The report released Wednesday calls for an urgent response over allegations of torture and other rights violations in Beijing's campaign to root out terrorism in Xinjiang.
GENEVA — China's discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited"serious" rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years.
The report, which Western diplomats and U.N. officials said had been all but ready for months, was published with just minutes to go in Bachelet's four-year term. It was unexpected to break significant new ground beyond sweeping findings from researchers, advocacy groups and journalists who have documented concerns about human rights in Xinjiang for several years.
China shot back, saying the U.N. rights office ignored human rights"achievements" made together by"people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang." The report cites"patterns of torture" inside what Beijing called vocational training centers, which were part of its reputed plan to boost economic development in region, and it points to"credible" allegations of torture or ill-treatment, including cases of sexual violence.
The rights office said it could not confirm estimates of how many people were detained in the internment camps in Xinjiang, but added it was"reasonable to conclude that a pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention occurred" at least between 2017 and 2019. "This is of particular concern given the vague and capacious definitions of terrorism, 'extremism' and public security related offenses under domestic criminal law," the report said, saying it could lead to lengthy sentences,"including for minor offenses or for engaging in conduct protected by international human rights law."
Bachelet had set her sights on Xinjiang on taking office in September 2018, but Western diplomats voiced concern in private that over her term, she did not challenge China enough when other rights monitors had cited abuses against Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang.
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