The United Nations has requested direct access to "re-education camps" in China's Xinjiang province, where more than one million Muslim majority Uyghurs have reportedly been imprisoned. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that she wanted to verify "worrying reports" the organization had received.
Former detainees claim they were tortured and forced to learn Chinese Communist Party propaganda at the massive camps.Beijing says the camps are voluntary vocational training centers, designed to stamp out extremist tendencies among the Uyghur population. However Bachelet said the UN had offered technical assistance in dealing with violent extremism, adding: "We wish to engage China in a serious dialogue on this pressing matter."
