Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Uyghurs in focus as UN human rights chief visits China

Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet has been urged by human rights campaigners to challenge China over their treatment of Uyghur minorities. Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Michelle Bachelet will become the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China since 2005 during a six-day official mission that starts on May 23.

Bachelet will visit Guangzhou, Kashgar and Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, it was announced by the Geneva-based Commissioner’s office on Friday.

The mission has special significance as human rights campaigners accuse China of widescale abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups, including the torture, forced labour and detention of one million people in internment camps.

China says the camps are re-education and training facilities and denies any abuse, saying it is fighting religious extremism.

Last year, Switzerland was among 40 countries that put pressure on Beijing to allow Bachelet “meaningful and unfettered” access to Xinjiang.

However, it is not known what type of access the Chinese authorities will grant to Bachelet or whether she will be able to freely speak to Uyghur people.

The NGO Human Rights Watch is wary of Chinese orchestration after Beijing insisted that the mission should constitute nothing more than a “friendly visit”.

“The Chinese government is committing human rights violations on a scope and scale unimaginable since the last time a high commissioner visited in 2005, partly because there is no fear of accountability,” Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, stated on Friday. “The high commissioner needs to work to end, not enable, that perception.”

SWI swissinfo.ch’s Imogen Foulkes recently asked experts during a podcast what could be expected from Bachelet’s trip.

Bachelet is due to meet with civil society organisations, business representatives and academics and deliver a lecture to students at Guangzhou University.

A five-person United Nations team has been in China since April 25 to prepare for the mission. They have visited Guangzhou and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

At the end of her mission, Bachelet will issue a statement and is scheduled to hold a press conference on May 28.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR