent) in
Kazakhstan (National Census, 2009), mainly inhabiting the areas bordering China in
the Almaty oblast. They tend to be mainly concentrated in the north-western corner of
China and, until recently, a substantial majority in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region (XUAR). The XUAR is China’s largest province, comprising roughly one sixth
of its total landmass, is rich in natural resources, and strategically located, sharing
borders with eight other countries. Most Uyghurs are Sunni Muslims. The Uyghurs are
a majority in western XUAR and in the Turpan prefecture, while Han Chinese are the
majority in most major cities and in the east and north. There are also Uyghurs found
in Hunan province in south-central China (Minority Rights Group International, 2017).
➢ Sinkiang conflict: Xinjiang, China’s western border province comprising eighteen
percent of the country’s entire land area, is a region beset by change, and increasingly,
confrontation between two very distinct peoples – the more recently arrived Han
Chinese and the indigenous Uyghur Turkish Muslims. The confrontation revolves
primarily around a struggle for domination over the province and a Uyghur quest for
autonomy or even independence from Beijing’s rule. Conflicting interests and goals
thus offer two quite different visions and narratives of current Xinjiang realities,
reflecting the distinct concerns of each people (Graham & Starr, 2003).
➢ Separatists: an advocate of independence or autonomy for a part of a political unit
(such as a nation) (Merriam-Webster, 2021).
➢ Republic of China: The Republic of China (Zhonghua minguo 中華民國, 1912-1949)
was the official designation of the state that succeeded the last imperial dynasty, the
Qing 清 (1644-1911). The Republic was founded in the hope to establish a modern state
able to shake off the image of a decadent and antediluvian form of government and to
enter the sphere of the international community (Theobald, 2000).
➢ Human Rights: Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human
beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all,
regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any
other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that
make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General

Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights
to be universally protected. The UDHR, which turned 70 in 2018, continues to be the
foundation of all international human rights law. Its 30 articles provide the principles
and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties and other
legal instruments.
The UDHR, together with the 2 covenants - the International Covenant for Civil and
Political Rights, and the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights - make up the International Bill of Rights (OHCHR, 2021a).

➢ Islam: The Islam is the major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad
in Arabia in the 7th century CE. The Arabic term islām, literally “surrender,”
illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam—that the believer (called a Muslim,
from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic, Allāh:
God). Allah is viewed as the sole God—creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world.
The will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known through the
sacred scriptures, the Qurʾān (often spelled Koran in English), which Allah revealed to
his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of
prophets (including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Jesus), and his
message simultaneously consummates and completes the “revelations” attributed to
earlier prophets.
 Retaining its emphasis on an uncompromising monotheism and a strict adherence to
certain essential religious practices, the religion taught by Muhammad to a small group
of followers spread rapidly through the Middle East to Africa, Europe, the Indian
subcontinent, the Malay Peninsula, and China. By the early 21st century there were
more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Although many sectarian movements have
arisen within Islam, all Muslims are bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging
to a single community (Britannica, 2021a).

➢ Communism: political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and
a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the
major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources
of a society. Communism is thus a form of socialism—a higher and more advanced
form, according to its advocates. Exactly how communism differs from socialism has
long been a matter of debate, but the distinction rests largely on the communists’
adherence to the revolutionary socialism of Karl Marx (Britannica, 2021b).
➢ United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC): The Human Rights Council is an
inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States
responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require
its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva (OHCHR, 2021b).

7. HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
➢ What happened? What are the most relevant facts?
The Xinjiang Conflict is a widely known and discussed topic over the world nowadays.
Moreover, it is a topic that discusses the violation of human rights and the mass detention as
well as the torture of the Muslim minorities for having different cultural interests. Therefore, it
is the duty of the Security Council to end the violence as one of its missions is “to stand up
against humanitarian encroachments and genocides” (Security Council UN, 2021).
➢ Why did it happen?
United Nations’ human rights experts voiced alarm over alleged Chinese political re-
education camps for Muslim Uighurs and they called for the immediate release of those
detained on the pretext of countering terrorism.
The United Kingdom has repeatedly urged the People’s Republic of China to what they call
“immediate and unfettered access” for UN personnel in Chinese’ Xinjiang detention camps.
This was after the China Cable; first official leaked documents from the Chinese ruling party
providing evidence that the detention camps are acting as brainwashing internment centres.
The UK was one of the main signatories of the joint statement to the UNHRC condemning
China’s cruel policies towards the minority Muslim Uyghurs calling for China to respect
human rights (OHCHR, 2021c).
➢ Where?
❖ Republic of China: Throughout centuries tensions were always high between the
minority Muslim Uyghurs and China. Slowly the international efforts against terrorism
turned into a chance in the eyes of the Chinese government to put an end to any
independence movements from the Uyghurs, so they acted quickly. The Chinese
government claims that their concentration camps in Xinjiang eliminated extreme
thoughts and protected locals' lives (Moss, 2021).
❖ Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was always one of the
countries that publicly opposed any radical-Islamic movements all around the globe.
Their efforts came from their old fear of terrorism since the attacks in Saudi Arabia
after the 9/11 attacks on the US. And on the Uyghur conflict in 13 China, Saudi Crown
Prince said that the Chinese government has the right to do what they want and that
their efforts are towards what he called “anti-terrorism and de-extremisation work for
its national security” (Gohar & Reda, 2020).
❖ United States of America: The US’ new Trump administration has been very clearly
built all its relations based on interests. The Trump administration has been very slow
and very hesitant to take any action on China over the Uyghur conflict. However, the
interior US has always been awake about what’s happening in the Xinjiang autonomous
region of infringements of human rights from the Chinese government and was always
pressuring the US government to take further action against it (Gohar & Reda, 2020).
❖ Republic of Turkey: Turkey was one of the few if not the only country to somehow
show worries of human rights’ abuses in China. From one side, their flag flying over
every protest of the Uyghurs pushed the Turkish president to declare that what is
happening to the Uyghurs in China is compared to a “genocide.” One the other side, the
huge Chinese investments and their projects in Turkey have kept the Turkish
government somehow slow to act on the crisis. Their dependence on Chinese
investments were a huge risk of the Turkish economy to lose (Gohar & Reda, 2020).
 ❖ Uyghur ethnic: There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in
Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
(XUAR). The Uyghurs speak their own language, which is similar to Turkish, and see
themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. They make up
less than half of the Xinjiang population (Gohar & Reda, 2020).

8. GUIDING/RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
➢ What is the significance of THE SINKIANG CONFLICT?
➢ What role do those involved in the conflict play?
➢ What are the consequences that the Uyghur ethnic has suffered from the conflict?
➢ How are human rights violated in the conflict and by whom?
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
UN: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/es/content/what-security-council
SECURITY COUNCIL: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/es
SECURITY COUNCIL: https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/es/content/functions-and-powers
GOHAR & REDA: https://bedayiamun.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/topic-1-the-xinjiang-
conflict-2.pdf
OHCHR:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26957&LangID=
Ehttps://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/pages/home.aspx
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-
repression-uyghurs-xinjiang
EAST WEST CENTER: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/xinjiang-conflict-
uyghur-identity-language-policy-and-political-discourse
MINORITIES RIGHTS: https://minorityrights.org/minorities/uyghurs/
CENTRAL ASIA- CAUCASUS INSTITUTE:
https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/30301/01_Xinjiang_Problem.pdf
MERRIAM-WEBSTER: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separatist
CHINA KNOWLEDGE: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Rep/rep.html
BRITANNICA: https://www.britannica.com/topic/communism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam/Sunnism