The report by the U.N. human rights office in Geneva calls for "urgent attention" from the world community to address serious human rights violations under Beijing’s anti-terrorism and anti-extremism policies against ethnic Muslims of the Xinjiang region
China has denounced a long-delayed U.N. report that was
released over its protest and that says the government's arbitrary detention of
Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang
may constitute crimes against humanity.
Human rights groups and the Japanese government welcomed the
report, which had become caught up in a tug-of-war between China and others,
who were critical of the delay and lobbying for its release.
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normal">U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaks to the media after her visit to Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar district, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Aug. 17, 2022. China has denounced a long-delayed U.N. report that was released over its protest and that says the government's arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu, File) |
The assessment released late Wednesday by the U.N. human
rights office in Geneva concluded that
Chinahas committed serious human rights violations under its anti-terrorism and
anti-extremism policies and calls for "urgent attention" from the
U.N., the world community and China itself to address them.
The report largely corroborates earlier reporting by
researchers, advocacy groups and the news media, while carefully steering away
from estimates and other findings that cannot be definitively proven. It adds
the weight of the U.N. to the conclusions, though China showed no sign of
backing off its blanket denials and portraying the criticism as a politicized
Western smear campaign.
In a sternly worded protest that the U.N. posted with its
report, China's diplomatic mission in Geneva said it firmly opposed the release
of the U.N. assessment, which it said
ignoreshuman rights achievements made in Xinjiang and the damage caused by
terrorism and extremism to the population.
‘Internal affairs’
"Based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by
anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt, the so-called 'assessment'
distorts China's laws, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in
China's internal affairs," the protest read in part.
Japan was one of the first foreign governments to comment on
the report, which was released early Thursday morning in Asia. Its top
government spokesperson urged China to improve transparency and human rights
conditions in the Xinjiang region.
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normal">Residents watch a convoy of security personnel armed with batons and shields patrol through central Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang region, Nov. 5, 2017. 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, Aug. 31, 2022, which cited "serious" rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) |
"Japan is highly concerned about human rights
conditions in Xinjiang, and we believe that it is important that universal
values such as freedom, basic human rights and rule of law are also guaranteed
in China," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on the
U.N. and governments to set up
anindependent investigation into the human rights abuses.
"Never has it been so important for the U.N. system to
stand up to Beijing, and to stand with victims," said John Fisher, the
deputy director of global advocacy for the group.
Interviews with former detainees
The U.N. report made no mention of genocide, which some
countries, including the United States, have accused China of committing in
Xinjiang.
The report was drawn in part from interviews with former
detainees and others familiar with conditions at eight detention centers.
normal">  |
normal">Uyghur security personnel patrol near the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang region, Nov. 4, 2017. 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, Aug. 31, 2022, which cited "serious" rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) |
It said that descriptions of the detentions were marked by
patterns of torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment and said that
allegations of rape and other sexual violence appear credible.
"The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention
of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups ... in (the) context
of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights ... may
constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,"
the report said.
The rights office said it could not confirm estimates that a
million or more 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.
Switch to formal incarceration
Beijing has closed many of the camps, which it called
vocational training and education centers, but hundreds of thousands of people
continue to languish in prison, many on vague, secret charges.
The U.N. assessment said that reports of sharp increases in
arrests and lengthy prison sentences in the region strongly suggested a shift
toward formal incarceration instead of the use of the camps.
The report called on China to release all individuals arbitrarily
detained and to clarify the whereabouts of those who have disappeared and whose
families are seeking information about them.
normal">  |
normal">Guard towers stand on the perimeter wall of the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on April 23, 2021. 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 released Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) |
That the report was released was in some ways as important
as its contents.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet
said she received pressure from both sides to publish — or not publish — and
resisted it all, while noting her experience with political squeeze during her
two terms as president of Chile.
Her announcement in June that the report would be released
by end of her 4-year term on Aug. 31 triggered a swell in back-channel
campaigns — including letters from civil society, civilians and governments on
both sides of the issue.
Glaring black mark
"To be perfectly honest, the politicization of these
serious human rights issues by some states did not help," said Bachelet,
who early on staked out a desire to cooperate with governments.
Critics had said a failure to publish the report would have
been a glaring black mark on her tenure.
Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty
International, said, "The inexcusable delay in releasing this report casts
a stain" on the record of the U.N. human rights office, "but this
should not deflect from its significance."
(Written by Ken Moritsugu and Jamey Keaten. Associated Press journalists
Chisato Tanaka in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed
to this report.)
Text and media: AP
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