United Nations head Antonio Guterres urged China Thursday to follow the recommendations of a UN report that found credible allegations of torture and forced labor in Xinjiang province.
The report by UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet “confirms what the secretary-general has been saying on Xinjiang for quite some time, that human rights must be respected and that the Uyghur community need to be respected,” Guterres’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters.
Dujarric added that Guterres was “concerned” by what he had read in the report, which cited possible crimes against humanity.
“The secretary-general very much hopes the government of China will take on board the recommendations put forward in the assessment of the HCHR,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” Dujarric added.
The long-awaited report recommends that Beijing “takes prompt steps to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty” in the region.
It also recommends that the Chinese government “urgently repeal all discriminatory laws, policies and practices” that discriminate against Uyghurs.
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