Two UN human rights experts, Fernand de Varennes and Ahmed Shaheed, Friday urged Saudi Arabia to abide by their non-refoulement obligations under international law and refrain from extraditing two Chinese nationals belonging to the Uyghur minority.

The two individuals in detention in Saudi Arabia are Nuermaimaiti Ruze and Waili Aimidoula. Fearing arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, they fled from China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region to Turkey in 2016. According to the experts, these men have been in continuous detention since November 2020 without proper legal justification based on an extradition request made by China.

The experts learned that the two detainees had been transferred to Riyadh on March 14 for possible extradition but are currently being held incommunicado in Jeddah. There are concerns that continued incommunicado detention and interrogation can lead to torture and cruel treatment.

Any derogation from the principle of non-refoulement by Saudi Arabia would constitute a severe violation of human rights and refugee law despite the existence of a bilateral extradition treaty with China. Under the principle of non-refoulement, states are obligated to not remove refugees and asylum seekers from their territory who face threats of serious human rights violations in the state of destination. This is especially true where such a state has demonstrated a consistent practice of violation of human rights.

The experts have pressed for an assessment of the risks of extraditing these men to China:

In view of the credible risk of grave violations, both for their membership of an ethnic and religious minority, Saudi Arabia is required to undertake an individual, impartial and independent assessment of risks, and provide prompt and transparent access to safeguards, including the ability to challenge the deportation decision . . . [W]e request the authorities to immediately allow the two men to contact their families and ascertain their fate and whereabouts. We are further disturbed by reported recent acts of reprisal against members of the two men’s families, present in Saudi Arabia.

The concerns arise amidst widespread reports of China’s alleged persecution of the Uyghur Muslim minority community. China has been accused of detaining up to two million people in a system of camps set up across Xinjiang, with survivors reporting abuse, brainwashing, rape, torture and forced labor. In January, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Chinese political and humanitarian crimes against China’s Uyghur Muslim minority.