U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday cast doubt on whether she will release a long-awaited report on the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang region before she leaves office on August 31.
When she announced her departure in June, Bachelet said she would publish the report before her term ended. In her final briefing as high commissioner, she said she hoped it would be possible but indicated its release, once again, might be delayed.
Bachelet said her office has received substantial input from the Chinese government that must be carefully reviewed before the report can be issued. She said that was normal procedure for all country reports published by her office.
"In my meeting with high level national officials and regional authorities in Xinjiang, I raised concern about human rights violations, including reports of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in institutions," she said. "And the report looks in depth on to these and other serious human rights violations concerning the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang."
Human rights activists accuse China of the mass detention, torture, and cultural persecution of a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in so-called vocational camps. China denies the allegations, saying people in training centers receive skills they need to get good jobs.
Bachelet said she raised many concerns with Chinese authorities during her visit to Xinjiang in May.
In July, the Reuters news agency reported that China had sent Bachelet a letter asking her not to publish the report. She has confirmed receipt of that letter, which was signed by diplomats of some 40 countries.
The high commissioner said such solicitations from countries under the human rights spotlight are not unusual, adding she does not give in to pressure.
"I have been receiving pressures from countries who want to publish or not to publish," Bachelet said. "You cannot imagine the numbers of letters, meetings asking for the non-publication. Huge numbers … I have been under tremendous pressure to publish or not to publish. But I will not publish or withhold publication due to any such pressure. I can assure you of that."
Work on the report has been ongoing for the past three years. The high commissioner has one week left on her mandate. She assured journalists that she was trying very hard to do what she had promised, namely to release the report before she leaves on August 31.
