Senators express concern that the Chinese Government will deny United Nations team access to people and places in Xinjiang Province to prevent release of additional evidence of crimes against humanity and of genocide

Washington (May 21, 2022) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, released the following statement today on the eve of the visit of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to Xinjiang Province and other parts of Western China starting on Monday, May 23.

“We welcome news that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, after almost four years of negotiations with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, will travel to Xinjiang Province, China next week. It is vital that she have unfettered and unsupervised access to investigate crimes committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities. She should document and publicize any attempts to limit or control her access,” said the Senators.

“Commissioner Bachelet’s yet to be released report investigating wrongdoing in Xinjiang must include a detailed description of the sites to which she was provided access, such as suspected concentration camps, and those from which her team was obstructed. A credible UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report will add to the mountain of evidence compiled by States, journalists, non-governmental organizations, and survivors of the Chinese Communist Party’s systematic campaign to erase an entire group of people so perpetrators of genocide and other crimes are held to account. As Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel implored humanity: ‘We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.’’’

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