The report calls for an urgent international response to allegations of torture and other rights abuses in Beijing’s campaign to stamp out terrorism. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet brushed aside repeated Chinese calls for her office to withhold the report, which follows her own trip to Xinjiang in May and which Beijing says is part of a Western campaign to smear China’s reputation. The report has sparked a tug-of-war for diplomatic influence with the West over the rights of the region’s indigenous Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. The report, which Western diplomats and UN officials said had been ready for months, was published just minutes into Bachelet’s four-year term. It was unexpected to break significant new ground beyond sweeping findings from independent advocacy groups and journalists who have documented human rights concerns in Xinjiang for years. But Bachelet’s report is accompanied by the authority of the United Nations and its member states. The run-up to its release has sparked a debate over China’s influence at the world body and epitomized the diplomatic chill between Beijing and the West over human rights, among other sore spots. Chinese President Xi Jinping, pictured July 14, inspects a local village in Turpan, northwest China’s Xinjiang region, where his government is widely accused of oppressing predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. (Li Xueren/Xinhua/The Associated Press)
“Patterns of Torture”
The 48-page report says “serious human rights violations” have been committed in Xinjiang under China’s counter-terrorism and extremism policies, which have singled out Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim communities, between 2017 and 2019. The report cited “patterns of torture” inside what Beijing called business centers, which were part of its vaunted plan to boost economic development in the region, and highlighted “credible” allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including cases of sexual violence. Above all, perhaps, the report warns that the “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of such groups in Xinjiang, through moves that have deprived them of “fundamental rights … may constitute international crimes, especially crimes against humanity.” The report came from interviews with former inmates at eight separate detention centers in the region. And its authors suggest that China has not always been forthcoming with information, saying that requests for some specific sets of information “did not receive an official response.” The report’s authors say they could not confirm estimates of how many people were being held in the internment camps. But they add that based on the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the number detained “at least between 2017 and 2019, was very significant, constituting a significant proportion of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minority populations”. Beijing has since closed many of the camps, but hundreds of thousands still languish in prison on vague, secret charges. Hours before the release, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said Beijing remained “firmly opposed” to releasing the report. “We have not seen this report yet, but we are completely opposed to such a report, we don’t think it will do anyone any good,” Zhang told reporters outside the Security Council. “We have made it very clear to the High Commissioner and on many other occasions that we are strongly opposed to such a report.” “We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is a completely fabricated lie motivated by political motives, and its purpose is definitely to undermine China’s stability and hinder China’s development,” he added. Bachelet has said in recent months that she has come under pressure from both sides to publish — or not to publish — the report and resisted all, noting her experience with political pressure during her two terms as Chile’s president. In June, Bachelet said she would not seek another term as rights chief and promised the report would be made public by her departure date on Wednesday. This led to a surge in back-channel campaigns — including letters from civil society, citizens and governments on both sides of the issue. Last week she hinted that her office might miss her deadline, saying it was “trying” to fire her before her exit. Bachelet had targeted Xinjiang when she took office in September 2018, but Western diplomats have privately raised concerns that during her tenure she did not challenge China enough when other rights monitors had cited abuses against Uighur Muslims and others in the region. Xinjiang. The outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, held her last press conference in Geneva on Thursday. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) Over the past five years, the Chinese government’s mass detention campaign in Xinjiang has swept an estimated one million Uyghurs and other ethnic groups into a network of prisons and camps, which Beijing has called “training centers” but former detainees have described as brutal detention centers. Some countries, including Canada and the United States, have accused Beijing of committing genocide in Xinjiang. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said the UN report revealed “China’s sweeping violation of rights”. He urged the 47-member Human Rights Council, whose next meeting is in September, to investigate the allegations and hold those responsible accountable. LISTEN | Forced labor in China: Nothing is foreign27:27 Can a new law stop China’s forced labor? On June 21, a new labor law goes into effect in the US that requires all importing businesses to prove that nothing in their supply chain is made with forced labor in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. There human rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs have been detained, with estimates of hundreds of thousands forced to produce cotton, clothing and electronics for some of the world’s biggest brands. We speak to two Uyghur advocates who tell us their stories of family heartbreak, the fight for the truth and whether this new law can end these crimes against humanity. Joining: Rayhan Asat, human rights and business practice lawyer. Jewher Ilham, Uighur human rights activist, Project to Combat Force Labor.
title: “Treatment Of Uyghurs May Amount To Crimes Against Humanity Says Un Human Rights Office Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-09” author: “Dawn Nguyen”
The report calls for an urgent international response to allegations of torture and other rights abuses in Beijing’s campaign to stamp out terrorism. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet brushed aside repeated Chinese calls for her office to withhold the report, which follows her own trip to Xinjiang in May and which Beijing says is part of a Western campaign to smear China’s reputation. The report has sparked a tug-of-war for diplomatic influence with the West over the rights of the region’s indigenous Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups. The report, which Western diplomats and UN officials said had been ready for months, was published just minutes into Bachelet’s four-year term. It was unexpected to break significant new ground beyond sweeping findings from independent advocacy groups and journalists who have documented human rights concerns in Xinjiang for years. But Bachelet’s report is accompanied by the authority of the United Nations and its member states. The run-up to its release has sparked a debate over China’s influence at the world body and epitomized the diplomatic chill between Beijing and the West over human rights, among other sore spots. Chinese President Xi Jinping, pictured July 14, inspects a local village in Turpan, northwest China’s Xinjiang region, where his government is widely accused of oppressing predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. (Li Xueren/Xinhua/The Associated Press)
“Patterns of Torture”
The 48-page report says “serious human rights violations” have been committed in Xinjiang under China’s counter-terrorism and extremism policies, which have singled out Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim communities, between 2017 and 2019. The report cited “patterns of torture” inside what Beijing called business centers, which were part of its vaunted plan to boost economic development in the region, and highlighted “credible” allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including cases of sexual violence. Above all, perhaps, the report warns that the “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of such groups in Xinjiang, through moves that have deprived them of “fundamental rights … may constitute international crimes, especially crimes against humanity.” The report came from interviews with former inmates at eight separate detention centers in the region. And its authors suggest that China has not always been forthcoming with information, saying that requests for some specific sets of information “did not receive an official response.” The report’s authors say they could not confirm estimates of how many people were being held in the internment camps. But they add that based on the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that the number detained “at least between 2017 and 2019, was very significant, constituting a significant proportion of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minority populations”. Beijing has since closed many of the camps, but hundreds of thousands still languish in prison on vague, secret charges. Hours before the release, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun said Beijing remained “firmly opposed” to releasing the report. “We have not seen this report yet, but we are completely opposed to such a report, we don’t think it will do anyone any good,” Zhang told reporters outside the Security Council. “We have made it very clear to the High Commissioner and on many other occasions that we are strongly opposed to such a report.” “We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is a completely fabricated lie motivated by political motives, and its purpose is definitely to undermine China’s stability and hinder China’s development,” he added. Bachelet has said in recent months that she has come under pressure from both sides to publish — or not to publish — the report and resisted all, noting her experience with political pressure during her two terms as Chile’s president. In June, Bachelet said she would not seek another term as rights chief and promised the report would be made public by her departure date on Wednesday. This led to a surge in back-channel campaigns — including letters from civil society, citizens and governments on both sides of the issue. Last week she hinted that her office might miss her deadline, saying it was “trying” to fire her before her exit. Bachelet had targeted Xinjiang when she took office in September 2018, but Western diplomats have privately raised concerns that during her tenure she did not challenge China enough when other rights monitors had cited abuses against Uighur Muslims and others in the region. Xinjiang. The outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, held her last press conference in Geneva on Thursday. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) Over the past five years, the Chinese government’s mass detention campaign in Xinjiang has swept an estimated one million Uyghurs and other ethnic groups into a network of prisons and camps, which Beijing has called “training centers” but former detainees have described as brutal detention centers. Some countries, including Canada and the United States, have accused Beijing of committing genocide in Xinjiang. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said the UN report revealed “China’s sweeping violation of rights”. He urged the 47-member Human Rights Council, whose next meeting is in September, to investigate the allegations and hold those responsible accountable. LISTEN | Forced labor in China: Nothing is foreign27:27 Can a new law stop China’s forced labor? On June 21, a new labor law goes into effect in the US that requires all importing businesses to prove that nothing in their supply chain is made with forced labor in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. There human rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs have been detained, with estimates of hundreds of thousands forced to produce cotton, clothing and electronics for some of the world’s biggest brands. We speak to two Uyghur advocates who tell us their stories of family heartbreak, the fight for the truth and whether this new law can end these crimes against humanity. Joining: Rayhan Asat, human rights and business practice lawyer. Jewher Ilham, Uighur human rights activist, Project to Combat Force Labor.
