Fausto Biloslavo

The decision to award Navi Pillay the Nobel Peace Prize raises painful questions that I cannot leave unanswered. For years, I have advocated for the rights of the Uyghur people at the UN. Yet within the very institution entrusted with protecting human rights, I have faced Chinese pressure, surveillance and attempts to silence me. In 2017, I was forcibly removed from UN premises. During Pillay’s tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, particularly in 2012–2013, I encountered serious obstacles to accreditation and access. I later learned that the office she led had shared information about my participation, and that of other human rights defenders, with the Chinese government without our consent. For me, this was a profound betrayal of trust by an institution that should have protected us. The responsibility for this practice still demands a full and transparent accounting. I acknowledge Pillay’s achievements and courage in other areas. But those achievements cannot erase the failure to protect our rights and safety during her leadership. Nor have I seen from her the strong, unequivocal solidarity that I expected in the face of the Uyghur genocide. This is deeply personal. My family has paid a devastating price for my human rights advocacy. My mother died in a Chinese internment camp in 2018. My two brothers remain in Chinese prisons. A Nobel Peace Prize does not place anyone beyond accountability. I want answers: Why was information about human rights defenders shared with China? Who authorised it? And why did those entrusted with our protection fail us? Human rights are universal. That promise must include the Uyghur people.