The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, should provide a public update of measures taken by the Chinese government and by his office to address the human rights situation in Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Service for Human Rights, and the World Uyghur Congress said today, releasing a series of translations of the report by his office on Xinjiang published in 2022.

The Office of the High Commissioner’s 2022 report concluded that violations in the region “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.” The ongoing absence of public reporting by the high commissioner to follow-up the atrocity crimes documented by his own office, risks undermining the trust placed in his office by victims and survivors. At the same time, UN member states need to take more determined action to fight against impunity.

“The publication of the UN human rights office’s report was a landmark moment for highlighting the gravity of human rights violations in Xinjiang,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now it’s up to the UN high commissioner to make full use of that report to improve the situation for Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.”