Human rights groups have condemned the United Nations for hosting a women’s empowerment summit in Beijing last week, claiming that delegates overlooked reports of women facing enslavement, forced sterilisation, systematic rape and the forced separation from their infants in what independent inquiries describe as an ongoing genocide.
The Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women, held on October 13 and 14 and co-hosted by UN Women and the People’s Republic of China, drew fire from Justice For All’s Save Uyghur Campaign. According to the campaign, the event, attended by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, proceeded without addressing documented abuses against Uyghur and other Turkic women.
Ms Bachelet, who served as High Commissioner from 2018 to 2022, was welcomed by Chinese officials as a “friend of the Chinese people.” She praised the summit’s success and endorsed themes of multilateralism and a “shared future for humanity,” campaign spokespeople said. No public statements from her during the visit referenced the allegations.
The condemnation highlights a pattern of UN inaction amid evidence from the UN’s own 2022 report, which confirmed “crimes against humanity” including arbitrary detention, torture and cultural suppression affecting over one million people, primarily in Xinjiang. The report, based on 40 interviews and Chinese government documents, detailed patterns of sexual violence and forced medical procedures.
A 2021 judgment by the Uyghur Tribunal, an independent UK-based panel, classified the situation as genocide, citing forced sterilisation rates among the world’s highest. Survivor testimonies describe women receiving unexplained injections to halt menstrual cycles, organised rape in detention camps and separations from children as young as nursing infants.
Gulbahar Jelilova, a Uyghur survivor of the detention system, told the tribunal: “We were humiliated and made to feel ashamed about our body as Muslims. Some detainees were given injections and unknown drugs without explanation, stopping the cycle of periods for some women.”
Hena Zuberi, Justice For All’s director of advocacy, said: “Uyghur women have borne the brunt of this genocide by the Chinese Communist Party. They are experiencing enslavement, torture, gender-based violence, a system of organised rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and sterilisation. They suffer the psychological torture of being ripped away from their children, even nursing babies, facing the terrible choice of being wed to non-believing Communist Chinese or imprisonment for their parents.”
Ms Zuberi added that the Beijing summit “should be investigating” these claims, not celebrating women’s leadership under the hosting regime.
Arslan Hidayat, team lead for the Save Uyghur Campaign, criticised Bachelet’s participation directly. He said: “By attending an event hosted by the Chinese Communist Party instead of using the opportunity to investigate its ongoing human rights abuses, Michelle Bachelet once again chose symbolism over substance. A former UN Human Rights Commissioner should have gone to China to seek truth and accountability for the Uyghur people, not to appear alongside the very officials responsible for their persecution.”
The campaign also opposes Ms Bachelet’s reported candidacy for UN Secretary-General. Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Justice For All’s president, stated: “Rewarding Michelle Bachelet with a nomination for Secretary-General after years of silence on genocide is an insult to the victims she failed. Her refusal to confront China’s atrocities—while millions were being detained, tortured and stripped of their identity—disqualifies her from leading the United Nations.”
Ms Bachelet’s record during her tenure underscores the campaign’s concerns. Over four years, her office issued no standalone statement on the mass detentions of Uyghurs. The 2022 report emerged only on August 31, the final day of her mandate, following sustained pressure from activists, the US Congress and European parliaments.
UN Women did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the criticisms. A spokesperson for Bachelet declined to address the Xinjiang allegations, citing her post-mandate status.
The summit itself focused on gender equality and global cooperation, with participants including government officials and NGO representatives. Chinese state media reported the event as a success, emphasising Ms Bachelet’s remarks without mention of human rights.
Broader enforcement remains limited. The US has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials linked to the detentions, but no International Criminal Court referral has materialised. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International continue to document ongoing abuses, including forced labour transfers and surveillance in Xinjiang.
Justice For All’s campaign reaffirmed its push for accountability, including targeted sanctions and UN reforms. Mr Hidayat said: “Global institutions must no longer reward silence over justice.”
As reports of these atrocities persist two weeks after the Beijing meeting, advocates warn that unchecked impunity risks further escalation. The group plans to lobby UN member states ahead of next month’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Ms Bachelet has been approached for comment.