UN's rights chief faces flak as she concludes China visit
May 28, 2022
Guangzhou [China], May 29 : United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Saturday wrapped up her six-day China visit amid widespread criticism after she said this trip was "not an investigation" but insisted she spoke with "candour" during her meetings with Chinese officials.
The UN rights chief admitted the only prison she visited in the Xinjiang province was not one in which Uyghurs convicted of political crimes are held.
"It is scandalous that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights went to China and East Turkistan without being able to even condemn the government for committing genocide. She has failed her mandate. The Uyghur community deserves accountability more than ever," said Dolkun Isa, president of the Uyghur Congress.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said, "It would appear that IPAC's fears regarding COVID restrictions and stage-managed tours of detention facilities were well-founded."
While issuing her statement, the UN rights chief said this visit was not an investigation but an opportunity to hold direct discussions - with China's most senior leaders - on human rights.
"This visit was not an investigation - official visits by a High Commissioner are by their nature high-profile and simply not conducive to the kind of detailed, methodical, discreet work of an investigative nature," Bachelet said in a statement.
"The visit was an opportunity to hold direct discussions - with China's most senior leaders - on human rights, to listen to each other, raise concerns, explore and pave the way for more regular, meaningful interactions in the future, with a view to supporting China in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law," she added.
Prior to Bachelet's China visit, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and 59 other groups had urged High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet to take steps to prevent the Chinese government from manipulating the visit.
Dozens of rights groups say the Chinese government has committed widespread and systematic policies of mass detention, torture, cultural persecution, and other offences against Uyghurs and members of other Turkic groups in Xinjiang that amount to crimes against humanity.
