Sébastien Le Belzic 7:57 a.m., May 25, 2022, modified at 8:03 a.m., May 25, 2022
The repression of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region is back in the news this week with the visit to China, for the first time in nearly twenty years, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
A visit followed very closely by the international community as new revelations and documents have just been published.
They shed a harsh light on the situation of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Thousands of photos of prisoners shackled, beaten and documents show that the crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang is being ordered from the top of the state.
These revelations by a consortium of international media come even as Michelle Bachelet is in China for a two-day visit to this province where at least a million Uyghurs have been interned in re-education camps.
China denies Uighur crackdown charges
China continues to deny these accusations and speaks of vocational training centers aimed at combating Islamist radicalism.
For the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is a question of reestablishing the truth: "This visit should make it possible to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two parties", he assures.
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The United States speaks of a "genocide"
No official statement from the UN representative yet, foreign journalists are not invited to follow her on the spot.
This visit is placed under very high surveillance.
In any case, these revelations are already causing the international community to react, such as Germany, which is asking for clarifications, and the United States, which is talking about genocide.
Last January, the National Assembly in France had qualified this situation as crimes against humanity.