The Context
Michelle Bachelet served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) from September 2018 to September 2022.
In her first speech to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018, Bachelet called on China’s government to ease restrictions on her and her office’s team and accept observers into Xinjiang. Bachelet added that she expected discussions with Chinese officials to begin soon. In response, the Chinese government signalled that China did not want the United Nations to get involved and that Bachelet should respect its sovereignty.
In June 2021, Bachelet publicly suggested a timeline for a visit to Xinjiang, however by December, a spokesperson for OHCHR said that there had been "no concrete progress" in long-running talks with Chinese officials on a proposed visit. Instead, they stated that the OHCHR was close to finalising its assessment of the situation in Xinjiang, based on evidence gathered since 2018, and that it would be released in “only a matter of a few weeks”.
Bachelet Visits Xinjiang
In early March 2022, Bachelet announced that she had reached an agreement with China for a visit in May, which would include a stop in Xinjiang, however she made no reference to the long-awaited report.
Bachelet’s six-day trip to China took place in late May, beginning with a meeting with China’s top diplomat, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The United States led criticism ahead of her trip, saying it was “deeply concerned” that Bachelet had failed to secure guarantees on what she can see.
In her full statement following her trip visit, Bachelet stated that it was “not an investigation” but insisted she spoke with “candour” during her official meetings, and said that China must not use legitimate concerns about “terrorism” to justify human rights abuses. However, she was “unable to assess the full scale” of the Vocational Education and Training Centre (VETC) system in Xinjiang.
In response, human rights groups condemned Bachelet’s visit, repeating calls for the publication of the OHCHR report on crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese government against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
In her opening address to the summer session of the Human Rights Council on June 13th 2022, Bachelet announced that she would not be seeking a second term in her role. She said that criticism of her recent trip to China had “no relationship” to her decision, and that her long-awaited report on the rights situation in Xinjiang is being “updated” and will be shared with Beijing authorities “for factual comments” before it is published.
The Report Is Published
On 31st August, minutes before Bachelet’s departure, her assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang was finally published.
The report concluded that “serious human rights violations have been committed in XUAR in the context of the Government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-'extremism' strategies,” and that "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".
It also found:
"Allegations of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence"
"Credible indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies since 2017"
"Similarly, there are indications that labour and employment schemes for purported purposes of poverty alleviation and prevention of 'extremism'... may involve elements of coercion and discrimination on religious and ethnic grounds"
The report recommended that China immediately takes steps to release "all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty" and called on countries to stop repatriating Uyghurs to China.
Reactions
Responding to the report’s publication, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin described the report as "completely illegal and void", telling reporters the "so-called suggestions were pieced together based on disinformation to serve political objectives".
Among Uyghur organisations, reactions have been mixed. Omer Kanat, the executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, described the UN report as a "game changer" and Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, said "it paves the way for meaningful and tangible action by member states, UN bodies, and the business community."
However, Nury Turkel, a Uyghur lawyer who is also the chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, told DW, "If this report was released when it was ready, we might have had less casualties … The damage done to the Uyghur people is irreversible. No one can bring it back to us. This crime is still underway. I don't have words for my disappointment and dissatisfaction with the UN.”
But for some Uyghurs whose family members remain stranded in Xinjiang, the report helps to bring China's persecution of Uyghurs back into the global spotlight.
Reading:
