UN alleges China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

A long-awaited report by the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has alleged that the widespread arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) may amount to crimes against humanity.

The report, published just minutes before Ms Bachelet concluded her term as High Commissioner, drew on interviews conducted with 26 former inmates by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It concludes: “The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

Those interviewed for the report outlined a host of egregious violations in detention centres, including sexual violence, inadequate provision of food, restrictions to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), and the regular administration of “either injections, pills or both” among other forced medical procedures.

The report also extensively highlights the use of intrusive surveillance on and offline, including the collection and retention of personal biometric data, vast networks of surveillance cameras and checkpoints, and the vague nature of China’s “anti-terrorism law system”, describing the legal consequences for those accused of terrorism as “unpredictable and insufficiently regulated.”

The report goes on to state that “in the context in which this system is implemented and by associating ‘extremism’ with certain religious and cultural practices, it also carries inherent risk of unnecessary, disproportionate, and discriminatory application to the ethnic and religious communities concerned.”

The Chinese government has rejected the findings, claiming in a counter-report that the detentions in the XUAR are part of a programme of “de-radicalisation” and “vocational education and training”; however, the OHCHR’s findings are consistent with those of hundreds of Chinese and international human rights organisations, including CSW. The findings are also consistent with a wealth of corroborating evidence, including testimonies from witnesses and victim family members, academic research, satellite images, and leaked government documents.

Human rights groups and activists have expressed frustration that the report was not published sooner, and in May 2022 Ms Bachelet came under extensive criticism for failing to condemn human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese authorities following a five-day visit to the country.

The crackdown on ethnic groups in the XUAR is part of a wider deterioration in human rights in China under Xi Jinping, and the targeting of other ethnic and religious communities remains common practice in provinces across the country.

CSW’s UN Officer Claire Denman said: “CSW welcomes the long overdue publication of this report and its conclusion that the Chinese government may be responsible for crimes against humanity in the XUAR. We agree with its findings; the mounting evidence of the grave human rights situation in the XUAR is damning. The international community cannot simply sit on these findings, which point to the commission of the gravest of international crimes and demand an urgent response and accountability. We therefore echo the OHCHR’s recommendation calling on the international community to support efforts to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in the XUAR. This should include the establishment an independent international fact-finding mission to the XUAR with regular reporting to the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly, and the imposition of co-ordinated and targeted sanctions against policymakers and others responsible for human rights abuses in the XUAR. We also call on the Chinese government to end the use of re-education camps, to amend legislation relating to counterterrorism, to ensure that it safeguards the rights of all citizens, and to dismantle the extensive and intrusive surveillance system with which it routinely violates human rights in the XUAR and across the country.”