Guangzhou/New York, May 28 – Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the Chinese government to review its widely criticized policies applied in the Xinjiang region inhabited by Uyghur minorities and to comply with international human rights standards.

“During my visit, the Government assured me that the VETC system (Vocational Education and Training Centre) has been dismantled,” Bachelet said in a lengthy statement issued during a virtual press conference in Guangzhou as she concluded a six-day visit to China’s western region.

“I encouraged the Government to undertake a review of all counter terrorism and de-radicalization policies to ensure they fully comply with international human rights standards, and in particular that they are not applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory way,” she said.

Bachelet said her visit to Xinjiang was not an investigation of the treatment of the Uyghur people and it 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.”

“In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, I have raised questions and concerns about the application of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures and their broad application – particularly their impact on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities,” she said.

Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said she spent two days in Kashgar and Urumqi and met with government officials, including the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the Governor and the Vice-Governor in charge of public security among others. She also visited Kashgar prison and the Kashgar Experimental School, the training center for VETC.

“I raised with the government the lack of independent judicial oversight of the operation of the program, the reliance by law enforcement officials on 15 indicators to determine tendencies towards violent extremism, allegations of the use of force and ill treatment in institutions, and reports of unduly severe restrictions on legitimate religious practices,“ she said, adding however that she had not been able to assess the full scale of the VETCs.

Bachelet said some Uyghur families had told her before her trip to China that they had lost contact with family members and she had appealed to Chinese officials “to take measures to provide information to families as a matter of priority.”

“I also share the concerns of UN human rights mechanisms about legitimate activities by lawyers, human rights defenders and others being penalized under the national security framework. UN human rights bodies have found the system of Residential Surveillance constitutes arbitrary detention and have called for its repeal.”

Tibet Autonomous Region

Turning to the Tibet Autonomous Region, Bachelet said Tibetan linguistic, religious and cultural identity “be protected, and that Tibetan people are allowed to participate fully and freely in decisions about their religious life and for dialogue to take place. I discussed education policies in the Tibet Autonomous Region and stressed the importance of children learning in their own language and culture in the setting of their families or communities.”

 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)

 Bachelet said HKSAR has long been respected as a center for human rights and independent media.

“It is important that the government there do all it can to nurture – and not stifle – the tremendous potential for civil society and academics in Hong Kong to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights in the HKSAR and beyond. The arrests of lawyers, activists, journalists and others under the National Security Law are deeply worrying. Hong Kong is due to be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Committee in July, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

United Nations correspondent journalists – United Nations correspondent journalists – United Nations correspondent journalists

United Nations journalism articles – United Nations journalism articles – United Nations journalism articles