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OHCHR assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang, 2022
The UN human rights office found that documented detention practices may constitute crimes against humanity.
What happened
On 31 August 2022, the OHCHR published an assessment finding that documented detention practices in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, based on a review of documentary material and interviews.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: On 31 August 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published an assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, prepared in response to allegations raised since late 2017 in the context of Chinese government counter-terrorism and anti-extremism policies. The assessment found that the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," and reported credible allegations of torture or ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, and coercive family-planning enforcement. This bundle presents these as the OHCHR's own attributed findings, not as independently adjudicated fact by this bundle.
- UN Human Rights Office issues assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang, China (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) link, Report Overview and Key Findings sections. Source record
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2.
Claim: The OHCHR's 2022 assessment characterized the documented concerns as potentially constituting crimes against humanity, stopping short of a formal finding of genocide; separately, some national governments and parliaments have used the term "genocide" to characterize the situation in Xinjiang. This bundle presents both characterizations as attributed positions of named bodies and does not itself adjudicate between them.
- UN Human Rights Office issues assessment of human rights concerns in Xinjiang, China (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) link, Key Findings and Genocide Allegations context. Source record