UN rights chief to visit Xinjiang as groups press for report

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief says her office and China’s government have reached an agreement for her to visit in May the western region of Xinjiang, where human rights groups and Western governments have alleged that genocide and other crimes are being carried out against the predominantly Muslim minority group known as Uyghurs. Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council that she is pleased to announce the visit and that concrete preparations have begun. She says the Chinese government has also accepted the visit of an advance team from her office next month.