A U.N. report on human rights abuses in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, released late Wednesday after months of unexplained delays, concludes that China’s actions “may” constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity.
The report by U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet came in the final minutes of her last day on the job and ended speculation that it might never become public. The closely watched review had faced criticism from both human rights advocates, who worried that it would whitewash state-sponsored abuses, and Chinese officials, who insisted that the investigation was politically motivated and strongly opposed its release.
“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.
Richardson called on the U.N. Human Rights Council to initiate a comprehensive investigation, with the report as its guide, into the Chinese government’s actions targeting the Uyghurs and others — “and hold those responsible to account.”
The 46-page report looked at many dimensions of a years-long campaign and found evidence that “serious human rights violations” were committed under the guise of counterterrorism and counterextremism.
“The implementation of these strategies,” it concludes, “has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions...
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