China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, UN report finds

Outgoing United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet released the report regarding the alleged treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. The report found that the treatment of the religious minority may be equal to crimes against humanity.

Bachelet released her report on China’s alleged human rights abuses shortly before her term as the head of the UN’s human rights division ended. Bachelet visited China back in May, and at the time, was criticized by diplomats for being soft on China.

In the report, the UN Human Rights Office said that there were serious human rights violations that were committed in Xinjiang “in the context of the government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter- ‘extremism’ strategies.”

“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,” the UN office said on its website.

The report also recommended that Beijing take measures to release those who are detained in training centers, camps, and detention facilities.

“There are credible indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies since 2017,” the office said, adding that the lack of data provided by the government “makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the full extent of current enforcement of these policies and associated violations of reproductive rights.”

China has faced accusations from human rights groups of abuses against Uyghurs, a Muslim minority that makes up 10 million in the Xinjiang region, including the use of forced labor in internment camps. The United States has also accused China of committing genocide against the Muslim minority.

Following the report by the human rights office, British foreign secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that the United Kingdom would work with international partners to take action on China’s alleged abuses.

Truss said the report “provides new evidence” of the extent of efforts by the Chinese government to silence and repress the Uyghurs and other minorities in China.

Truss said the UK would continue to coordinate with its international partners to bring change and put an end to the human rights abuses being committed in Xinjiang.