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UNITED NATIONS — <\/span>UNITED NATIONS (AP) \u2014 U.N. human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk<\/a> faces a vote Friday for a second four-year term but is running into opposition from critics and some countries for his criticism of Israel’s attacks in Gaza<\/a> and his approach to China\u2019s crackdown on its Uyghur minority<\/a>.<\/p>\n Secretary-General Antonio Guterres quietly nominated the Austrian lawyer for a second term. After private consultations but no public discussion, the 193-member General Assembly scheduled a vote on his reappointment for Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n Former head of Human Rights Watch Ken Roth called it \u201ca stealth procedure\u201d to avoid scrutiny by civil society and the public. <\/p>\n The job of the U.N. rights chief, by its nature, is tricky: It requires speaking out against rights violations by the governments of the countries that make up the membership of the world body. For instance, T\u00fcrk has sharply criticized Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk’s term expires on Oct. 11, and Russia\u2019s U.N. Mission said it has proposed extending his term just until Dec. 31 \u2014 the day Guterres\u2019 second five-year term as secretary-general ends.<\/p>\n Russia called Guterres\u2019 effort to give T\u00fcrk four more years as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/a> \u201cunprecedented.\u201d None of his predecessors have served two full terms since the job was created in 1993.<\/p>\n An extension just until the end of the year would leave the choice of a new human rights chief to the next secretary-general. Six candidates are vying to be the new U.N. chief<\/a>.<\/p>\n Guterres sent letters to regional groups at the United Nations earlier this month informing them of his intention to reappoint T\u00fcrk. The African group had no objection, but the Latin American countries had several, including Nicaragua, Argentina and Paraguay.<\/p>\n Israel’s Foreign Ministry called Guterres’ action to get a second term for T\u00fcrk the U.N. secretary-general’s \u201clatest moral failure,\u201d saying on social media that the choice should be left to his successor. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter years of bias against Israel, the answer is accountability \u2014 not rewriting the rules,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, says Guterres is following the 1993 resolution that established a U.N. high commissioner for human rights and allows for a second term.<\/p>\n \u201cThe secretary-general is doing things in a very transparent manner, following the rules and his authority,\u201d Dujarric told reporters Friday. \u201cConsultations were had with member states prior to this and with regional groups.\u201d<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk \u201cis ready to serve\u201d a new term, rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said. She noted the job calls for the \u201cpromotion and protection of human rights everywhere, and as a part of this, he sees it as his role to engage with all states.\u201d<\/p>\n As human rights chief, the longtime U.N. functionary who worked for Guterres at United Nations headquarters in New York, T\u00fcrk has expressed concerns on issues in China as diverse as the fate of detained individuals \u2014 like artist Gao Zhen, lawyer Yu Wensheng and media mogul Jimmy Lai<\/a> \u2014 and counterterrorism and assimilation practices that affect ethnic minorities including the Uyghurs<\/a> in the regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet. <\/p>\n Critics insist he could have done more to publicly follow up on a report issued by his predecessor, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, that said China\u2019s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs<\/a> and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang may amount to crimes against humanity<\/a>.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk also has stopped short of joining independent U.N. rights experts who have accused Israel of genocide<\/a> against Palestinians during its war against Hamas<\/a> in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies those claims.<\/p>\n Roth called T\u00fcrk \u201ca disaster\u201d and said \u201cthe biggest stain on Turk\u2019s reputation is his utter abandonment of the Uyghurs.\u201d He called them victims of the most severe state persecution that T\u00fcrk has ignored. <\/p>\n The Chinese government denies the Uyghurs have been or are being persecuted. It maintains its policies in Xinjiang rooted out terrorism and religious extremism after sporadic bouts of violence rocked the region in previous decades.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk has used both private engagement with Beijing and public advocacy to support human rights in China, his office said. Roth called that \u201can admission that he is doing nothing, that he\u2019s putting the plight of the Uyghurs on the deep back burner, and is just pretending to care.\u201d<\/p>\n Roth said T\u00fcrk has a major problem because the job of U.N. human rights commissioner \u201cshould be about stirring up public pressure, and you do that by being tough, provocative, timely.\u201d <\/p>\n He \u201chas succeeded in making a powerful position largely innocuous,\u201d talking about issues in a way \u201cthat makes people\u2019s eyes glaze over,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n