Michelle Bachelet arrived in China to investigate alleged abuses against the Uyghur minority

First modification: 05/23/2022 – 22:32

Allegations of human rights abuse in northwest China’s Xinjiang region will dominate a visit to the region by Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In recent years, it has been reported that a million or more Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in that Chinese province have been detained in so-called re-education centers.

Different governments, mainly Western, as well as fundamental rights groups accuse Beijing of launching a massive campaign of arrests with the intention of erasing their different cultural identities and with the argument of stopping the spread of jihadist ideas in this community of about 13 millions of people.

China says it has nothing to hide, saying these are not re-education camps, but “vocational training centers” to improve the region’s economy and society. He also welcomes all those without political bias to visit Xinjiang and see what he describes as a successful campaign to restore order and ethnic cohesion.

A visit that worries human rights NGOs due to the lack of transparency

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he would have “extensive exchanges with all sectors” during the High Commissioner’s visit. No journalists will travel with her to China, but Bachelet “will inform the media about her visit in her due time,” Wang said.

The media aligned with the Chinese Communist Party have not even reported on Bachelet’s visit to the Asian country.

After announcing her trip, nearly 200 human rights organizations expressed through a statement their fear that Bachelet would suffer restrictions during her stay in the Asian country that prevent her from learning about the serious human rights violations in Xinjiang and other areas of the country.

‘Human Rights Watch’, for example, expressed last week its fear that the Chinese government would use the visit as a “publicity stunt”, warning that the credibility of the former Chilean president “is at stake”.

Amnesty International stated that Bachelet must “address crimes against humanity and serious violations of human rights” during her trip. It is a “critical opportunity to address human rights violations in the region. The UN must take action to mitigate this and resist being used to support blatant propaganda,” Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said in a statement.

Bachelet’s trip comes before the long-awaited publication of a report on the human rights situation in Xinjiang. According to diplomats, the report has been in the works for months.

Bachelet is expected to visit the southern city of Guangzhou, and Urumqi and Kashgar, both in Xinjiang. Also on the agenda is the meeting of the UN representative with senior officials at the national and local levels, as well as her participation through a conference at the University of Canton and a press conference on the last day of the visit.

With AP and EFE