Urged To Resign After Visiting China, UN Human Rights Chief Judged To Be 'covering Up' Beijing Atrocities

Kepala HAM PBB Michelle Bachelet. (Wikimedia Commons/Government of Chile)

JAKARTA - Human rights groups called for the resignation of United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday, accusing her of "covering up atrocities" by Beijing during her trip to China last month.

More than 230 groups, many advocating for Uighur, Tibetan and Hong Kong rights, signed a joint statement calling for the "immediate resignation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights".

The signatories, who include a number of national and local branches of the same group, also urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to refrain from running for a second term, as his mandate expires next August.

Bachelet has faced widespread criticism for not speaking out louder against China's abuses during a long-planned trip that took her to the Xinjiang region.

There, China is alleged to have detained more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, carried out forced sterilization of women and forced labour.

The United States has labeled China's actions in Xinjiang as genocide and crimes against humanity. Beijing denies the accusations, saying its security crackdown in the region is a necessary response to extremism.

Wednesday's statement said Bachelet had squandered a rare opportunity to promote accountability by failing to address a litany of systematic human rights abuses by Chinese authorities.

Instead, they say, "He is covering up the Chinese government's human rights atrocities, legitimizing Beijing's efforts to cover up its crimes, using the Chinese government's fake 'counter-terrorism' framing," CNA reported from AFP on June 9.

They also denounced that Bachelet had repeatedly referred to the detention camps in Xinjiang by the Chinese government's preferred term: "vocational education and training centers".

In particular, they regret that so far the human rights chief has failed to release a report on the human rights situation in China, which was finalized last year, despite mounting demands for the report to be published.

"Repeated, endless, and unexplained delays raise serious questions about the credibility of his office to fulfill its mandate," the statement read.

The signatories said Bachelet was "completely silent about the human rights crisis that has gripped Tibet" during her four years in office, and "grossly disdains the crackdown" on Hong Kong.

"The failed visit by the high commissioner not only exacerbated the human rights crisis of those living under the rule of the Chinese government. It also seriously jeopardized the integrity of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in promoting and protecting human rights globally," the statement said.

While no major international rights groups signed Wednesday's statement, Human Rights Watch told AFP they were equally frustrated with the signatories.

"When the government that committed the atrocity lauds his visit, Uighurs and others who face abuse feel betrayed and call for his resignation, it's a clear indication that Bachelet has failed in her duties as high commissioner," said John Fisher, HRW's deputy global director in an email.

The UN rights chief, he said, "should work to rebuild this shattered trust, promptly publishing his long-delayed report on Xinjiang's abuses. Take concrete steps to identify the missing and detained and seek to reunite them with their loved ones."

Bachelet is also expected to face significant scrutiny from countries over her trip to China during the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva next week.