UN Human Rights Head Confirms Not To Run For A Second Term, Due To Criticism About Travel To China?

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

JAKARTA - United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has confirmed she will not run for a second term, dismissing speculation as to why she was criticized and condemned over her trip to China last month.

Bachelet, 70, has been criticized by rights groups as well as some Western governments, including the United States, who say the conditions presented by Chinese authorities on the visit did not allow for a complete and independent assessment.

"As my term as High Commissioner draws to a close, the fifty milestone session of this Council will be the last that I will brief," he said in a surprise announcement at the end of a wide-ranging speech at the Geneva, Switzerland-based Human Rights Council on Monday. Reuters 13 June.

He further explained that the decision was not related to a trip to China he did last month, citing his desire to return to Chile and spending time with his family as reasons.

"Two months ago, before even going to China, I made a decision and I told my boss, Secretary General (United Nations Antonio Guterres). So it has nothing to do with it," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, a number of diplomats are known to expect the former Chilean president to continue his leadership, after the first four-year term he is currently serving ends in August.

In his speech, he said his office was working on an updated assessment of the human rights situation in China's western region of Xinjiang, where there are widespread allegations that mostly Uighur Muslims have been unlawfully detained, persecuted and forced to work.

China has steadfastly denied all allegations of abuse and human rights abuses there.

"It will be shared with the government for factual comments before publication," he said of his report, which was due to be published several months ago.

Asked about his timing, Bachelet said he would be released before his term ends.

Separately, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch called his trip to China an "unmitigated disaster," criticizing Bachelet for using the Chinese term 'VETC', for a vocational education and training center, to describe mass detention facilities in Xinjiang.