China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region could amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights chief said in a long-awaited report on Wednesday.
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has been criticized by some diplomats and human rights groups for being too soft on China, and she released the report minutes before the end of her four-year term. She visited China in May.
The UN Human Rights Office said in its 48-page report that “severe human rights violations have occurred in Xinjiang” in the context of the government’s counter-terrorism and counter-‘extremism’ strategy.
