UN: China’s human rights violations against Uyghurs ‘may be criminal’

China’s human rights violations against the Uyghur population may be criminal according to a new report released by the United Nations on Wednesday. The U.N. document details possible crimes against humanity. The long-awaited report verifies patterns of torture in training camps including ill-treatment and abuse, sometimes even sexual violence, toward detained Uyghurs.

“Beijing’s repeated denial of the human rights crisis in Xinjiang rings ever-more hollow with this further recognition of the evidence of ongoing crimes against humanity and other human rights violation in the region,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said in a statement.

While the report couldn’t give an estimate of how many Uyghurs are believed to be imprisoned, some reports show upwards of 1 million have been forced into hard labor camps over the span of five years. The U.N. is calling on China to release Muslim populations held captive.

China responded to the U.N. report on Uyghur human rights abuses calling it falsified. They showed no signs of taking heed and even called the report Western propaganda.

“Based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt, the so-called ‘assessment’ distorts China’s laws, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” China’s diplomatic mission in Genevan stated in a letter issued in response to the U.N. report.

China released a 122-page report titled “Fight Against Terrorism and Extremism in Xinjiang: Truth and Facts” that defended its record. It was distributed by the U.N. with its assessment.

AP News contributed to this report