| 双语新闻 Bilingual News | 双语对照阅读 分级系列阅读 智能辅助阅读 在线英语学习 |
|
| 双语新闻 Bilingual News | 双语对照阅读 分级系列阅读 智能辅助阅读 在线英语学习 |
| [英文] [中文] [双语对照] [双语交替] [] |
| GENEVA — In a long-awaited report released on Wednesday, the United Nations’ human rights office accused China of actions that “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” in its mass detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in its far western region of Xinjiang. |
| The assessment was released shortly before midnight in Geneva and minutes before Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, was set to leave office. |
| The release ended a nearly yearlong delay that had exposed Ms. Bachelet and her office to fierce pushback by rights groups, activists and others who had accused her of caving to Beijing, which had sought to block the report. |
| The report does not appear to use the word “genocide,” a designation applied by the United States and by an unofficial tribunal in Britain last year. But it generally treats as credible rights groups’ and activists claims that China has detained Uyghurs, Kazakhs and others, often for having overseas ties or for expressing religious faith. |
| The report is “an unprecedented challenge to Beijing’s lies and horrific treatment of Uyghurs,” said Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch. “The high commissioner’s damning findings explain why the Chinese government fought tooth and nail to prevent the publication of her Xinjiang report, which lays bare China’s sweeping rights abuses.” |
| To Uyghur activists, the report’s findings were a powerful vindication of their yearslong effort to draw attention to the suppression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Beijing has routinely rejected any assertions of arbitrary detentions and abuses in Xinjiang and has accused Uyghur activists of lying. The activists say their families in Xinjiang have been imprisoned, detained and threatened by the authorities to try to silence them. |
| “It paves the way for meaningful and tangible action by member states, U.N. bodies and the business community,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress. “Accountability starts now,” he added. |
| Tahir Imin, a Uyghur activist in Washington, said that because of the months of delays and pressure from Beijing, he was surprised that Ms. Bachelet had come through with releasing the report before she left office, and that its findings were forceful. |
| China, which received a copy of the report days before its release, had pressured Ms. Bachelet not to publish it. The report was a “farce orchestrated by the United States and a small number of Western powers,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular news briefing on Wednesday. |
| Though the report’s publication on Wednesday may spare Ms. Bachelet from charges by activists that she was derelict in her duty if she did not release the report, it will not end the controversy over her dealings with Beijing. |
| U.N. investigators had a report on Xinjiang on Ms. Bachelet’s desk nearly a year ago, but she was accused of repeatedly deferring publication. At a recent news conference, she acknowledged that she had given priority to reaching agreement with Beijing on the terms of her visit to China. |
| Ms. Bachelet’s parting address to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday shed some light on her reasoning. She emphasized her belief in the importance of constructive dialogue with states and the need to do “everything possible to avoid a great fracture” in multilateral institutions. |
| Critics say her approach largely played into Beijing’s hands. |
| “By releasing this crucial report with just minutes left on her mandate, she has only done the bare minimum,” said Sarah M. Brooks, program director of the International Service for Human Rights. “We must now push for her office, her successor and states to ensure survivors get answers and perpetrators face accountability.” |
| Ms. Richardson, of Human Rights Watch, urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to begin an investigation into the Chinese government’s “crimes against humanity targeting the Uyghurs and others — and hold those responsible to account.” |
| The long delay in publishing the report may make that harder. |
| Diplomats in Beijing said its late release left little time for governments or rights groups to build a robust response in the Human Rights Council, which starts its last session of the year in 12 days. |
OK阅读网 版权所有(C)2017 | 联系我们