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Statement on the Announcement of an OHCHR Visit to Xinjiang
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March 9, 2022

Regarding the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Announcement of a Visit to Xinjiang

Statement by Ambassador Sheba Crocker 

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 

and Other International Organizations in Geneva 

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Office of Public Affairs – U.S. Mission, Geneva

The United States is aware of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s announcement of her intent to visit Xinjiang.  We call upon the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to ensure that her visit is accorded unhindered and unsupervised access to all areas of Xinjiang and to private meetings with a diverse range of Uyghur individuals and civil society groups.  Any credible visit should include access to the locations where atrocities and human rights violations and abuses, including forced labor, have been reported, and should be followed by a timely, candid, and complete report on the visit’s findings.  Any access limitations imposed on the High Commissioner or her Office, or interference with their activities or reporting, would severely undermine the credibility of her visit and support the propaganda that denies the abuses occurring in Xinjiang.

As preparations for her announced visit are underway, we continue to urge High Commissioner Bachelet to release the existing, long-anticipated OHCHR report on Xinjiang without further delay.  The High Commissioner and her office are well aware of the human rights crisis in Xinjiang – a crisis confirmed by credible NGOs, civil society voices, and journalists over a period of years.