Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet via video link last month. China hasn’t been the subject of any, despite a long-promised investigation by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) into its abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Not only her credibility, but she has also destroyed the U.N. human rights system’s credibility.”The Biden administration—along with U.S. lawmakers, human rights organizations, and activists worldwide— reportedly warned the U.N. against approving the trip, correctly anticipating that it would rubber stamp the Chinese government’s human rights record. Bachelet’s controversial trip and refusal to release findings on Xinjiang came as no surprise to Emma Reilly, a former U.N. human rights officer and whistleblower. We don’t need it to advance human rights, so why lend our name to a body that is fundamentally backwards?

Source: The North Africa Journal June 13, 2022 10:19 UTC