China’s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the UN human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited “serious” rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years.
The report seeks “urgent attention” from the UN and the world community to rights violations in Beijing’s campaign to root out terrorism. UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, facing pressure on both sides, brushed aside multiple Chinese calls for her office to withhold the report, which follows her own, much-criticized trip to Xinjiang in May. The 48-page report comes with the imprimatur of the United Nations and its member countries—notably including rising superpower China itself. The report largely corroborates earlier reporting by advocacy groups and others and injects UN heft behind the outrage that victims and their families have expressed about China’s policies in Xinjiang.
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