Is Michelle Bachelet a China Puppet?
The answer to this is definitely no
First of all, let’s get one thing straight, despite some headlines suggesting it, she hasn’t resigned — she’s come to the end of her term and is 70 years old — hy would she want any more of the kinds of pressure that this sort of position would bring?
She has the support of Antonio Guterres and that counts for a lot. He must now find a replacement and that will probalby be in consultation with Ms Bachelet
Historically, the position is probably one of the highest stress positions in the world — with conflicting interests, accusations and finger pointing by major nations
Since the position was created in 1994 there have been 6 Human Rights Commissioners appointed, and one acting after Sergio Vera De Mello was assassinated a bomb attack on the UN HQ in Baghdad
Of the 7 people who held the position, only one has accepted a second term South African, Navi Pillay
Ms Bachelet quite clearly stated that her visit to China was not an investigation, but paved the way for more meaningful steps
Human rights is very important but it’s all encompassing — it includes crime rates, it includes incarceration rates, it includes racism, inequality and discrimination and many other aspects of freedoms we all take for granted. Very importantly it includes security and food security — the Xinjiang trip was just a smaller part of an all-encompassing visit to overview China’s record and, according to her statement, some of the aspects China has done well as well as address some of the concerns people have — she did both
She updated her report on June 13th but we didn’t see any of this in Western media. She also raised a very important point — we cannot fix what we cannot see
She has pledged to release her report before she leave her position at the end of August
Reuters, among others have reportedly seen a letter — the Chinese government have declined to comment on this letter but a “joint communique” has been issued and signed by more than 100 countries. And there are reports that China has asked UNHRC not to publish their report — there’s no evidence this has happened, merely reports in media despite Bachelet’s pledge that the report will be released before her departure from the post. I’m willing to bet the letter, which has been “seen” but never published doesn’t say anything at all about China asking UNHRC not to publish their report — if it did, I’m certain it would have been published already
