UN says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

New Delhi, September 1

China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights chief said in a long-awaited report on Wednesday.

Editorial: China in the dock

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who has faced criticism from some diplomats and rights groups for being too soft on China, released the report just minutes before her four-year term ended. She visited China in May.

The UN Human Rights Office said in its 48-page report that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in Xinjiang “in the context of the government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies”.

‘Accomplice of west’

This proves once again that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has become a thug and accomplice of the US and the West. —Wang Wenbin, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman

“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups… may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” the UN office said.

It recommended the Chinese government take prompt steps to release all those detained in training centres, prisons or detention facilities.

“There are credible indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies since 2017,” the office said.

Rights groups have accused Beijing of abuses against Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, while the US has accused China of genocide. China has vigorously denied any abuses in Xinjiang and issued a 131-page response to the UN report. (With inputs from Reuters)

Beijing taken by surprise

Beijing was taken by surprise over the sudden release of a long-delayed UN Human Rights assessment that accused China of serious human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

UNHRC chief a torture victim

The report was released by outgoing UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet will not seek another term but settle down in her home country Chile where she was twice elected President after the end of army rule in which her father was killed and she was tortured.

Report may nudge UN Secy Gen Guterres to act

This is the first time a UN arm has criticised China which had earlier dismissed criticism from individual countries like the US, France and the UK as motivated. It will now put pressure on the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to act though China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto rights.

UN must take cognisance: MEA

The IndiAN Ministry of External Affairs has said it is now up to the UN to take cognisance of the report.

China tried to block report

The report was at the centre of a tug-of-war between rights groups and the Chinese government, which had repeatedly sought to block its publication. It largely corroborates earlier reporting by researchers, activist groups and the news media, but does not give estimates of those detained.