The UN human rights office sees indications of possible serious crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, China. The alleged violations required the “urgent attention” of the United Nations and the world community, according to a long-awaited report on the situation of minorities in the northwestern region of the People’s Republic, released on Wednesday evening. It speaks of “serious human rights violations” that were committed between 2017 and 2019 as part of a Chinese anti-terrorist policy. Allegations of torture or ill-treatment and discrimination against inmates in detention centers in Xinjiang are “credible”.
Beijing responded by dismissing the report as part of a Western smear campaign. China had previously protested massively against its publication.
The report was released a few minutes before the official end of the term of office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. She said China and around 40 other countries have put enormous pressure on her not to release the report in recent months. Other countries would have urged them to release it. But Bachelet had recently declared that she would not bow to any pressure.
According to diplomats, the UN report on Xinjiang was almost ready a year ago. In May, however, Bachelet traveled to China again at the invitation of Beijing, which delayed the publication of the report. Human rights activists then accused her of not being harsh enough with the leadership in Beijing. The USA and other countries even rated Bachelet’s visit as a PR success for the People’s Republic. The controversy also sparked debate about the extent of China’s influence at the UN.
Numerous human rights organizations have accused China of putting up to a million Uyghurs and members of other mostly Muslim minorities in re-education camps in their home region of Xinjiang. Several states, including the USA, speak of genocide. The leadership in Beijing, however, describes the camps as “training centers” that were set up to fight extremism. While China is said to have closed many of the camps, hundreds of thousands of people are still being held on vague or classified charges.
The report now published by the UN Human Rights Office is based in part on interviews with ex-prisoners and other people who know about the conditions in eight detention camps. It was not possible to determine how many people were held in the camps in total. But it can be assumed that at least between 2017 and 2019 there was “a pattern of widespread arbitrary arrests”.
In addition to “credible” allegations of torture and ill-treatment, cases of sexual violence were reported. The “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of such groups in Xinjiang by measures depriving them of their “fundamental rights” could “constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity.” China must release all those arbitrarily arrested and clarify the whereabouts of those who have disappeared, the Human Rights Bureau said in the report. Its authors indicated that the leadership in Beijing was not always willing to provide information. Requests for specific information went unanswered.
China immediately countered. The UN human rights office ignores the “achievements” in the field of human rights that “people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang” have achieved together, according to a letter from the Chinese mission in Geneva, which described the report as an “assessment”. . This is based on disinformation, lies by anti-Chinese forces and prejudices that wantonly slandered China and constituted interference in internal affairs. China also released a 122-page report titled “Fighting Terrorism and Extremism in Xiangang: Truth and Facts,” which was released alongside the UN Human Rights Office report.
Bachelet, now the former UN human rights commissioner, spoke up early Thursday morning. “I said I would publish it before my mandate ends, and I have done so,” her office said in a statement, referring to the report. She had exercised “extreme caution” in dealing with the Chinese government’s reactions to the report, which she received last week.
Bachelet reiterated the pressure she felt around getting the report out. “To be completely honest, the politicization of these serious human rights issues by some states has not helped.” She called on the international community not to instrumentalise serious human rights issues, but to participate in the protection and promotion of human rights.