UN to Release Report on Xinjiang Despite Pressure from China

The United Nations rights chief will release a long-awaited report on alleged human rights violations in the Xinjiang region of China before leaving office Wednesday.

The report comes despite intimidation attempts by China not to publish it.

Michelle Bachelet, the outgoing High Commissioner for Human Rights, promised that the report on abuse and human rights violations in Xinjiang China would be made public before her mandate ended on August 31st, according to UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence.

Due to the allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang China, Bachelet came under increasing pressure to investigate and speak out. There are more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities being forcefully detained by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

A UN Human Rights Council report on Xinjiang was requested nearly a year ago by the former Chilean president. In response to her inquiry, she stated that her office was in the process of finalizing that report.

The report, however, had been repeatedly delayed by pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) despite increasing impatience by rights groups and western governments.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, dismissed the report earlier Wednesday and expressed hope Bachelet wouldn’t publish it before she left office.

‘We strongly oppose the release of the UN Human Rights Office’s so-called Xinjiang report,’ he said.

He called the UN report a farce orchestrated by the US and other Western powers.

It is our hope that the high commissioner will make the right decision.”

It is the responsibility of the UN’s rights chief to act objectively, impartially, non-selectively, without politics, and in a nonpolitical manner, and resist double standards.

In a farewell press conference yesterday, Bachelet admitted she was under “tremendous pressure from China not to publish the long-delayed report.

Bachelet said, “We are doing everything we can to fulfill my promise.” ” I will not withhold publication because of such pressure.”

China is accused of a litany of abuses in Xinjiang, including mass incarceration, forced labor, compulsory sterilization and cultural destruction.

As a result, the United States and lawmakers in other Western countries have accused China of committing “genocide” against minorities.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) vehemently rejects these claims, and has long insisted it is running vocational training centers in Xinjiang designed to counter extremism.

Chinese officials claim the allegations are part of a plot to smear China and contain its growth by the United States and other Western nations.

In May, Bachelet traveled to Xinjiang as part of a rare six-day visit to China. However, the long-anticipated trip to the region prompted criticism from rights groups.

The Chinese government urged her to avoid “arbitrary and indiscriminate” measures in Xinjiang during her visit.

However, rights groups criticized her lack of firmness. According to them, she capitulated to the CCP’s stage-managed tour of the region.

According to Human Rights Watch, the report would demonstrate that no state is above the law.

Human Rights Watch’s China director Sophie Richardson told reporters that it was better late than never. This will be a historic event if it does take place.”

Given the “mountains of evidence”, Human Rights Watch hopes the report reaches the same conclusions as them.

However, she pointed out that more than its content, the publication of the report would force the UN Human Rights Council to address the issue.

She said, “I do not think there is an option after the report to not take this forward.”

 

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