Bachelet acknowledged strong pressure not to release a statement on China

UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet acknowledged on Thursday that pressure on China not to release a statement on human rights is very strong, but assured that none of this will stop her from revealing her body.

The report focuses on the human rights situation of the Uyghurs, a minority settler in the northwestern province of Xinjiang, and since the Chinese government has for decades considered it a breeding ground for extremism, it discovered in 2018 that it had built massive detention camps to “re-educate” them.

Bachelet admitted that he had received a letter signed by forty countries not to publish a statement that his office had been preparing for some years under these circumstances, and that the preparation was delayed because the Chinese government accepted the High Commissioner’s visit. The country last May.

According to Bachlett, the visit was a priority because it was a unique opportunity to see firsthand what is happening in the country and to have direct contact with relatives of Uyghurs who were or are in these detention camps.

The High Commissioner, meanwhile, said he had “numerous meetings” with countries’ representatives to release the aforementioned report as soon as possible, as he promised months ago to do so before completing his mandate. Led by the largest international human rights framework, it expires on the 31st.

In a press conference he took about his administration, the Chinese government said comments made to the report are being reviewed, a common practice for this type of publication, and attempts to correct or assess inaccuracies. may not have been taken into account.

“The issues (in the report) are serious and thoroughly analyzed,” Bachelet said, stepping forward after pledging to make good on his promise to bring it to light before leaving office.

“Pressures don’t define how things are,” he assured.