The Secretary General of the United Nations on Thursday supported the report of his Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on violations of the rights of Muslims in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, described by Beijing as a “political tool” written by “henchmen of Westerners.
Antonio Guterres called on China to “follow the recommendations” of this report which “confirms what the Secretary General has been saying for some time about Xinjiang: that human rights must be respected and that the Uyghur community must be respected” , said the spokesman for Mr. Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric.
This text of nearly 50 pages “is completely illegal and invalid”, however castigated in Beijing Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This report is a collection of disinformation and a political tool in the service of the strategy of the United States and the West, which aims to use Xinjiang to hinder (the development) of China,” he accused. .
In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the publication of this report and demanded that Beijing be held accountable for what the United States calls “genocide”.
Despite pressure from Beijing, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published this long-awaited report on the situation in Xinjiang on Wednesday evening.
A mixture of interviews carried out by his services and first or second-hand information, he evokes the possibility of “crimes against humanity” in the region.
Xinjiang and the rest of China have long been hit by bloody attacks that the government accuses of Uyghur separatists and Islamists – the main ethnic group in the region.
In response, the authorities have launched a relentless campaign in the name of anti-terrorism, with ubiquitous military police, widespread identity checks and an extensive network of surveillance cameras.
“Conspiracy”
Western studies accuse Beijing of having interned more than a million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim ethnic groups in “re-education camps”, even of imposing “forced labor” or “forced sterilizations”.
China denounces biased reports and speaks of “vocational training centers” intended to develop employment and eradicate extremism. She denies any “forced sterilization”, saying only to apply the national birth control policy.
The UN report does not corroborate the figure of one million people but claims that “a significant proportion” of Uyghurs and members of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have been interned.
It describes a “pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention” in the region “from at least 2017 to 2019” in high-security facilities.
“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups […] may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” the report said.
“The OHCHR created this report from scratch, relying on the political conspiracy of some anti-China forces overseas,” Wang Wenbin said.
“Completely deflated”
Without confirming them, the UN report also considers “credible” the accusations of torture, sexual violence and even rape in internment establishments in Xinjiang.
“It is not possible to draw broader conclusions as to whether there have been broader patterns of sexual and gender-based violence” in these centers, however notes the UN.
The report, however, does not endorse Western accusations of “forced labor” but points to “elements of coercion” in Xinjiang’s employment promotion program.
The Chilean Michelle Bachelet, whose last day at the head of the High Commission was Wednesday, kept her promise in extremis by publishing the document shortly before midnight in Geneva.
New survey
If it does not contain revelations, this report brings the seal of the UN to the accusations leveled for a long time against the Chinese authorities. Its publication had been the subject of intense pressure.
Human rights organizations and the United States, which has named China as its strategic rival, wanted to make it public. Conversely, Beijing strongly opposed it.
Some Uyghur organizations based abroad welcomed the report but others wished it condemned China more strongly.
“This is a game-changer for the Uyghur cause internationally,” said Omer Kanat, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. “The UN has just officially recognized that horrible crimes are being committed”.
But Salih Hudayar, a Uyghur based in the United States where he is campaigning for Xinjiang independence, told AFP on Thursday that the report “is unfortunately not as strong as we had hoped”.
On the diplomatic front, the European Union “welcomed” the report, considering, according to its head of diplomacy Josep Borrell, that it “highlights the serious human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang”. London, for its part, judged that the report “shames China”.