Chilean Michelle Bachelet, 70, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, said on Monday (13), in a surprise announcement, that she will no longer run for another term in office.
The announcement was made during the start of the 50th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva and came just weeks after Bachelet returned from a visit to China — the first by a high commissioner in at least 15 years — in which she came under fire. of experts, organizations and human rights activists.
She, who is also a former president of Chile, went to Xi Jinping’s country to, among other things, monitor the situation in Xinjiang, a 1.6 million km² province where the regime is accused of massively repressing and incarcerating the Muslim minority. Uighur.
Upon returning from the visit, Bachelet, disappointing expectations, stated that her presence in the Asian country had not led to an investigation. She also did not release a report on the local situation, which would already be ready and is widely demanded by NGOs.
“As my term as high commissioner comes to an end, the 50th session of the Council will be the last in which I express myself,” the Chilean said on Monday. She did not provide any reasons for leaving the post, and her name was quoted as one of the possible replacements for Portuguese António Guterres as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
On China, he said that his office is working on an assessment of Xinjiang and that the content would be shared with the Xi regime before being made available to the public. No schedule was provided. Activists accuse Bachelet of being less critical of Beijing than other nations where there is massive violation of human rights, such as Myanmar.
Graduated in medicine, Bachelet began her political activism during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). The Chilean’s father was killed by the regime, and she and her mother were also detained and tortured. Bachelet went into exile, first in Australia and then in East Germany. She served two presidential terms: first from 2006 to 2010 and then from 2014 to 2018.
Pressure over his stance towards the Chinese regime grew on Friday, when 42 UN special rapporteurs, in a joint statement, called for a change in stance from the Chinese authorities, but also sent messages to the high commissioner.
Experts say they recognize the importance of Bachelet’s constructive dialogue with the Chinese regime, but stress that this commitment does not replace the “urgent need for a full assessment of the human rights situation in the country, especially in the regions of Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.” “.
The United States had also spoken out on the matter, claiming to be concerned about the “silence of the high commissioner in the face of indisputable evidence of atrocities in Xinjiang”.
Also during her speech on Monday, Bachelet mentioned an extensive list of human rights violations around the world.
Among others, he recalled the arrests of Russian citizens demonstrating against the Ukrainian War and the curtailment of press freedom in Vladimir Putin’s country. “I regret the increase in censorship and restrictions on independent media.”
Regarding Mexico, he called for the strengthening of civil institutions so that there is a plan to withdraw the military from public security, one of the main demands of activists to the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Bachelet also mentioned the recent coups d’état in Africa — just in the past year, Chad, Mali, Guinea and Sudan have seen the unconstitutional takeover of power. He also spoke about the increase in food insecurity and hunger, driven by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Eastern Europe.
And Brazil was also present in the High Commissioner’s speech. Bachelet said the threats to human rights and environmental defenders are alarming and cited recent cases of police violence and structural racism in the country. “I appeal to the authorities to ensure respect for fundamental rights and independent institutions,” she said.
Bachelet was appointed to the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by António Guterres in 2018.
