GENEVA - The United Nations high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet has repeatedly postponed the release her long-awaited report about allegations of abuses in China’s far western region of Xinjiang before she leaves office next week, as she had promised.

The delay of that report, which Beijing has worked to block, has already exposed her to fierce criticism from human rights groups.

It also reinforces perceptions that U.N. leadership is reluctant to stand up to China.

Michelle Bachelet has come under heavy criticism once more, as her office still hasn't published a long-awaited report.

Bachelet's term is coming to an end next week, and the big question is now: will she finally stand with victims?

Four years after academics, activists and independent U.N. experts first sounded the alarm over reports that China had arbitrarily detained more than a million Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim groups in Xinjiang, human rights groups have looked to the United Nations to provide an independent assessment that could help hold Beijing accountable and bring some relief to victims and their families.