By Alp Uyghur, 23
GENEVA | October 29, 2025 — A groundbreaking investigation by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) reveals that China and Russia have led a coordinated campaign inside the United Nations to defund and weaken its human rights mechanisms, including programs that monitor abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and other regions.
The ISHR report, “Budget Battles at the UN: How States Try to Defund Human Rights,” exposes how Beijing and Moscow have manipulated UN budget negotiations to limit funding for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and to block investigations into major rights violations. The report draws on internal UN documents and interviews from 2019 to 2024.
“Russian and Chinese diplomats have weaponised UN budget negotiations to serve their own interests and shield allies from scrutiny, at the expense of human rights,” said Madeleine Sinclair, ISHR’s New York Director.
Over the past decade, China has expanded its influence in the UN’s Fifth Committee and its advisory bodies, using its growing financial power to shape decisions behind closed doors. The report finds Beijing and Moscow have repeatedly proposed deep budget cuts targeting human rights monitoring, particularly investigations into abuses in Russia, Iran, Belarus, and North Korea.
Beyond the budget, China has reportedly pressured governments and UN bodies to silence Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong activists, even demanding the UN provide information on Uyghur human rights defenders attending meetings in Geneva — a move widely condemned by rights groups.
The ISHR report also links the crisis to a broader UN funding shortfall, worsened by the United States’ failure to pay dues and China’s delayed payments, leaving the UN’s human rights system at “existential risk.”
“China and Russia have long exploited UN processes to spin a web of influence against human rights progress,” said Phil Lynch, ISHR Executive Director. “But this is not irreversible — Member States must act to protect the UN’s human rights mission.”
The report warns that continued financial manipulation threatens the UN’s ability to investigate atrocities and hold governments accountable — from the Uyghur genocide to the Myanmar crisis and Israel-Palestine conflict.
