The report by UN Human Rights Commissioner Bachelet on dealing with minorities in China confirms what many had suspected. The US is now reiterating its concern about crimes against humanity.
A guard inside a tower of the detention center in Yarkent county, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, March 21, 2021.
(dpa)
The US has called the content of an explosive UN report on human rights abuses against minorities in China alarming. “The United States welcomes this important report, which authoritatively describes the appalling treatment and abuse of Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minorities by the government of the People’s Republic of China,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Thursday. The report reiterated “our serious concerns” about the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by government authorities in China against Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.
Earlier, the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva described signs of crimes against humanity in a long-awaited report on the situation in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet published the report on Wednesday evening just before midnight – just ten minutes before the end of her term in office. Human rights organizations see this as confirmation that China is violating human rights when dealing with minorities in the north-western region of the country. The government in Beijing reacted with outrage to the publication.
According to a spokesman, UN Secretary-General António Guterres still hopes that the Chinese government will accept Bachelet’s recommendations. “The Secretary-General has read the assessment, which clearly identifies serious human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region,” a spokesman said on Thursday. The report also confirms what Guterres has long said, “that human rights must be respected and that the Uyghur community must be respected.” The Uyghurs must be given the feeling of belonging to the country without discrimination.
Tensions between the ruling Han Chinese and ethnic minorities have long existed in Xinjiang. Since the bloody riots in 2009 and terrorist attacks, the security forces have been cracking down. Uyghurs have complained of cultural and religious oppression, while Beijing has accused Uyghur groups of extremism and separatism.