Australia Asks for UN Probe Into New China Uighur Abuse Claims

(Bloomberg) -- Australia has called for a United Nations investigation into allegations of human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing’s treatment of minority Muslim Uighurs has drawn sustained international criticism.

Former detainees and a guard said they experienced or witnessed systematic rape and torture inside China’s so-called“re-education camps” where the UN says anywhere from tens of thousands to “upwards of 1 million” Uighurs have been detained, according to a BBC report on Wednesday.

Beijing refuted the claims at a regular media briefing, saying the reports had “no factual basis at all.”

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“These latest reports of systematic torture and abuse of women are deeply disturbing and raise serious questions regarding the treatment of Uighurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang,” a spokesperson for the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement Thursday.

Australia urged China to allow international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, to be given immediate and unfettered access to Xinjiang, the statement read.

China says it’s fighting separatism and religious extremism among Uighurs, however the U.S. has accused China of committing genocide.

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