UN report lists litany of rights abuses in China's Xinjiang
World body calls for urgent action on accusations of torture and sexual violence against Uyghurs
The United Nations released a bombshell report late Wednesday into serious human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region, saying torture allegations were credible and citing possible crimes against humanity.
The long-awaited report detailed a string of rights violations against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region, but made no reference to genocide: one of the key allegations made by the United States and other critics.
"The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups... may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," the report said.
It said the world must now pay "urgent attention" to the human rights situation in the Xinjiang.
The assessment brings the UN seal to many of the allegations about China's treatment of people in Xinjiang that have long been made by rights groups, Western nations and the Uyghur community in exile.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, decided that a full assessment was needed of the situation inside the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The report was in the making for around a year and its release was bitterly opposed by China.