The widely anticipated joint statement had been in the pipeline for several days and was delivered on day two of the 47th session of the council in Geneva.
Beijing must allow UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet and other independent observers "immediate, meaningful and unfettered access" to Xinjiang, and end the "arbitrary detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, it said. The number of signatories is an increase from the 22 ambassadors who wrote to Bachelet in 2019 condemning China's treatment of the Uyghurs.
In a move that was bound to further enrage Beijing, which decries what it says is the interference by foreign powers in its internal affairs, the statement added the group's concerns over the deterioration of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong and the human rights situation in Tibet. Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Venezuela were among the other signatories, according to the United Nations.