UN: China's treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang may amount to 'crimes against humanity'

China’s discriminatory detention of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the UN human rights office said in a long-awaited report released Wednesday.

The report calls for an urgent international response over allegations of torture and other rights violations in Beijing’s campaign to root out terrorism.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet brushed aside Chinaese calls for office to withhold the report, which follows her own trip to Xinjiang in May and which Beijing’s contends is part of a Western campaign to smear China’s reputation.

The report has fanned a tug-of-war for diplomatic influence with the West over the rights of the region’s native Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups.

The 45-page report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded: “The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uighur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

'Lies fabricated by anti-China groups'

The Chinese government, which attempted until the last moment to stop the publication of the report, said in an official response that it was “based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces” and that it “wantonly smears and slanders” China and interfered in the country’s internal affairs.

"This so-called 'assessment' is a politicized document that ignores the facts, and fully exposes the intention of the US, Western countries and anti-China forces to use human rights as a political tool," it said in a lengthy statement.

In a letter published in an annexe to the report, China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva said it firmly opposed the report’s publication, claiming it was based on “disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt”.

“Living a happy life is the primary human right,” it added, stressing that “all ethnic groups in Xinjiang” were living a “happy life” because of the government’s move to “fight terrorism and extremism”.

What happens now?

A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday reiterated Beijing's staunch opposition to the report's release during a daily press conference.

"China has made clear its stern position on many occasions ... The report is a pure stunt orchestrated by the US and a handful of other Western countries," said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

What comes after the report remains uncertain. Even if a majority of countries within the UN Human Rights Council were to vote to establish a formal probe, there's no mechanism to compel China to comply - and a number of countries have denied UN access in other cases.

Beijing has also ignored international decisions in the past, for example dismissing an international tribunal ruling against its claims in the South China Sea.

(with inputs from agencies)