Pro Uyghur group slams UN rights chief's Xinjiang visit

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has expressed its serious disappointment in the outcomes of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet's visit to China, including a trip to Xinjiang.

As they feared, human rights groups say this visit has turned out to be a "propaganda opportunity" for China to whitewash its crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghur people.

"As expected, the High Commissioner has wasted a historic opportunity to investigate the Uyghur genocide and deliver justice to the Uyghur people", WUC President, Dolkun Isa, stated. "The High Commissioner has ruined her office's credibility by aligning with China's wishes and conducting a visit that by no means adequately addressed justice for Uyghurs and accountability for those responsible".

In the build-up to the High Commissioner's planned visit, rights groups had strongly highlighted that such a visit must meet certain conditions in order to be meaningful, such as unfettered access to East Turkistan (Xinjiang) and the ability to speak freely with Uyghur victims without fear of reprisal or intimidation for those witnesses.

Furthermore, the WUC pointed out how the High Commissioner's independent report on human rights violations in East Turkistan, is still to be released.

According to WUC, the press statement by the High Commissioner confirms that this was not an investigative visit into the atrocity crimes and genocide occurring in East Turkistan. Bachelet stated that she was ''unable to assess'' the full scale of the violations in the Vocational Education and Training Centers (VETCs).

Earlier, media reports had said the UN rights chief's trip to China would not be an investigation, but would rather "promote, protect and respect human rights".

This visit comes in the backdrop of the release of the Xinjiang Police Files, which show the extent and extremely repressive nature of China's mass internment policies in East Turkistan.

Following Bachelet's highly disappointing visit, the WUC strongly urged her office to release her independent assessment of the situation in East Turkistan, as a show of willingness to hold the Chinese government accountable for crimes against humanity and genocide being committed.

( With inputs from ANI )

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