Making Something Out of (Almost) Nothing? Inter-State Human Rights Communications as Narrow Gateways for China’s Accountability in the Xinjiang’s Crisis

With an ever-increasing number of reports denouncing systematic mistreatments against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities detained in Xinjiang ‘re-education’ camps, the time is ripe for the international community to explore possible judicial and quasi-judicial avenues to hold China to account. Excluding from the present analysis unilateral sanctions, as well as possible investigations and proceedings before international criminal tribunals, this article focuses on the role of inter-State human rights communications in securing justice. Given China’s enduring reluctance to engage in dispute settlement mechanisms – particularly by formulating reservations to compromissory clauses enshrined in human rights treaties –, the quest for accountability poses significant challenges. By broadening the inquiry to alternative avenues, such as the inter-State quasi-judicial communication procedure under both the icerd and the ilo’s Constitution, as well as addressing the feasibility of requesting an icj’s advisory opinion as an inter-State case in disguise, it is still possible to envisage narrow pathways that might be worth pursuing.