The United Nations has denounced “grave human rights abuses” in China’s Xinjiang region. According to a report by outgoing UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on the situation of the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, published late Wednesday evening, there are “credible” allegations of torture.
There is also talk of possible “crimes against humanity”. The report was released just minutes before Bachelet’s term ended at midnight.
For years, the communist leadership in Beijing has been accused of systematically suppressing the Uyghur population and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. Human rights activists have been frustrated by the report’s delay — Bachelet had said almost a year ago her office was finalizing the report. Last week she spoke of “enormous pressure” from all sides for the announced publication of the document.
China had resisted publication of the human rights report. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday called the report a “farce orchestrated by the United States and a small number of Western powers.” China also regularly denies allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang.