UN: China may have committed crimes against humanity

STORY: The UN says China may be guilty of crimes against humanity in its treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

Michele Bachelet - the UN's outgoing human rights chief - made the claim in a long-delayed report released on Wednesday.

In May, Bachelet visited Xinjiang, in China's northwest, which is home to around 10 million Uyghurs - a mainly Muslim ethnic minority.

The lengthy report said "serious human rights violations have been committed" in the province.

It says allegations of arbitrary detention and forced medical treatment of Uyghurs are all credible.

The UN is calling on Beijing to immediately release all those detained in training centers, prisons or detention facilities.

Rights groups have accused Beijing of abuses against Uyghurs that include the mass use of forced labor in internment camps.

The United States has accused China of genocide.

China has vigorously denied the allegations and urged the UN not to release the report.

Within hours of the report's release, it branded it a farce planned by the U.S., Western nations, and anti-China forces.

Bachelet, herself, has come under fire for being too soft on China.

She released the report only minutes before her four-year term ended on Wednesday.

She now plans to retire in Chile.