The United Nations human rights agency says China’s government may have committed crimes against humanity in its treatment of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
In a long-awaited report issued on Wednesday, the UN agency asserted that serious human rights violations have been committed in the course of the Chinese government’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.
The agency quoted people whom it described as former detainees of internment camps in Xinjiang, who provided credible accounts of torture and other forms of inhuman treatment between 2017 and 2019, including some instances of sexual violence. The UN report said detainees had no form of redress.
The report was delivered hours before its author, Michelle Bachelet, completed the final day of her four-year stint as UN high commissioner for human rights.
The 46-page report characterised ‘arbitrary detentions’ as stemming from a system of anti-terrorism laws in China ‘that is deeply problematic from the perspective of international human rights norms and standards’.
The UN urged Chinese authorities to take ‘prompt steps to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty’, and to undertake ‘a full review of the legal framework governing national security, counterterrorism and minority rights.’ China should also comply with international conventions on forced labour.
The UN received strong objections from the Chinese government. Beijing’s response appeared in the report’s annexure, defending China’s policies.
China firmly opposed the release of the report, saying it was based on disinformation by anti-China forces. China argues that its policies are aimed at defusing risks of terrorism and alleviating poverty.
The United States government and rights watchdogs accused the UN of delaying its release, while Beijing lobbied against its publication.
‘The High Commissioner’s damning findings explain why the Chinese government fought tooth and nail to prevent the publication of her Xinjiang report, which lays bare China’s sweeping rights abuses,’ said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
‘This is a game-changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis,’ Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director Omer Kanat said in a statement.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that the party’s policies in Xinjiang are ‘completely correct,’ and that they helped restore stability to a region once racked by ethnic violence and deadly attacks against symbols of Beijing’s authority.
These critical findings regarding China contrast with Beijing’s growing rhetorical and financial support for the UN. Xi has said that the UN better represents world opinion than organisations like the Group of Seven, which it says are controlled by Washington.
Last week, Bachelet received a letter signed by about 40 countries urging her not to issue the report.
[Image: Kuzzat Altay on Unsplash]