\n Uyghur activists and exiles had hoped a long-delayed United Nations report into alleged human rights violations by China would make it impossible for the world to ignore their plight.\n<\/p>\n
\n On Thursday, they grappled with a less decisive outcome: a report vindicating claims of systemic Chinese abuse but stopping short of using the word \"genocide\", signalling a long battle ahead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Minutes before leaving her post as UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet released a 46-page \"final assessment\" documenting what she described as possible \"crimes against humanity\" committed by China over several years.\n<\/p>\n
\n The text -- fiercely opposed by Beijing -- contained serious allegations of mass detention, torture, sexual violence and forced medical procedures targeting China's Muslim and Uyghur minorities in the Xinjiang region.\n<\/p>\n
\n For Norway-based activist Abduweli Ayup it was \"a very emotional moment\", a vindication after years of being stonewalled by Beijing's vociferous denials.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was a statement to sceptics \"that yes, these things have really happened\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"That's really important.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Need real action' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Many Uyghurs had counted on Bachelet to be their champion, believing her past experiences would lead her to lend an empathetic ear to their plight.\n<\/p>\n
\n The former Chilean president was herself a political prisoner, suffered torture and was forced into exile.\n<\/p>\n
\n Her father died opposing military dictator Augusto Pinochet's regime.\n<\/p>\n
\n Crucially, the UN report stopped short of declaring the alleged crimes a genocide -- a charge with the power to upend China's relations with much of the world.\n<\/p>\n
\n For many Uyghurs, that made the report only a partial victory.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We had hoped Bachelet would've been a voice for Uyghurs,\" said Salih Hudayar, a Uyghur-American who campaigns for independence for Xinjiang, also known as \"East Turkestan\" to some.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"But on the contrary, she remained silent and tried to appease the Chinese government.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Like many, Hudayar suspects intense behind-the-scenes lobbying by China caused the report to be watered down significantly, calling the integrity of the UN itself into question.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sadam Abdusalam was not surprised. A young Australian Uyghur whose wife and infant child were until recently trapped in China, Abdusalam never put much faith in the UN or its report to change anything.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There have been lots of reports already about what's happening in Xinjiang,\" he told AFP, pointing to years of revelations that have failed to stop abuses and hit a wall of Chinese denials.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Lots of Uyghurs have false hope. What can the UN or the rest of the world actually do to help?\" he asked. \"We need real action.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Humanity is still alive' -\n<\/p>\n
\n For others, the UN can still redeem itself.\n<\/p>\n
\n Borne from the ashes of World War II and the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, Bachelet's UN Office for Human Rights was created to ensure history was not repeated.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tahir Imin, an activist and academic, said the UN could have done more sooner, but he believes a half-step is better than no step at all.\n<\/p>\n
\n It is a \"signal that humanity is still alive\" he said, expressing hope that leaders will now see the report and feel spurred to action.\n<\/p>\n
\n Above all, he wants what is happening in Xinjiang to end -- regardless of what label it is given.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I wish my mum, two brothers, my sisters-in-law, uncles and aunts, who are imprisoned for their identity and their relations with me, come out of prison,\" he told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"(I wish) my ex-wife, my daughter and all others could see the light of a bright sun, take a free breath, and hear my voice.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uyghur activists and exiles had hoped a long-delayed United Nations report into alleged human rights violations by China would make it impossible for the world to ignore their plight. On Thursday, they grappled with a less decisive outcome: a report vindicating claims of systemic Chinese abuse but stopping short of using the word \"genocide\", signalling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-105795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n