The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner released a long-awaited report Wednesday detailing the Chinese government's "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang, which the U.S. has deemed a genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

Driving the news: The report, which was released minutes before UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet's tenure ended, states that the Chinese government's actions "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity."

The UN report determines that there is evidence of “a pattern of large-scale arbitrary detention” of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs. China has claimed the detention camps in Xinjiang are vocational training centers, despite reporting and witness accounts to the contrary.

They were opened as part of what the Chinese government described as a counter-terrorism initiative in Xinjiang. The U.S. and various human rights groups say some detainees have been subjected to forced sterilization, rape, forced labor and torture.